LEXINGTON, Kentucky (AP) — Cayson Wallace scored a career-high 27 points as No. 19 Kentucky defeated Florida A&M 88-68 on Wednesday night.
The 6-foot-4 freshman guard also had four steals and nine assists.
Wallace scored the first seven points of the second half as the Wildcats led 69-48 (8-3). The Rattlers (2-8) answered with his 14-0 run and his 3-pointer from Jalen Bates cut the deficit to his 7 points. Wallace stabilized Kentucky with a jumper and an assist on Antonio Reeves’ dunk.
Bates led the Rattlers with 21 points and Dimingus Stevens added 13 points.
Oscar Tshiebwe scored 14 points for Kentucky.
Kentucky manager John Calipari said he would change the lineup to improve the flow of the offense after the Wildcats lost to UCLA on Saturday.・Started Ware and Chris Livingston.
The new lineup soon sparked as the Wildcats led 18–2, with Wallace scoring seven of the team’s first 13 points.
big picture
Kentucky: Free-throw shooting continued to plague the Wildcats, who are ranked 293rd in the nation. Kentucky was 19-13 after losing 13-5 to UCLA.
Florida A&M: The Rattlers enjoyed one of the better nights of shooting against a challenging schedule involving three SEC teams. They shot 52% from the floor and 56% from three-point range.
next
Kentucky: Starts Southeastern Conference play December 28 in Missouri.
Florida A&M: Dec. 29 at Top Rank Purdue.
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