Five in Double Figures Lead Cats Past Greyhounds
No. 12 Kentucky had five players in double figures and the Cats rolled past Loyola (Md.) 88-46 on Friday night inside Rupp Arena.
Collin Chandler and Kam Williams, who made his first start for the Cats, each had 13 points. Denzel Aberdeen and Otega Oweh both scored 11 and Malachi Moreno, who also made the first start of his Kentucky career, had 10 points and eight rebounds.
Kentucky scored on its first possession when Oweh broke loose underneath for a layup. After a Loyola three, Oweh drove to the basket and gave the Cats a 4-3 lead. Moreno scored on a dunk, followed by another Oweh bucket and a Chandler layup as UK took a 10-3 lead. A Kam Williams layup finished off the 10-0 run.
Loyola would cut the UK lead to six before Chandler hit consecutive threes, making it 20-8. Jasper Johnson would hit a three to give the Cats a 15-point lead before Loyola scored five in a row. A Brandon Garrison dunk followed by an Andrija Jelavic three extended the lead to 28-13.
With UK leading by 12, the Cats got a three from Oweh, an Aberdeen bucket, a Moreno layup, a Chandler three and an Aberdeen layup, completing a 12-0 run that gave UK a 42-18 lead. Kentucky would lead 50-20 at the half.
The two teams combined to miss their first six shots in the second half, with Loyola finally getting a layup to break the scoring drought. UK got on the board when Oweh stole the ball, then dunked it home on the other end. That was followed by dunks from Chandler and Williams and a basket from Aberdeen to close the 8-0 run that gave UK a 58-22 lead.
After Loyola scored, the Cats got a Garrison layup and a Trent Noah three to lead 63-25. The Greyhounds would get within 66-31 before UK got a free throw from Aberdeen, a Jelavic layup and an Aberdeen layup to lead 71-31.
Loyola scored again, but the Cats answered with a Jelavic layup and a Johnson three-point play to lead 76-33. UK would lead by as many as 48 points in the second half and would cruise until the end.
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday hosting former Cat John Pelphrey and his Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles. Tipoff from Rupp Arena is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on the SEC Network.
