Jaxson Robinson scored 20 points and Lamont Butler added 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting to lead No. 9 Kentucky over Lipscomb 97-68 on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky.
Otega Oweh scored 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting, while Koby Brea scored 12 and Amari Williams contributed nine points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Both Butler and Brea finished 3-for-3 from the 3-point arc.
The Wildcats (4-0) made six of their first nine shots in the second half to extend their lead to 25 points with 15 minutes remaining. They led by as many as 40 points in the second half, but a 13-2 Lipscomb run to end the game brought the final deficit to 29.
Kentucky opened the game on a 20-6 run. Their lead grew to as many as 21 points in the first half, and they took a 43-26 lead into the break. Kentucky shot 8-of-13 (61.5 percent) from 3-point range and 14-of-28 (50 percent) from the field overall in the first half.
Robinson led the way for Mark Pope’s group in the frame, scoring 13 of his 20 points. Butler had nine points at half and Oweh added seven, plus a highlight-reel block on the defensive end in the game’s opening minutes.
That was in stark contrast to Lipscomb (2-4), which went 2-of-19 (10.5 percent) from deep in the first half and 9-of-34 overall. The Bisons’ first-half woes were exacerbated by a lackluster performance from their star Jacob Ognacevic, who scored eight points in the frame but did it on an inefficient 3-of-9 from the field while missing all four of his three-point attempts.
Ognacevic still finished with a team-high 17 points and eight rebounds, ending up 7-of-14 from the field overall after an improved second half. Will Pruitt added 12 points and six rebounds for the Bisons.
Kentucky finished the game shooting 34-of-62 (54.8 percent) from the field, making 12 triples on 25 attempts (48 percent). They had a season-low 10 assists, which was uncharacteristic for a group that’s averaged 23.3 assists through three games.
Lipscomb ended with five 3-pointers on 29 attempts (17.2 percent), shooting 26-of-67 (38.8 percent) from the field overall.
–Field Level Media
