Kentucky wins battle of Bluegrass State

Wildcats defeat Louisville behind season-high 30 points from Reeves

Antonio Reeves scored 22 of his season-high 30 points in the first half, helping visiting No. 9 Kentucky overcome a slow shooting start and cruise past rival Louisville, 95-76, on Thursday night in the annual battle for Bluegrass bragging rights.

Kentucky ( 9- 2) missed seven of its first 12 attempts, but stayed within a couple of possessions behind perimeter shooting keyed by Reeves, who made his first four shots from beyond the arc and nine of 10 in the first half. The Wildcats took charge for good at 19-17 on Adou Thiero’s 3pointer. Thiero, a Quaker Valley grad, finished with seven points and four rebounds

Tre Mitchell, who played at Elizabeth Forward for two years, added 18 points — including a 3 for an 86-61 lead with 5:29 left that sparked cheers from a mostly blueclad crowd — and 12 rebounds for the Wildcats.

Skyy Clark had 20 points for Louisville (5-7).

Other Top 25 men

Purdue 100, Jacksonville 55: Zach Edey scored 18 points and host No. 1 Purdue (11-1) breezed past Jacksonville (8-5).

Houston 72, Texas State 37: Emanuel Sharp scored 17 points, and host No. 3 Houston (12-0) beat Texas State (6-6).

Tennessee 65, Tarleton State 46: Zakai Zeigler scored 13 points as host No. 8 Tennessee (9-3) overcame poor shooting in the second half and beat Tarleton State (8-4).

District men

Penn State 72, Le Moyne 55: Kanye Clary scored 20 points as host Penn State (66) bounced back from a onepoint loss to Georgia Tech in overtime by cruising to a win against Le Moyne (5-8).

Top 25 women

UCLA 85, Hawaii 46: Charisma Osborne scored 17 points and host No. 2 UCLA (11-0) had over half its points in the paint in the first half while routing Hawaii (3-6).

Iowa 96, Loyola Chicago 69: Caitlin Clark scored 35 points on the way to the 13th triple-double of her career as host No. 4 Iowa (12-1) recovered from a slow start to defeat Loyola Chicago ( 6- 5). Clark had a career-high 17 rebounds to go with 10 assists for her fifth triple-double of the season.

USC 85, Long Beach State 77: McKenzie Forbes finished with a career-high 36 points and No. 6 USC (10-0), despite missing two starters, turned back host Long Beach State (5-5). The Trojans were without freshman star Juju Watkins ( 26.8 points per game) and Rayah Marshall (14.3). The pair are “day-today” with undisclosed injuries.

Colorado 78, Northern Colorado 56: Jaylyn Sherrod scored 13 of her 16 points in the second quarter, and host No. 8 Colorado (10-1) recovered from a 14-0 deficit to start the game to beat Northern Colorado (4-5).

Baylor 73, South Florida 50: Sarah Andrew scored 19 points, and No. 10 Baylor (110) defeated South Florida (8 -5) to wrap up the West Palm Beach Classic in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Utah 89, Weber State 56: Alissa Pili had 19 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 25 minutes, and host No. 11 Utah (10-2) eased by in-state foe Weber State (3-9).

Notre Dame 84, Western Michigan 47: Hannah Hidalgo had the second triple-double by a Notre Dame freshman, scoring 26 points, grabbing 11 rebounds and dishing 12 assists to lead the No. 14 Fighting Irish ( 9- 1) past Western Michigan ( 5- 4). Hidalgo also had five steals.

Virginia Tech 76, William & Mary 43: Elizabeth Kitley had 23 points and 17 rebounds, setting the ACC career rebounding record, and host No. 15 Virginia Tech (9-2) beat William & Mary (4-7). Kitley, who has 1,304 rebounds, became the first Atlantic Coast Conference woman to surpass 1,300 boards.

Marquette 67, Bucknell 39: Liza Karlen had 17 points and a season-best 13 rebounds, and host No. 18 Marquette (12-0) beat Bucknell (3-8).

Creighton 58, South Dakota State 46: Emma Ronsiek scored 19 points and blocked a career-high seven shots, and host No. 21 Creighton (82) eased past South Dakota State (9-5).

District women

West Virginia 103, Niagara 52: JJ Quinerly paced five Mountaineers with 18 points as host West Virginia (11-0) rolled past Niagara (5-7).

Little Rock 63, Duquesne 52: The Dukes (6-6) dropped their second game of the Tulane Holiday Tournament in New Orleans, falling to Little Rock (1-10). Gabby GranthamMedley had 15 points for Duquesne.