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CINCINNATI (AP) — Gerald Fitch scored 24 points and No. 9 Kentucky withstooda Marshall’s 3-point flurry and second-half comeback Monday night, holding on for an 89-76 victory.
Fitch, a senior guard who had a career-high 36 points against Tennessee Tech on Friday, was the only consistent threat for Kentucky (3-0), which let a 13-point lead dwindle to six in the closing minutes.
Marshall (1-2) hit 10 3-pointers to keep Kentucky fidgety, but missed its last five shots from behind the arc and faded in the closing minutes.
Kelenna Azubuike added 16 points and Erik Daniels had 14 for Kentucky, which has won all 11 of its games with Marshall. Ronny Dawn led Marshall with 23 points, going 7-of-9 on 3s.
The overwhelming majority of the crowd wore blue and white for Kentucky’s annual visit to Cincinnati, the equivalent of a home game away from home. The Wildcats are 8-1 all-time at the downtown arena, the only loss to Dayton in 1999.
First-year Marshall coach Ron Jirsa was an assistant at Dayton when it pulled off the upset. He also was one of Tubby Smith’s assistants at Tulsa and Georgia.
Jirsa tried every sort of defense to slow Kentucky, with little success. The Wildcats took a 47-34 halftime lead by running fast breaks and taking advantage of Marshall’s front line.
Four turnovers set up a 13-point run that put Kentucky ahead to stay 28-17 midway through the half. The Wildcats repeatedly had players slip free inside for easy baskets, making up for their poor outside shooting.
Fitch had 12 points in the first half, when his main job was to try to shut down Dawn after an early flurry of 3-pointers. The junior guard shoots 42 percent from behind the arc, one of the best marks in Marshall history.
Dawn hit three consecutive 3s — two from beyond the NBA line on the floor — as Marshall stayed close. Fitch then chased him around the floor, limiting him to one more 3-pointer in the half as Kentucky pulled ahead by as many as 13 points.
Dawn hit two more 3s, and David Anderson had a pull-up jumper and a three-point play that cut it to 64-60 with 11:18 left, making the two sections of green-clad Marshall fans erupt. Smith huddled with his coaches during a timeout, discussing a course of action.
The decision: take it inside. Azubuike’s dunk started a 13-4 spurt, which he completed by stealing Dawn’s crosscourt pass and going in for another dunk.
Dawn made another long 3-pointer and Marvin Black dunked off a rebound, cutting it to 82-76 with 4:27 to go. Fitch hit a pull-up jumper to end the comeback.
