UK outlasts Maryland, 72-69 in opener

%C2%A0

 

It wasn’t easy, but the UK men’s basketball team beat Maryland, 72-69, Friday night at the Barclays Center in Brookly, NY.

The Cats held a 13 point lead at halftime, holding the Terrapins to 30% shooting from the field.

Maryland fought back, though, taking a lead with five minutes left. Solid free throw shooting down the stretch helped seal the win for UK.

Junior Jarrod Polson, who had seven career points at UK coming into the game, played 22 minutes, totaling 10 points and three assists. Starting point guard, sophomore Ryan Harrow, played only 10 minutes after suffering from the flu prior to the game.

Sophomore Kyle Wiltjer led the Cats with 19 points on 4-6 shooting from behind the three-point line.

The glaring weakness for UK in the game was their defensive rebounding. Maryland recorded 28 offensive rebounds, three more than the Cats’ defensive total.

UK will have three days off before traveling to Atlanta to face No. 8 Duke. The game can be seen on ESPN at 9:30 p.m.