FINAL: No. 10 Kentucky cruises past Brown 88-54 in final non-conference game

Kentucky closed out 2024 in style on New Year’s Eve.

On Tuesday afternoon in Rupp Arena, the No. 10 Wildcats (11-2) used a dominating second half to cruise past the Brown Bears (7-5) by a final score of 88-54. It was an up-and-down first half for Kentucky that quickly turned into a blowout just minutes after halftime wrapped up. Four Wildcats finished in double-figures, led by 14 points from Andrew Carr (all coming in the first half).

Kentucky rediscovered some of its shooting flow against the Ivy League program. UK finished the game shooting 50 percent from the field and 10-28 from beyond the arc (36 percent). Brown actually outrebounded the ‘Cats 35-29 but turned the ball over 23 times compared to just five miscues for the home team.

Otega Oweh, Amari Williams, and Koby Brea all scored 13 points a piece for Kentucky.

It wasn’t the best start out of the gate for Kentucky, but it was certainly an improvement compared to the beginning of recent games. After taking the last 10 days off, some rust was to be expected. It was tied 6-6 through the first five minutes before the Wildcats established some rhythm. UK led by eight just a few minutes later and went up by double-digits midway through the first half.

Brown showed plenty of fight though and kept the game more competitive than the Big Blue Nation would have liked. It was just a six-point Kentucky edge with under eight minutes until the break. But UK rattled off another run to regain control. The ‘Cats were up by as many as 16 points before settling on a halftime lead of 39-27.

Although Brown was outrebounding Kentucky 21-10, the Bears’ 14 turnovers (which UK turned into 19 points the other way) wiped that advantage away. Carr led all scorers with 14 points at the half while the team as a whole shot 5-13 from deep (38 percent). Travis Perry (now mustache-less) nailed just his second triple of the season, too.

It wasn’t a great opening 20 minutes by any means, but Mark Pope‘s halftime speech must’ve inspired his guys. Kentucky came out clicking to start the second half. A quick 5-0 run forced Brown into a timeout, which soon ballooned into a 20-point lead for the ‘Cats before the first media timeout could hit.

The rout was on from there as Brown had no answers on either end for Kentucky. Class of 2025 signee Acaden Lewis was introduced to the crowd (by fellow 2025 signee, Jasper Johnson) during a timeout for the first time as a future ‘Cat as UK pushed its lead to over 30 points. And just like Perry, we also saw Brandon Garrison knock down his second three-pointer of the season. Trent Noah even canned a couple of shots from deep in the closing minutes.

The end result was an exciting 34-point victory for Kentucky. With SEC play right around the corner, Brown will be the last “easy” opponent remaining on the schedule. A top-10 showdown against No. 6 Florida (13-0) back here at Rupp Arena awaits on Saturday.