In the Cats 93-69 win over the Canisius Golden Griffins Sunday night, the Cats fell to another rocky start for the second straight game but regained their footing in the second half to pull away for an easy victory.

The Cats traded leads with Canisius for most of the first half, and weren’t able to secure a commanding lead until the final minutes of the half.

The first half consisted of a lot of solo play or buckets in transition as the Cats only tallied three assists in the half on 15 made field goals.

The Cats also struggled with three-point shooting against Canisius as the team went 0-for-7 in attempts behind the arc at the close of the first half, but they managed to improve those numbers in the second half.

Overall, once the freshmen started to settle down for UK and improve their defensive play, the team was able to secure a substantial victory over the Golden Griffins.

MVP: Isaiah Briscoe

The Cats slow start could have been a lot worse had it not been for the veteran Isaiah Briscoe.

With the score sitting at 2-7 at little over three minutes into the game, UK used an 11-2 run, fueled by eight from Briscoe to get back into the game.

Briscoe finished the first half with seventeen total points, going 7-for-8 in field goal attempts and 3-for-4 in free throw opportunities.

In the second half, Briscoe kept his scoring going, surpassing his career high of 20 points. He recorded a total of 21 points for the game, going 9-for-13 in field goal attempts.

Trending upwards: Bam Adebayo

While Bam Adebayo was able to stay to stay out of foul trouble this game, unlike against Stephen F. Austin, he still continued to struggle some. His performance at the free throw line started poorly before improving to a serviceable 8-for-13. He also struggled from the field, going 3-for-9, with most of those attempts occurring in the paint.

Bam was able to secure six offensive rebounds, but was hard pressed to turn those opportunities into points for the Cats.

In the second half, Bam was able to pick up his scoring and rebounding as he recorded his first double-double at UK with 14 points and 11 rebounds.

Trending downwards: 3-point Shooting

The Cats struggled from behind the arch tonight, as they were 0-for-7 for field goal attempts after the first half.

The trend took a slight upward turn in the second half as the Cats were 2-for-5 in three-point attempts with ten minutes left in the second half, and finished the game going 4-for-16 in total attempts.