On Tuesday, ninth-ranked Kentucky hit the court for the first time since topping then-No. 6 Duke in the Champions Classic a week ago. The Cats showed absolutely no sign of a letdown as they beat Lipcomb 97-68 inside Rupp Arena. UK head coach Mark Pope did not expect his team to have a letdown against the Bisons.
“We don’t stress, we don’t get nervous, we don’t worry because it doesn’t actually work,” Pope said. “We don’t actually do it at all. We’re going to always be focused on what we need to do. It’s human nature to worry about that a little bit but we really work hard to focus on what we’re trying to do. Our guys are really hungry to get better. We’re hungry to become a great team. The last game was over and it was on to, how can we get better. We’re not going to focus on what we don’t want to have happen, we’re going to focus on what we do want to have happen.”
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After scoring just one point in the win over Duke, Jaxson Robinson scored a season-high 20 points for the Cats on Tuesday, making 6 of 10 from the floor, including 3 of 6 from three-point range. Pope was impressed with Robinson against Duke and again on Tuesday night.
“I’m so impressed with Jaxson Robinson. It was really interesting because he had a terrific game against Duke,” Pope said. “He came up with massive defensive stops down the stretch that were game-determining stops. He wasn’t having a huge impact on the game in the scoreboard, but he refused to let that drain his defensive intensity and his energy toward his team.”
Lamont Butler had 16 points for UK, while Otega Oweh added 14. Koby Brea made all three of his attempts from long range on his way to 12 points.
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Kentucky (5-0) hit six of its first 10 shots, building an early 15-4 lead. Lipscomb would cut into the UK advantage, getting within 10 points, 20-10, before the Cats scored six in a row, capped by a three from Robinson, to lead 26-10.
After Lipscomb hit a pair of free throws, Kentucky scored six straight on a three from Butler and three free throws from Robinson, making it 32-12 with 6:25 to play in the first half.
The Cats would stretch the lead to as many as 21 points in the first half before settling for a 43-26 lead at the break. UK made 8 of 13 (61.5 percent) from behind the arc in the first 20 minutes, with six different players making a long-distance attempt. Robinson led all scorers with 13 points in the first half.
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Kentucky scored the first six points of the second half to lead 49-26. That was part of an 11-4 run that gave UK a 54-30 advantage less than four minutes into the second half. The Cats would eventually lead by as many as 40, 95-55, before settling for a 29-point victory.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday, hosting Jackson State at Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.
