Kentucky Tops Little Rock in Exhibition Opener
Milan Momcilovic scored 16 points and grabbed seven rebounds as Kentucky beat Little Rock 69-46 on Friday at Rupp Arena.
Kentucky got 11 points from Alex Wilkins and 10 from freshman Mason Williams. The Cats hit 12 of 28 (42.9 percent) from behind the arc in the game.
Little Rock scored the first two points of the game before a Momcilovic leaner in the lane tied the game. After the Trojans took the lead back, Wilkins drove to the basket, scored and was fouled. He made the subsequent free throw and UK led for the first time. Zoom Diallo followed with a driving layup and the Cats led 7-4.
An Ousmane N’Diaye three extended the lead to six and a Diallo basket made it 12-4. Momcilovic hit a three from the top of the key to close a 13-0 run before Little Rock scored four in a row to cut the UK lead to 15-8.
Justin McBride made one-of-two at the line before Braydon Hawthorne made two at the line to extend the lead to 18-8. After two Little Rock free throws, Mason Williams scored at the rim and the Cats led 20-10.
Williams followed with a three but the Trojans scored four in a row to cut the Kentucky lead to 23-14. Momcilovic made two at the line and N’Diaye scored inside to build the lead to 27-14, but the Trojans scored five in a row to get within eight.
Diallo nailed a corner three within the last minute and the Cats took a 30-19 lead into the half. Diallo and Momcilovic led all scorers with seven points apiece in the first 20 minutes.
The Trojans scored the first two points of the second half before Moreno scored at the rim for the Cats. A left-side three from Wilkins stretched the lead to 35-21. Little Rock scored again before Moreno converted another rim opportunity, and the Cats led by 12.
After Little Rock scored at the rim, UK got a Williams free throw and a three from Momcilovic to lead 41-25. A Moreno dunk gave the Cats an 18-point lead, but Little Rock went on a 8-2 run to cut the UK lead to 45-33.
Hawthorne hit a three, then Justin McBride followed suit for the Cats. Williams scored on a layup and the 8-0 run gave Kentucky a 53-33 lead with 8:44 remaining.
From there, Kentucky would stretch its lead to as many as 22 before setting for a 20-point victory.
Kentucky continues exhibition season next Friday, hosting Texas Tech at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
