Cats Top Toppers on Tuesday
Andrew Carr and Otega Oweh each scored 18 points as No. 8 Kentucky pulled away from Western Kentucky 87-68 on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
Carr added 10 rebounds and three assists in the game, while Oweh had four rebounds.
Lamont Buter was the third Cat in double figures, pouring in 14 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Amari Williams had eight points and 10 rebounds for UK.
Kentucky (6-0) had its worst shooting night of the young season, making only 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) from behind the arc. However, the Cats got to the line 42 times and made 29 free throws. UK head coach Mark Pope was pleased with his team’s defensive effort on Tuesday.
“There were several stretches in the game where we weren’t functioning great on the offensive end and we were finding great joy on the defensive end of the ball. And that is a winning formula. It wasn’t a great offensive game for our guys, but we still scored 87 points, that’s the crazy part of it. But on the defensive end of the floor, if we can really find joy there and we can keep going to the well over and over again, we have a chance to win and win a lot of games.”
Just nine seconds into the game, Kentucky got on the board via a Carr dunk. However, WKU scored the next five points to take an early three-point lead. UK then got a Jaxson Robinson three and a Butler layup to lead 7-5. After Western tied the game at 7-7, UK scored seven in a row to grab a 14-7 advantage with 15:06 to play in the first half.
Western Kentucky would begin chipping into the UK lead. In fact, the Hilltoppers went on a 9-4 run to get within three, 19-16. A Carr three-point play started a 14-4 run that extended the UK lead to 33-20 with 4:34 to play in the first half.
The Cats would extend the lead to 16 points, 38-22, on a Koby Brea three. However, WKU responded with an 11-3 run to get back within single digits, 41-33, with 1:10 left in the half. UK then got an Oweh layup and two Robinson free throws to make it 45-33 at the half. Carr and Oweh led the Cats with nine points apiece in the first half.
Kentucky opened the second half with a pair of free throws by Butler and a layup from Carr to lead 49-33. WKU then assembled an 8-1 run to get back within single digits, 50-41. After UK got a layup from Oweh and two Butler free throws to make it 54-41, the Hilltoppers went on a 10-3 run to make it 57-51 with 11:54 remaining.
The Cats responded with a run of their own, starting with layups from Oweh and Carr, making it 61-51. After a pair of WKU free throws, the Cats got a three from Brea and two Oweh free throws to complete the 9-2 run and make it 66-53 with 9:28 to play.
From there, the Cats would maintain a double-digit lead the rest of the game on their way to a 19-point win.
UK returns to action on Friday night, hosting Georgia State at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
