Jaxson Robinson scored a team-high 19 points, helping lead the No. 8 Kentucky Wildcats to a 105-76 win over the visiting Georgia State Panthers in Lexington, Ky., on Friday.
Lamont Butler added 17 points and six assists for Kentucky (7-0), which eclipsed the 100-point total for the fourth time this year. Amari Williams had 14 points, Otega Oweh added 12, while Andrew Carr and Koby Brea scored 10 apiece for the Wildcats, who made 40 of 67 (59.7 percent) shots from the field.
Cesare Edwards led Georgia State (4-4) with 21 points, followed by Zarique Nutter’s 19. Malachi Brown chipped in 11 points and five assists for the Panthers, who have dropped two of three.
Early in the first half, Nutter’s mid-range jumper cut Kentucky’s lead to 11-10, before Robinson’s layup began a 9-0 Wildcat scoring run.
Five straight Georgia State points trimmed its deficit to two points with 5:06 left in the first half. The Panthers were then held scoreless for three minutes, while Kentucky extended its advantage with a 13-0 run, stamped with Kerr Kriisa’s 3-pointer, giving the Wildcats a 44-29 lead.
Robinson’s dunk pushed Kentucky’s lead to 18, before Nick McMullen cut the Panthers halftime-deficit to 48-33. Butler led Kentucky with 13 first-half points, as the Wildcats shot 19 for 28 (67.9 percent) from the field in the opening half. Nutter led Georgia State with 12 points in the first half.
The Panthers opened the second half with a 20-11 scoring run, including Nutter and McMullen’s back-to-back buckets to force a Kentucky timeout with 13:34 remaining.
With Kentucky leading 61-53, Georgia State’s Clash Peters was called for a flagrant foul for shoving Williams in the back. In the ensuing scuffle, Oweh and Brea were called for technical fouls, while Nutter also picked one up for Georgia State.
From there, Kentucky used a 10-3 run to take a 71-56 lead on Oweh’s dunk with 11:23 left. Toneari Lane’s 3-pointer pulled Georgia State within 12 points, but Kentucky pulled away for good with a 20-6 run, stamped with Brea and Robinson’s consecutive triples.
–Field Level Media
