LEXINGTON, Ky. — No. 8 Kentucky men’s basketball defeated Georgia State 105-76 inside Rupp Arena Friday night.
With the win, Kentucky ended the month of November still undefeated with a 7-0 record.
Kentucky entered the contest after sweeping the Big Blue Invitational, routing Lipscomb, destroying Jackson State and winning a hard-fought contest over Western Kentucky.
Ready to get back at it on its home floor, the Cats marched out a familiar lineup of Otega Oweh, Lamont Butler, Jaxson Robinson, Andrew Carr and Amari Williams. One thing to note pregame was that Head Coach Mark Pope announced the Wildcats would be without Brandon Garrison, who was being held out as a precaution.
Kentucky would get off to a slow start with an uncharacteristic two turnovers early, but things quickly began trending in the right direction as a 7-0 scoring run allowed UK its first real separation less than halfway through the first half.
While the Panthers would battle back, even getting back within one score, Kentucky would erupt with a steal, a dunk by Oweh and an offensive foul against the Panthers sending the crowd inside Rupp Arena into a frenzy as the Cats led by double digits.
After another scoring run, the gap was 15 at the halftime break with Butler leading all scorers with 13 points.
The second half would get off to a rough start for the Wildcats, with Georgia State steadily chipping into the lead and even getting back within six before disaster truly struck.
Less than halfway through the second half, a foul by Georgia State on Williams — which would later be upgraded to a flagrant foul — would lead to UK sharpshooter Koby Brea shoving the culprit, which started a scuffle on the court.
By the time the dust settled, Brea and Oweh picked up technical fouls for Kentucky while Zarique Nutter and Clash Peters picked up a technical fouls for the Panthers.
Once play resumed, interestingly, it was all Kentucky in the contest as the Wildcats erupted, tying their largest lead of the night at 18 points with over eight minutes left to play in the half.
Despite the best efforts of the Panthers, things would only get worse as, by the four-minute mark, the UK lead stood at 24 points.
From there, the Cats cracked 100 points with 2:30 to go and it was all over from there.
Kentucky will return to action on Tuesday, Dec. 3, on the road against the Clemson Tigers. Tipoff from Littlejohn Coliseum is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
