TyTy Washington Jr. scored 13 of his career-high-tying 20 points in the first half to lift No. 10 Kentucky to an 86-61 victory over Albany on Monday in Lexington, Ky.
Washington, the reigning Southeastern Conference Freshman of the Week, also had 20 points in the Wildcats' 77-59 victory over Ohio on Friday. On Monday, he made 7 of 14 shots from the floor and added six rebounds to propel the Wildcats (4-1) to their fourth straight double-digit victory.
Keion Brooks Jr. collected 17 points and eight assists for Kentucky, which outscored the Great Danes by a 49-33 margin in the second half. The Wildcats shot a robust 54.2 percent from the floor overall and enjoyed a decisive 48-24 edge in rebounds to offset a 17-10 disadvantage in turnovers.
Sahvir Wheeler recorded 15 points and seven assists for the Wildcats, and Kellan Grady drained three 3-pointers to highlight his 14-point performance. Oscar Tshiebwe answered a lackluster performance against the Bobcats by collecting 12 points and 14 rebounds for Kentucky, which played without Davion Mintz (illness).
De'Vondre Perry scored 18 points and Trey Hutcheson added 12 for Albany (0-5), which fell to 0-2 during its first two stops of their three-game trek through the Bluegrass State. The Great Danes, who dropped a 77-64 decision to Eastern Kentucky on Saturday, will face Eastern Illinois on Wednesday as part of the Eastern Kentucky Invitational.
Albany trailed 15-14 after eight minutes before Washington ignited a 10-0 run for Kentucky. Washington made a layup and a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions before Grady converted from beyond the arc and Wheeler also drove to the basket for a hoop.
Hutcheson answered with a 3-pointer and Perry added a dunk to trim Albany's deficit, but the Wildcats scored 12 of the final 21 first-half points to secure a 37-28 lead at the break.
Washington used a hustle play before tossing an alley-oop for Daimion Collins early in the second half. Washington added a tip-in a few minutes later before his 3-pointer staked Kentucky to a 51-37 advantage with 12:34 to play.
The Wildcats appeared to put it on cruise control from there, with Grady's 3-pointer and Collins' dunk pushing the lead to 61-39 with 8:31 remaining.
--Field Level Media
Albany | Kentucky | |
De'Vondre Perry 18 | Scoring | Tyty Washington Jr. 20 |
Jamel Horton 8 | Assists | Sahvir Wheeler 7 |
De'Vondre Perry 5 | Rebounds | Oscar Tshiebwe 14 |
Trey Hutcheson 2 | Free Throws Made | Sahvir Wheeler 5 |
Jamel Horton 3 | Steals | Dontaie Allen 1 |
N/A | Blocks | Daimion Collins 3 |