No. 5 Kentucky men’s basketball survived a surge on Wednesday to defeat the Colgate Raiders 78-67 inside Rupp Arena.
The victory kept the Wildcats undefeated at home with an in-state rivalry game on the horizon for the weekend.
Kentucky entered the game after a two-game road trip in which it fell at Clemson (now No. 16) before stunning then No. 7 Gonzaga in Seattle after a sizable halftime comeback.
Looking to build off the momentum of the win, Kentucky brought out a starting lineup of Otega Oweh, Jaxson Robinson, Amari Williams, Andrew Carr and Koby Brea, who replaced both Kerr Kriisa and Lamont Butler, both of which were ruled out for the contest.
Getting things underway, the contest looked initially to be entirely one sided as the Raiders wouldn’t make their first bucket until just under seven full minutes into the game. This drought allowed the Cats to jump out to a 17-0 lead.
With the Raiders seemingly dead in the water, Kentucky Head Coach Mark Pope opted to utilize some of his key freshmen in the contest, inserting the likes of Collin Chandler, Travis Perry and Trent Noah. From there, however, whether because of the lineups or not, the Raiders woke up.
Quickly getting back within single digits, Colgate finished the first half 7-11 from beyond the arch to enter the halftime break trailing by just two points following a huge shot at the buzzer.
Back out for the second half, Colgate would even manage to take the lead and battle with the Cats, being a thorn in the side of Pope’s squad for the entire first quarter of the half.
From there, however, talent and experience would win out as, as soon as the three-ball stopped falling for the Raiders, Kentucky would begin rebuilding its advantage to lead by double digits once again.
It wasn’t long until the Cats led by 18, their largest margin of the night.
The Cats wouldn’t simply be able to runaway with it from there, however, as, with under two minutes remaining, Colgate was able to get the deficit down to 12.
In spite of the late rally, Kentucky would manage to escape the contest with a sloppy win over a 2-9 Colgate Raiders squad.
Kentucky will return to action on Saturday, Dec. 14, to face off against in-state rival Louisville inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff against the Cards and new Head Coach Pat Kelsey is scheduled for 5:15 p.m. ET and will air live on ESPN.
