LEXINGTON, Ky. – No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball took care of business Tuesday night inside Rupp Arena, beating Lipscomb 97-68.
Kentucky’s win followed its biggest of the season as it bested then No. 6 Duke 77-72 in the 2024 State Farm Champions Classic inside State Farm Arena, located in the heart of Atlanta, Georgia. The win was Kentucky’s first in the early-season event since 2019 and first over Duke since 2015.
Looking to build off the success, UK marched out a familiar starting lineup of Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams.
From the early goings of the contest, it was clear Kentucky intended to make it hard on the Bisons offensively after the Nashville-based school played close against John Calipari’s Arkansas Razorbacks, losing 76-60 after letting it slip away late on Nov. 6.
By the time of the first media timeout over five minutes into the game, Lipscomb had scored just four points.
This only worsened as, nearly halfway through the first half, Kentucky led by double digits after holding Lipscomb to just six points.
From that point on, Kentucky would never allow Lipscomb back within 10, going on to lead by 16 by the time the Bisons finally cracked double digits as a team.
By the time the halfway point finally arrived, Robinson was the only player on the court to have cracked a double-digit point total as his squad led by 17.
Staying true to form under Head Coach Mark Pope, the Cats didn’t lose any steam coming out of the break, rattling off a 6-0 scoring run to open the second half of action and forcing Lipscomb to call a timeout.
With everything favoring Kentucky, the Cats led by a staggering 35 points after a 7-0 run over halfway through the second half.
With things firmly out of reach, Pope opted to insert Kentucky kids Trent Noah and Travis Perry into the lineup, much to the enjoyment of the loyal members of Big Blue Nation filling Rupp Arena.
The Bison would make a late push with Kentucky content to ride out the clock, shrinking a 37-point deficit into a 29-point loss after Pope ordered his squad to hold onto the ball, marking the first time this season the Cats didn’t crack 100 points on their home court.
Despite that, with Robinson finishing with 20, the fans were sent home satisfied with an extremely lopsided win to improve to 4-0 on the season.
Kentucky will return to action on Friday, Nov. 22, back inside Rupp Arena to host the Jackson State Tigers. The game against Jackson State will continue the BBN Invitational and also serve as the latest installment in UK’s “Unity Series,” which exists to benefit HBCUs across the country.
Tipoff against JSU is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET and will air live on the SEC Network+.
