Kentucky Tops Arizona State in Music City Classic
Clara Strack scored 22 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as No. 14 Kentucky topped Arizona State 77-61 on Tuesday in the Music City Classic in Nashville.
Strack made 8 of 16 from the floor, including 2 of 3 from behind the arc in the game.
Kentucky (6-0) got 20 points, nine assists and three steals from Georgia Amoore, while Teonni Key had 16 points, 13 rebounds, six blocked shots, four assists and three steals.
Amelia Hassett had 10 points in the game for the Cats.
Arizona State scored first, but the game was tied twice early, at 2-2 and 4-4. After the Sun Devils took a 5-4 lead, Kentucky got a Key basket and free throw, followed by an Hassett layup to lead 9-5. Arizona State answered with an 8-1 run that gave the Sun Devils a 13-10 lead. That run was stopped by a Strack basket, making it 13-12. A Dazia Lawrence three gave UK a 15-13 advantage. The Cats would lead 15-14 after one quarter.
Kentucky scored the first 12 points of the second quarter, including the last seven in a row from Strack, to build a 27-14 lead with 6:02 left in the half. After a pair of ASU free throws, UK ran off six straight points, including four by Key, to lead 33-16. The Cats would lead by as many as 20 in the second quarter and UK led 42-23 at the half. Strack led all scorers with 14 points in the first half.
The Sun Devils began chipping away at the UK lead in the third quarter. A 12-4 run made it 46-35. The Cats would stretch the lead back to 15 points, 54-39, before ASU scored seven of the final 10 points in the period. UK would lead 57-46 after three quarters.
As the fourth quarter began, the Sun Devils cut the UK lead to single digits, 57-48, but the Cats would get a Hassett jumper and a Strack three to lead 62-51. After ASU made it 62-53, UK got a Key jumper, an Amoore layup and a Strack layup, making it 68-53 with 4:20 to play.
Kentucky plays its second game in the Music City Classic on Wednesday, taking on No. 19 Illinois. Tipoff for that contest is slated for approximately 8 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on BallerTV.
