Troy Trojans vs Kentucky Wildcats Match Player Stats On Nov 20, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Nov 20, 2017

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Eighth-ranked Kentucky improved to 4-1 on Monday night with a 70-62 win over Troy at Rupp Arena.

Kentucky led by as many as 21 points with 8:25 to play before Troy mounted a furious late rally.

The Trojans outscored the Wildcats 14-2 to cut the deficit to 68-59 with 2:57 to play. At that point, Kentucky had missed seven straight shots and was mired in a 5:27 scoring drought.

A jumper by Kentucky freshman Kevin Knox pushed the lead back to double digits, and the Wildcats sealed the win from there.

Kentucky was led in scoring by Knox with 17 points. Freshman Quade Green added 13 points, and Wenyen Gabriel had 12. Freshman Hamidou Diallo narrowly missed a double-double with eight points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Wesley Person topped Troy with 17 points. Kevin Baker and Jordon Varnado added 15 each for the Trojans (2-3).

Kentucky built a 34-21 lead in the first half with an 26-13 run to pull away from an 8-8 tie. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had six points, and Green and Washington four each during the spurt.

Gabriel was the top scorer in the first half off the bench with eight points. Knox added seven, and Green and Diallo had six each.

Kentucky shot 43.2 percent from the field in the first half and had eight assists and four turnovers. The Wildcats won the rebounding battle 32-17.

Troy got nine points from Person in the opening half. The Trojans shot just 31.3 percent from the floor, including 7 percent from 3-point range (1 of 14).

For the game, Kentucky outshot Troy 44.1 percent to 35.9 percent from the floor.

Both teams return to action on Wednesday. Kentucky plays in Rupp Arena against Indiana-Purdue-Fort Wayne. Troy is at East Tennessee State.

The Wednesday game will be Kentucky's third in six days before the holiday break.

NOTES: G Wesley Person is Troy's career leader in 3-point field goals made (280) and career scoring (1,566 points) since the program moved to Division I. Both records were set earlier this year. ... Troy's Jordon Varnado has scored in double digits in 23 consecutive games. ... In the previous game, Kentucky made just three free throws, shooting 20 percent from the foul line. Both numbers are record lows during coach John Calipari's time at Kentucky. The Wildcats were 15 of 23 at the line on Monday. ... Kentucky entered the game averaging 7.5 blocked shots, but it blocked just two Troy shots.