Kentucky uses late run to take double-digit halftime lead vs. Georgia State

It may be a cold holiday night in Lexington, but don’t tell Big Blue Nation that — Rupp Arena is rocking, and it helped the Wildcats take a comfortable double-digit lead going into the half. Using a 17-1 run in the final minutes, it’s a 48-33 score at the break.

Lamont Butler leads the Cats with 13 points on 5-6 shooting to go with a team-high three rebounds, two assists and two steals in 15 minutes. Ansley Almonor, Andrew Carr and Jaxson Robinson all have eight points while Kerr Kriisa has added five, Otega Oweh with four and Collin Chandler with two. Amari Williams and Koby Brea are the only players held scoreless in the first 20 minutes.

As a team, Kentucky is shooting an absurd 67.9 percent overall and 36.4 percent from three — although just 60.0 percent at the line. They’ve also racked up 11 assists on 19 made field goals.

Georgia State is shooting 40.7 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from three with six different Panthers scoring. Leading scorer Zarique Nutter once again leads the team with 12 points on 4-7 shooting, followed by Jelani Hamilton and Malachi Brown with six points apiece.

It was a sloppy start, but Kentucky really finished the half with a bang and enter the second half with all of the momentum. Can they build upon it and close out the blowout win on Black Friday?

20 minutes to glory.