CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Crawford and Ramel Bradley had career highs Friday night, rescuing No. 18 Kentucky from an off-night by its top two guards and rallying the Wildcats to a 71-63 victory over Ohio in their annual trek across the Ohio River.
Crawford scored 23 points and Bradley had 16 in an offense so stagnant at times that coach Tubby Smith smacked his black leather shoe furiously on the floor. Kentucky (9-3) got little from its two point guards – Rajon Rondo was 2-of-4 for six points, and Patrick Sparks was 1-of-10 for three.
Ohio (6-2) led most of the game, building its lead to nine points three times. The Bobcats unraveled after leading 59-55 with 3:56 to go. Rekalin Sims had a tip-in and a three-point play that gave Kentucky its first lead since the middle of the first half and started the closing spurt.
Mychal Green led Ohio with 16 points, all in the first half, when the Bobcats shot 65 percent from the field.
The Wildcats made what was likely their final trip to the downtown arena where they have played a game each of the last eight seasons to reward their fan base in northern Kentucky. The contract to play at U.S. Bank Arena ends after this season.
They have lost only once in 14 games at the arena – Dayton beat them by two in 1999. Ohio was looking to repeat the feat, but the Mid-American Conference’s top-ranked team lost its shooting touch down the stretch.
The Bobcats used the game as a measure of how far they’ve come since the their last trip to town. Playing on Cincinnati’s campus on Dec. 14, they unraveled in the second half and lost to the Bearcats 86-58.
As Kentucky quickly learned, they’ve grown a lot.
They showed a lot more gumption this time, more than holding their own against a bigger lineup and a pedigree basketball program. Green went 4-of-5 on 3s – two from beyond the NBA arc – to keep Ohio ahead for most of the first half.
Crawford matched him in a game of one-upmanship, also going 4-of-5 from behind the arc while equaling his career high with 14 points in the half. The sophomore had never made more than two 3s in a game.
Smith gave his players three days off over Christmas, then decided they looked sluggish in practice on Thursday. A day later, they were still a step slow, even after a halftime rest.
Jeremy Fears scored three consecutive baskets, one on a layup after he stole a halfhearted pass by Sparks, putting Ohio up 48-39 in the opening minutes of the second half.
Fears stole another sloppy pass by Sparks for a dunk that made it 54-45 with 12:34 left, finally waking Kentucky from its lethargy. Kentucky put some energy in its defense and closed the gap on a three-point play by Crawford and a banked 3-pointer by Bradley, then clamped down in the closing minutes.
The game had special significance for Kentucky – its 2,500th all-time. The Wildcats are 1,913-586 with one tie.
