Brea scores 20 points off the bench to pace Kentucky

LEXINGTON, Ky (AP) — Koby Brea came off the bench to score 20 points, including six three-pointers, and Jaxson Robinson added 14 as No. 23 Kentucky overwhelmed Bucknell 100-72 Saturday.

The Wildcats (2-0) were cold from three-point range early in the first half, but Brea and Kerr Krissa each hit threes within 30 seconds to open up a 20-7 Kentucky lead with 13:08 left in the first half.

The Bison (2-1) were led by Ian Motta’s 18 points as the team shot just 39.7%. Josh Bascoe added 15 points.

Amari Williams added 13 points, Andrew Carr had 11 and Otega Owens had 10 points for Kentucky. Williams also had 14 rebounds for his second straight double-double. Krissa had 12 assists.

Takeaways

Bucknell: The Bison were also cold at the start. They fell behind 22-9 in the first 10 minutes of the game, shooting just 3-of-12.

Kentucky: It was another team effort, as 10 players scored. Despite the slow shooting start on 3-pointers, they did score 50 points in the paint and 22 points off 14 Bison turnovers.

Key moment

Kentucky seized control of the game early, putting together a 9-1 and 9-0 run enroute to a 31-11 lead with 8:55 lead in the first half. The closest Bucknell would get after that was 35-23 on a Motta jumper with 4:37 left in the first half.

Key stat

Kentucky Coach Mark Pope had emphasized rebounding after the Wildcats’ opening win, especially offensive rebounding. The Wildcats got the message, outrebounding the Bison 57-35, including 22 offensive rebounds.

Up next

Bucknell hosts Mount St. Mary’s Wednesday for its first home game of the season. Kentucky will have its first test of the year against No. 7 Duke in the State Farm Champions Classic in Atlanta at 9 p.m.

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AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball

Steve Mcclain, The Associated Press