Kentucky defeats South Florida, 85-63

Rhyne Howard scored 18 points, Taylor Murray added a season-best 17 and Kentucky defeated No. 17 South Florida 8563 on Thursday.

Jaida Roper added a season-high 13 points off the bench, which contributed 23 to the win for the Wildcats (50).

Tied at 20 after the first quarter, Kentucky used a press in outscoring the Bulls (4-1) in the second quarter 24-8, shooting 58 percent, to go up 44-28 at the break. Murray had 13 points by halftime.

Kentucky led by as many 27 in the fourth quarter when it shot 57 percent.

The Wildcat scored 17 points off 20 USF turnovers.

South Florida’s Sydni Harvey tied her career high with 16 points, making a career-best four 3-pointers in 31 minutes before fouling out. Beatriz Jordao added 12 points and Laura Ferreira 10. Alyssa Rader had a game-high 10 rebounds.

The win was the first over a ranked team since beating No. 2 Mississippi State on Feb. 23, 2017.

Men’s college hoops

VIRGINIA TOPS DAYTON >> De’Andre Hunter matched his career high with 23 points to help fourth-ranked Virginia hold off Dayton 66-59 on Thursday in the Battle 4 Atlantis semifinals.

Hunter made a 3-pointer with 53.1 seconds left and Virginia protecting a 60-56 lead. It turned out to provide just enough cushion to keep the Cavaliers (50) in control and send them into the championship game Friday against No. 25 Wisconsin.

Ty Jerome added 15 points for Virginia, and Kyle Guy had 14.

Josh Cunningham led Dayton (4-1) with 15 points. Dayton will face Oklahoma on Friday in the third-place game.