Jasper Johnson had the best night of his young career with 22 points, Otega Oweh scored 21 points and grabbed seven rebounds and Kentucky rolled to a 103-67 home victory over North Carolina Central on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky.
It was the first victory of December for the Wildcats (6-4) as they fell to then-No. 16 North Carolina and then-No. 11 Gonzaga last week. Those losses dropped Kentucky from the Associated Press Top 25 rankings altogether.
It’s the first time the Wildcats have been unranked under coach Mark Pope, and the first since the 2022-23 season.
Kentucky responded against NC Central (3-9).
The Wildcats used a 16-0 run in the first half to take control, building a 47-23 lead on a fast-break layup by Oweh with 3:41 left. The spurt also included 3-pointers by Oweh and Trent Noah, who finished with 11 points.
Kentucky led 52-31 at half after shooting 59.4% from the field and knocking down six 3s.
The Wildcats didn’t let up in the second half. An 8-0 spurt featured back-to-back 3s by Johnson and Collin Chandler, who had seven points and eight assists. Johnson and Zach Tow hit late 3-pointers to push the Wildcats over 100 points.
Malachi Moreno (14 points) and Andrija Jelavic (10) joined Johnson, Oweh and Noah as double-figure scorers. Kentucky shot 60.9% from the field and had a noticeable edge in fast-break points (34-15), bench points (42-24) and points in the paint (52-30).
The Eagles, who shot 42.1% on the night, have lost five of their last six games. Khouri Carvey led the team with 15 points on 7-of-9 shooting, and Gage Lattimore added 14 points and a team-high six rebounds.
Next up, Kentucky welcomes Indiana on Saturday. NC Central will host Mid-Atlantic Christian on Dec. 17.
–Field Level Media
