No. 10 Kentucky extended its winning streak to seven on Saturday with a 78-61 victory over UNC-Greensboro in Lexington, Ky.
The win improves the Wildcats to 7-1, while the Spartans fell to 7-2, with both losses coming against ranked SEC schools: Kentucky and LSU.
Trailing 55-50 with 13:08 to play, Kentucky outscored UNC-Greensboro 28-6 the rest of the way for the 17-point margin of victory. Freshman Tyler Herro scored 10 of the 28 points; Keldon Johnson added six points, and Reid Travis and Ashton Hagans added five each.
Travis, a grad transfer, paced Kentucky with a double-double of 22 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson also had a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds. Herro scored 18 points, tying a career high.
As a team, Kentucky shot 48.3 percent, hitting 28 of 58, and 41.7 (5 of 12) from 3-point range. They had 12 assists and 17 turnovers.
Francis Alonso, who scored the first 11 points for UNC-Greensboro, finished with 22 points to pace the Spartans. Isaiah Miller added 12.
UNC-Greensboro entered the game as the fourth best shooting team in the nation at 53.5 percent and No. 18 in scoring at 87.6 points per game. On Saturday, Kentucky limited the Spartans to 35.8 percent shooting and 61 points.
Kentucky entered the game as the nation's No. 1 team in terms of rebounding margin. The Wildcats are at plus-16.9, averaging 41 and allowing only 24.1 per game. On Saturday, Kentucky outrebounded UNC-Greensboro 46-30.
UNC-Greensboro held a 40-37 halftime lead, thanks in large part to 19 points from Alonso. The Spartans also made 6 of 8 3-point shots and held the lead for nine minutes compared to 7:55 for Kentucky.
Travis had 10 points and six rebounds for Kentucky at halftime. The Wildcats shot 46.7 percent, but only 28.6 from 3-point range.
--Field Level Media
NC-Greensboro | Kentucky | |
Francis Alonso 22 | Scoring | Reid Travis 22 |
Francis Alonso 2 | Assists | Ashton Hagans 3 |
Kyrin Galloway 7 | Rebounds | Reid Travis 12 |
Francis Alonso 5 | Free Throws Made | Reid Travis 5 |
Demetrius Troy 3 | Steals | Ashton Hagans 3 |
James Dickey 2 | Blocks | Ashton Hagans 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
NC-Greensboro | 61 | 35.8 | 7-20 | 6-10 | 7 | 27 | 3 | 8 | 11 |
Kentucky | 78 | 48.3 | 5-12 | 17-24 | 12 | 44 | 4 | 5 | 17 |