No. 2 UK entered the matchup with No. 5 Duke untested. The Cats answered the call thus far in the game, going into the locker room with a 37-31 lead.

The story early in the game was the battle on the boards. Duke won early specifically because of their 250 pound, 7-footer Marshall Plumlee.

Plumlee’s size proved to be too much for the Cats to handle and helped him score Duke’s first 11 points. The center also finished with eight boards, four offensive, and five blocks in the first half.

UK, however, dominated nearly every other aspect of the game thanks to their guard play. Tyler Ulis led the Cats offense with eight points and four assists, all while having no turnovers.

Forward Marcus Lee also played a big part in the first half, leading UK on the boards with nine, and contributing a few highlight finishes off of alley-oops.