No. 4 UK men’s basketball was able to deny the upset bid by No. 13 Stony Brook Thursday in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. The Cats were able to put a poor shooting first half behind them to win 85-57 against the Seawolves.

After starting out cold from the floor and unable to secure a rebound on the defensive end, UK looked like it was locked in what would be a tight battle with the Seawolves.

However, an increased effort on the defensive end, especially inside, was able to spark a run to allow UK to pull away. UK would turn around its poor shooting in the second half to hold on to the lead and win by a comfortable margin.

With the win, UK survives and advances to play No. 5 Indiana Saturday in the Second Round. 

MVP: Alex Poythress

With UK’s starting guards starting the game off by going 3-for-19 in the first half, the team had to find some source of offense and senior Alex Poythress turned out to be the answer.

Poythress went 2-for-3 in the first half with eight points to power UK to its initial lead and showed flashes throughout the second half to help UK’s lead grow. The forward ended with 12 points and four rebounds. The performance marks the sixth straight game that Poythress has scored in double-figures and that kind of consistency becomes all the more important as UK advances in the tournament. 

Game Defining Moment: 18-3 run in the first half

With the scored knotted up at 10 near the 11-minute mark, UK pulled away using an 18-3 run. The run that lasted over eight minutes would end with UK having it largest lead of 15 points. The run was even more impressive when looking at the poor shooting from both teams. UK would eventually build on this lead in the second half, but it played a big part in taking the Seawolves out of the game early.

Trending Up: UK Block Party

UK was able to go into halftime with a 33-16 lead thanks in part to the great defensive effort that the team was giving. The effort was summed up with the play senior Alex Poythress made just to close the half as he swatted Stony Brook’s layup attempt into the stands.

They were not allowing anything inside as they came away with nine blocks in the first half and 15 in the game. Freshman Skal Labissiere led UK with 6 blocks and came close to breaking UK record in an NCAA game of seven which is held by Anthony Davis. 

Trending Up: Tyler Ulis’ assist numbers

The seven-assist game Tyler Ulis had against Stony Brook was in no way his most impressive or important game when it came to distributing the ball, but it did help him pass a huge milestone.

After notching an assist off a lob to Marcus Lee in the second half, the sophomore point guard broke the record for most assists in a single season that was previously held by John Wall. The achievement just adds to the accolade that Ulis has racked up this season.

Trending Down: Jamal Murray’s shooting

The team’s leading scorer turned in a worrying first half. Freshman Jamal Murray went 1-for-9 from the field in the first half of his first career NCAA Tournament game. Murray missed a couple shots from point-blank range and he could have been the difference in UK putting away the Seawolves for good in the first half.

Murray was able to find his stroke in the second half and the first half would prove to not be enough to keep him from leading the team with 19 points.