LEXINGTON, Ky. — Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin (Sylvan Hills) each scored 22 points and the No. 8 Wildcats ran away from winless Long Island-Brooklyn 104-75 on Friday night.
Goodwin added nine rebounds and nine assists. Poythress also had nine rebounds as the Wildcats (4-1) won their third in a row.
Fellow freshman forward Nerlens Noel added 18 points, 8 rebounds and 5 assists for Kentucky. Julius Mays had 15 points and six assists and rookie center Willie Cauley-Stein had 12 for hot-shooting Kentucky, which finished 42 of 62 from the field (68 percent).
The Wildcats outrebounded the Blackbirds 41-24.
But it wasn’t easy early. Kentucky had to rally against LIU-Brooklyn (0-4), who led by six midway through the first half and 43-40 before the Wildcats closed the half with a 15-0 run.
Julian Boyd and Jamal Olasewere each scored 22 points for the Blackbirds, who shot 42 percent.
In other games involving Top 25 teams, Luke Hancock scored 19 points and Russ Smith had 18 points and six steals as No. 2 Louisville looked more like itself with an 84-61 victory over No. 13 Missouri in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. The Cardinals had a rougher-than-expected openinground game, a 51-46 victory over Northern Iowa, and Coach Rick Pitino looked and sounded upset after the game. Louisville was back to being one of the better defensive teams in the nation against the Tigers, forcing 23 turnovers that the Cardinals turned into 31 points. Missouri’s Phil Pressey, considered one of the better point guards in the country, had eightturnovers. The Cardinals (5-0) will face No. 5 Duke in tonight’s championship game. ... Deshaun Thomas scored 15 of his 21 points as No. 3 Ohio State coasted to a huge first-half lead on the way to a 91-45 victory against overmatched Missouri-Kansas City in Columbus, Ohio. The game was the final tuneup for the Buckeyes (4-0) before their ACC/Big Ten Showdown matchup against No. 5 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Wednesday night. Lenzelle Smith Jr.added 13 points and LaQuinton Ross and Sam Thompson had 11 apiece as Ohio State experimented with subs for almost the entire second half. ... Mason Plumlee, a 6-10 center who helped break VCU’s pressure, had 17 points and 10 rebounds to lead No. 5 Duke (5-0) to a 67-58 victory over the Rams in the semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. ... Tim Hardaway Jr. scored 23 points before he left late in the game after he was kneed in the head, and No. 4 Michigan beat Kansas State 71-57 to win the NIT Season Tipoff in New York. Glenn Robinson III had 12 rebounds, and Trey Burke and Jon Horford had 10 points each for the Wolverines. Hardaway made 10 of 15 shots from the field before he was hurt with about four minutes left. He returned to the bench just in time to celebrate with the rest of his team. Rodney McGruder scored 16 points and had seven rebounds, and Angel Rodriguez scored 10 points for Kansas State (5-1). ... Kenny Boynton scored a season-high 24 points, Scottie Wilbekin added a career-best 17 and No. 7 Florida beat Central Florida 79-66 in Gainesville, Fla. The Gators (5-0)overcame a sluggish start, dominated the lane and pressed the Knights (3-2) into a bevy of turnovers. Boynton, three days after spraining his left ankle, made 7 of 15 shots and added eight rebounds. Wilbekin, playing his third game since returning from suspension, chipped in with five rebounds and eight assists - both career highs. ... Keith Appling shook off a sprained right ankle in the first half and finished with 20 points to help No. 15 Michigan State (4-1) beat Oakland (2-4) 70-52. ... Richard Howell scored 23 points, including the go-ahead basket with 3:06 left, to help No. 16 North Carolina State (4-1) rally past UNC Asheville (1-5) 82-80 in Raleigh, N.C. ... Elias Harris scored 18 points and No. 17 Gonzaga (5-0) beat Oklahoma (3-1) 72-47 in a semifinal matchup at the Old Spice Classic in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ... Damyean Dotson scored a team-high 19 points, including a short jumper from the key to give Oregon the lead for good, in an 83-79 upset of No. 18 UNLV in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas. Dotson was one of fourDucks (5-0) to score 10 or more points. Carlos Emery had 16 points, Ben Carter added 12 and Dominic Artis contributed 11. In a wild second-half that had 16 lead changes and five ties, the Runnin’ Rebels (2-1) raced out with an 8-2 run to take a 45-42 lead at the 14:54 mark. But Oregon never lost focus and used a 13-5 run of its own to regain control. ... Andre Hollins scored a career-high 41 points to lead Minnesota to an 84-75 victory over No. 19 Memphis in the consolation semifinals of the Battle 4 Atlantis in Paradise Island, Bahamas. ... Sean Kilpatrick made all 16 of his free throws and scored 32 points, leading No. 22 Cincinnati to a 78-70 victory over Iowa State in the semifinals of the Global Sports Classic in Las Vegas.
Sports, Pages 28 on 11/24/2012