Kentucky limited by foul trouble, trails Duke at halftime

The team with a talent advantage who is longer and more athletic is beating the deeper team with more experience at halftime.

We knew this would go one of two ways, Duke’s youth showing in the spotlight or Kentucky’s lack of pro talent struggling to slow down a team full of it. Unfortunately for the Cats, it’s been the former with the Blue Devils taking a 46-37 lead into halftime. And the score is probably a little closer than the game actually feels.

Kentucky hit seven first-half threes to keep it competitive, but only shot 36.7 percent from the field overall to go with 61.5 percent at the line. Foul trouble has been a serious issue for the Wildcats, as well, with ten fouls split among seven players and three with two apiece. Andrew Carr and Amari Williams lead the way with eight points each, followed by Otega Oweh with six, Lamont Butler with five and Ansley Almonor and Kerr Kriisa with three. Jaxson Robinson has not taken a single shot attempt beyond a foul on a 3-point attempt, hitting just one of three free throws.

On the other end, Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel led the way with 12 points apiece while Tyrese Proctor added 10. Unlike the Wildcats, the Blue Devils are shooting just 25.0 percent from three with a trio of makes, though they are shooting a strong 48.6 percent from the field overall.

Plenty of time to clean it up, obviously, but it’s undoubtedly been a rough start for the folks from Lexington.

20 minutes before the takes start flying.