FINAL: No. 5 Kentucky fends off pesky Colgate squad in ugly 78-67 win

In the opening minutes of Wednesday night’s game, Kentucky looked to be on the verge of a landslide victory. But a pesky Colgate squad crawled its way back from a huge deficit to make it tight in the second half before the Wildcats squeaked out the win at Rupp Arena.

Just call it a Gonzaga hangover. Despite a showing that was anything but perfect, No. 5 Kentucky (9-1) managed to take down the Colgate Raiders (2-9) by a final score of 78-67 in Lexington. Fueled by a game-high 17 points from the sharpshooting Koby Brea (5-8 from deep), five total Wildcats reached double-figures. Amari Williams chipped in 15 points and eight rebounds while Otega Oweh contributed 15 points, five rebounds, and three assists of his own. Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson both finished with 11 points with Carr pulling in 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season.

Granted, Kentucky was without two key point guards, Lamont Butler and Kerr Kriisa, due to injury. Travis Perry stepped in and played nine minutes, but didn’t make a significant impact. As a team, the Wildcats shot 42.9 percent from the field and 10-31 (32.3 percent) from beyond the arc.

You couldn’t have asked for a better start from Kentucky coming off a massive road win. The Wildcats scored the first 17 points of the game as shots were made from all over the floor. It wasn’t until the 13:20 mark of the first half that Colgate finally scored its first bucket. However, the Raiders discovered some rhythm and scored the next 11 points. After looking like the ‘Cats would cruise to an easy blowout win, Kentucky suddenly found itself in a fight.

Poor outside shooting didn’t help. UK went 4-15 from deep in the first half with Brea (4-4) making all four attempts. Colgate’s zone defense gave Kentucky plenty of open looks, but the shots just weren’t falling — a trend that has become slightly concerning over the last several games. Colgate stormed back and trailed by just two points at halftime, 38-36.

It took a few possessions into the second half before Mark Pope‘s halftime speech resonated with his players. Colgate even took a three-point lead at one point as both sides went back and forth during the first segment. But then Kentucky struck gold from deep. Four straight triples from the ‘Cats — including one from Trent Noah — generated a double-digit lead.

Kentucky began to build the advantage from there, taking a 14-point lead into the under-8 timeout. Despite one last burst of energy from Colgate, UK would go ahead by as many as 18 before settling on the 11-point win.

Up next: Kentucky will return to Rupp Arena on Saturday to host the in-state rival Louisville Cardinals at 5:15 p.m. EST on ESPN.