The Wildcats (9-1) appeared to be on the way to a decisive blowout after scoring the first 17 points. Despite the deficit, the Raiders stormed back and eventually took a three-point lead early in the second half before Kentucky used a massive 23-4 run in the second half and escaped with a 78-67 victory.
“I was proud of the way our guys kind of responded,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said. “We had some weird energy. There was all kind of weirdness. The (17-0 run) was a little weird. I think it made it weirder. Then we got weird and but our guys rang the bell the way that they do.”
Coming off an emotional 90-89 overtime win over No. 8 Gonzaga Saturday night, the Wildcats struggled to find the same intensity it used to defeat the Bulldogs in Seattle and missed a big piece of their starting lineup.
For the second straight game, the Wildcats were without starting point guard Lamont Butler, who sat out because of an injury. Backup Kerr Kriisa, who will miss the next 4-6 weeks because of a foot injury, also watched as Kentucky used a makeshift backcourt to remain perfect at 6-0 at home this season.
Kolby Brea started in the absence of Butler and led the Wildcats with 17 points. Brea, who eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau for his career, connected on five of the team’s 10 3-pointers.
During its decisive run in the second half, Kentucky made five straight 3-pointers, including back-to-back treys by Jaxson Robinson in the second half. Trent Noah, Otega Oweh and Brea contributed to the spurt with threes of their own.
“We all knew that the energy just wasn’t right for us (in the first half),” Brea said. “We had to do to stay true to ourselves. We have to live up to our standard and that's something that was talked a lot about at halftime. I think that in the second half, we did a better job.”
Pope wasn’t surprised by Brea’s ability to lead the Wildcats in his first start of the year.
“Kobe's such a vet. We really didn't have any conversation with him,” Pope said. “We just put him in the blue jersey and practice him, and it was just off to the races.”
Oweh and Amari Williams followed Brea with 15 points each, while Robinson and Andrew Carr had 11 points apiece. Carr collected 11 rebounds to complete his second double-double of the season.
Parker Jones made four 3-pointers and led the Raiders with 17 points.
INJURY UPDATE
Pope said Kriisa has already had surgery on his foot and will begin his road to recovery sooner rather than later.
“It’s somewhere around a six-week (recovery time),” Pope said. “We'll see how it goes. That's kind of the prognosis on his injury.”
Butler, Pope said, is making steady progress back into the lineup.
“Every day we test him a little bit more,” Pope said. “… (we) throw it out there today and see what we end up with when he wakes up. So we'll know a little bit more. I would prefer if he rejoins our team on the floor sometime soon.”
NEXT GAME: Louisville at Kentucky, 4:15 p.m., Saturday. TV/Radio: ESPN, UK Radio Network - SuperTalk 94.3 WKYX.
Trent Noah is matched up against Colgate on Wednesday in Kentucky's 78-67 victory in Lexington, Ky. (Photo by Les Nicholson)
