MILWAUKEE — Otega Oweh had 20 points and three others scored in double figures as No. 3 seed Kentucky pulled away in the second half for a 76-57 victory over No. 14 seed Troy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament’s Midwest Region on Friday.
The Wildcats (23-11) will face the winner of sixth-seeded Illinois (21-12) and No. 11 seed Xavier (21-11) in the second round Sunday in Milwaukee.
Kentucky led 35-27 at the half, then took control with a 16-point run midway through the second half.
Koby Brea, Andrew Carr and Brandon Garrison each had 13 points for Kentucky, which was upset last season as the No. 3 seed in the opening round by 14th-seeded Oakland, 80-76.
Marcus Rigsby had 17 points and Sun Belt Player of the Year Tayton Conerway added 12 for Troy (23-11), appearing in the tournament for the first time since being a No. 15 seed in 2017.
Rigsby hit two free throws to pull the Trojans within 45-39, but Troy failed to score over the next 5 1/2 minutes as Kentucky pushed its lead to 61-39 with just over eight minutes remaining. The Wildcats’ Collin Chandler scored all nine of his points during the 16-0 spurt.
The Trojans missed all six shots over that span, including five from beyond the arc.
Troy then went on a 9-0 run that cut the lead to 61-48. Kentucky responded by reeling off nine unanswered points to make it 70-48 with 2:37 left.
Trent Noah and Carr hit consecutive 3-pointers to trigger a 10-0 run that put Kentucky in front 35-24 with 1:21 left in the first half.
Troy’s Jackson Fields snapped a scoring drought of 2 1/2 minutes with a 3-pointer from the left corner with 45 seconds left to make it 35-27.
–Jim Hoehn, Field Level Media
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