Kentucky MBB brushes off slow 2nd half to beat Duquesne 77-52

It wasn’t always pretty at times, but Kentucky men’s basketball came away with a comfortable win over Duquesne.

On Friday night in Rupp Arena, the No. 4 Wildcats took down the Dukes by a final score of 77-52. Kentucky was once again without reigning national player of the year, Oscar Tshiebwe, along with sophomore forward Daimion Collins, but head coach John Calipari did get his starting point guard back. Sahvir Wheeler returned for the first time since he was injured in the opening exhibition game, nearly posting a triple-double with 11 points, six rebounds, and 11 assists in 27 minutes off the bench.

Antonio Reeves and CJ Fredrick lit up the scoreboard once again, dropping 18 and 14 points, respectively, with Reeves shooting 4-6 from beyond the arc and Fredrick 4-7. Freshman Ugonna Onyenso contributed nine points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks off the bench.

2-0. See you in Indy, #BBN 😼#GoBigBlue pic.twitter.com/Lv1C2o5VzB

— Kentucky Men’s Basketball (@KentuckyMBB) November 12, 2022

Duquesne got the night started with an early 3-0 lead and even went ahead 8-7 nearly six minutes into the evening, but that was the last time the Dukes would be in front. Kentucky turned a one-point deficit into a 10-point advantage, 23-13, halfway through the opening 20 minutes. Duquesne managed to keep the ‘Cats from blowing the game wide open, but the hole continued to grow. UK took a 38-22 lead into the halftime break.

Cason Wallace and Reeves led the way for the ‘Cats with seven points apiece while Onyenso added six points, three rebounds, and two blocks. Wheeler was already up to six points, three rebounds, and six assists off the bench. UK shot 50 percent from the floor and 5-8 from distance in the first half while holding the Dukes to under 24 percent overall.

The second half got off to a much slower start for both sides. Duquesne would actually trim the lead down to single digits, making it 38-29 in favor of Kentucky not even two minutes into the half. But that was as close as the Dukes would get the rest of the way. The ‘Cats quickly pushed its lead back to double-digits, even if it took some extra coaching from Calipari along the way.

Kentucky would eventually balloon the lead to 20-plus and finished off the night with a 25-point victory. The ‘Cats shot a combined 45.9 percent from the floor and an efficient 11-19 from distance. UK won the rebounding battle by 11 and dished out nine more assists than Duquesne. The Dukes shot just 30.3 percent overall and just 7-26 from deep.

Next up for the ‘Cats is a showdown in Indianapolis against Michigan State. Check out the box score from Friday’s win below.