Wildcats roll past Gamecocks, win 9th straight

PJ Washington scored 20 points, and No. 5 Kentucky routed South Carolina 76-48 for its ninth consecutive victory Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky.

The Wildcats (19-3, 8-1 SEC) shot just 41 percent but held the Gamecocks to just 28 percent in the second half and 36 percent overall. It was the seventh time in eight games they’ve held an opponent below 40 percent. Kentucky outscored South Carolina 17-4 over the final 5:14 to lead 39-28 at the break and stretched its advantage to as many as 28 with just under five minutes remaining.

Washington fell short of his fourth consecutive double-double but posted his fourth 20-point game in the past five. Tyler Herro and Reid Travis each added 11 points for the Wildcats.

EJ Montgomery came off the bench to post career highs of 11 points and 11 rebounds, his first double-double. Kentucky dominated South Carolina 50-27 on the glass and forced 19 turnovers leading to 26 points. The Wildcats stayed within a game of the conference lead in the process and improved to 28-2 at home against the Gamecocks (11-11, 6-3). Reddish leads Duke: Freshman Cameron Reddish scored 24 points, and No. 2 Duke pulled away to beat Boston College 80-55 in Durham, N.C.

Zion Williamson had 16 points and a season-best 17 rebounds, RJ Barrett finished with 19 points and Tre Jones added 11 points for the Blue Devils (20-2, 8-1 ACC).

They overcame some shaky early shooting by shooting 63 percent after halftime to claim their sixth straight win, and they will be no worse than tied for first in the league standings when they visit No. 3 Virginia on Saturday night.

Jordan Chatman scored 16 points while Ky Bowman finished with 11 — he averages 20.8 — on 5-of-17 shooting for Boston College (11-10, 2-7).

Reddish finished one point shy of his previous high, set Nov. 11 against Army, and this was his best game since scoring 23 at Florida State on Jan. 12.