No. 16 Kentucky tops Louisville

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points, PJ Washington added 16 and No. 16 Kentucky used several runs to blow out rival Louisville 9061 Friday in the annual showdown for Bluegrass supremacy.

Seeking to regroup after last week’s 83-75 loss to unranked UCLA, the Wildcats (10-2) used a 20-6 run to close the first half. Their 24-11 surge over 8:41 built a 67-38 lead that eventually reached 32, a gap helped by 57 percent second-half shooting.

Gilgeous-Alexander finished 9 of 16 from the field to top his previous best of 15 points against Monmouth this month. Washington helped with 10 points down the stretch in the first half for a 41-27 lead that expanded as Kentucky earned its biggest series win since a 76-46 rout in the 1999-2000 season.

Playing its first rivalry game in 16 seasons without coach Rick Pitino, who was fired in October amid a federal bribery investigation of college basketball, Louisville (10-3) couldn’t keep up after the early minutes. The Cardinals shot just 35 percent and had their six-game winning streak stopped. Deng Adel had 13 points. James Crisp /

Kentucky’s Nick Richards (center) shoots between Louisville’s Ray Spalding (left) and Anas Mahmoud during the first half of Friday’s game. AP within 30 seconds forced him to the bench and created a void that Kentucky exploited. He fouled out with 8 minutes left.

Kentucky: The Wildcats were energetic even when shots weren’t falling in the first half, allowing them to rally for a lead they didn’t relinquish. They outrebounded Louisville 44-37 and got 35 bench points. Hamidou Diallo had 14 points and Quade Green 13.