No. 9 Kentucky men’s basketball (2-0) took down the Valparaiso Beacons (1-1) in dominating fashion on Friday night, securing a 107-59 victory inside of Rupp Arena.

The Cats entered Rupp Arena on the back of a 26-point season-opening victory over Nicholls on Nov. 4, where they put up just 28 points in the first half and depended on their second half efforts to secure the win.

On Friday night, though, Kentucky came out and thrashed the Beacons right off the jump, nailing their first six field goals while owning a 16-5 lead at the first media timeout. 

Otega Oweh grabbed the first bucket of the game which was then followed up by a made triple from Collin Chandler, who went on to finish the game with 14 points after reaching a career-high 15 points in UK’s season opener. 

Mark Pope’s squad amounted 30 points in less than 10 minutes of play and doubled its first half total against Nicholls with 3:06 still left to play before the break, completely elevating its first half display when comparing the two games. 

Heading into halftime, Kentucky held a 32-point, 58-26 lead while shooting 64.7% from the field and 53.8% from downtown, absolutely burning the Beacons on the offensive end of the court while locking it down on the defensive end. 

The second half opened up with a bang as Brandon Garrison flushed home a slam off a pass from Chandler.

Garrison finished the game with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists. 

The Cats continued their domination throughout the final 20 minutes of play, scoring 49 second half points while reaching triple digits for the first time this season with just over two minutes left to play.

It was an all-around team effort as six different Cats finished the game with double-digits and together, Kentucky, as a whole, shot 54.4% from the field and 39.3% from downtown, completely pasting it onto Valparaiso, leaving not a second for a comeback. 

Kentucky advances to 2-0 and now looks ahead to its in-state rivalry game against the No. 11 Louisville Cardinals on Tuesday, Nov. 11 at the KFC Yum! Center in Louisville, Kentucky. 

Tipoff for that contest is set for 8 p.m. and can be viewed on ESPN.