Big 2nd half allows Wildcats to escape

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Keion Brooks wasn’t surprised that Ohio challenged No. 13 Kentucky on Friday night. It took his 22-point game to spark the Wildcats to a 77-59 victory.

“They’re a good team,” Brooks said of Ohio (3-1). “We expected them to be good and that was our focus coming into the game, this is a quality team and if we didn’t play well, they can beat us. We knew they could beat us if we didn’t come ready.”

Kentucky Coach John Calipari said it served as a learning experience for his squad.

“That team — I almost thought what in the world did I do, playing these guys,” Calipari said. “You need tune-ups, you need tune-up games and some teams only play tune-up games. We don’t. We do have tune-ups and we have to have them on the schedule, but this game really showed us something.”

Freshman guard TyTy Washington added career-high 20 points and 11 rebounds for Kentucky, while Davion Mintz scored 12 points and Sahvir Wheeler had 11 .

Ben Vander Plas finished with a team-high 19 points and six rebounds for Ohio, followed by Jason Carter with 15 points and Mark Sears with 10.

The Wildcats used a big second half to fend off the Bobcats, who led for most of the first half. Brooks set the tone by scoring eight of the Wildcats’ first 10 points after halftime.

Kentucky was without leading scorer and rebounder Oscar Tshiebwe in the first half because he picked up two fouls in the first two minutes. But Kentucky outrebounded the Bobcats 26-19 in the first half and limited Ohio to just one shot on most possessions with 19 defensive rebounds.

In Kentucky’s first three games, Tshiebwe averaged 18.3 points and 18.7 rebounds per game, including 20 boards in each of the first two contests. On Friday, he had two points and 10 rebounds.

“He [didn’t care] about scoring,” Calipari said. “He just goes [back in the game] and chases down balls.”

Ohio (3-1) made five of its first six field goals and built a 22-14 lead before Kentucky rallied and led 40-38 at halftime.

In other Top 25 games Friday, Wendell Moore Jr. scored 23 points and No. 7 Duke used a few smooth stretches in the second half to pull away for an 88-55 victory over Lafayette. AJ Griffin came off the bench to score 18 points for Duke (5-0), which had too many weapons despite some early snags. Mark Williams added 14 points and 15 rebounds, Paolo Banchero scored 11 points and Trevor Keels had 10 points for the Blue Devils. … Jalen Duren had 22 points, 19 rebounds and 5 blocks as No. 11 Memphis beat Western Kentucky 74-62. Deandre Williams added 13 points and Early Timberlake finished with 10 for the Tigers (4-0). Camron Justice led the Hilltoppers (1-3) with 18 points, while Jairus Hamilton scored 14. Dayvion McKnight had 11 points and eight rebounds as Western Kentucky lost its third in a row. … Jaden Shackelford scored 20 points as No. 14 Alabama beat Oakland 86-59, giving the Crimson Tide its first 4-0 start since the 2017-18 season. Shackelford added 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 blocks and scored his 1,000th career point. Jahvon Quinerly had Alabama with 19 points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals. … Ian Martinez made two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining, allowing No. 20 Maryland to edge Hofstra 69-67 and avoid another loss this week. Eric Ayala led Maryland (4-1) with 14 points but went just 5 of 17 from the floor. Jalen Ray was Hofstra’s leading scorer with 18 points. … K.D. Johnson scored 15 points, Zep Jasper added 13 and No. 21 Auburn rallied to beat South Florida 5852. Jabari Smith hit a three-pointer 10 minutes into the second half during a 15-0 stretch that gave Auburn (3-0) its first lead at 42-40. It was the third made three-pointer by Auburn in 21 tries to that point. … Kyle Lofton and Jaren Holmes combined for 32 points in the second half and No. 22 St. Bonaventure rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Clemson 68-65 in the semifinals of the Charleston Classic. After the Bonnies’ top two scorers went 3 of 15 in the first half and made only one three-pointer between them, the pair combined to shoot 9 of 14 in the second half, all but one of those buckets coming from three-point range. Lofton finished with 22 points and Holmes 19.