'Cats roar again
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Malik Monk scored a career-high 26 points, De’Aaron Fox added 16 and No. 1 Kentucky routed UT-Martin 111-76 on Friday night for its biggest victory this season.
The taller Wildcats overcame a cold shooting start and 15-14 deficit to the athletic Skyhawks before rolling to season highs in points and victory margin. Kentucky (6-0) shot a season-best 55 percent from the field by controlling the paint 54-28 and the boards 48-26.
Monk’s 10-of-17 shooting led the way with Fox making 7 of 12 from the field. Monk has scored at least 23 points in three of his past four games. Wenyen Gabriel and Bam Adebayo each had 15 points for Kentucky, which won the game that was part of matchup of unbeaten teams in the Bluegrass Showcase.
Matthew Butler scored 15 points and Jacolby Mobley had 14 for UT Martin (5-2), which shot just 33 percent in the second half and 41 percent overall in having its five-game winning streak stopped.
No. 5 Kansas 95, UNC Asheville 57
LAWRENCE, Kan. — Frank Mason III had 21 points and Udoka Azubuike added 17 as Kansas dunked its way to a victory.
Josh Jackson contributed 14 points, Lagerald Vick had 12 and Devonte Graham finished with 11 assists, including consecutive alley-oop passes to Azubuike that helped the Jayhawks (5-1) win their 42nd straight game at Allen Fieldhouse.
The only bummer for Kansas came in the closing minutes, when Graham banged up his right foot on a drive to the basket. He did not return, though the injury did not appear to be serious.
Kevin Vannatta and Ahmad Thomas led Asheville (3-3) with 12 points apiece.
No. 7 Virginia 74, Iowa 41
NICEVILLE, Fla. — Jerred Reuter led a well-balanced scoring attack with 14 points and Virginia’s stifling trademark defense set the tone for a victory in the semifinals of the Emerald Coast Classic.
The Cavaliers (5-0) will play for the tournament title on Saturday against the winner of Friday’s late game between Memphis and Providence.
Three other Cavaliers scored in double figures: London Perrantes with 12, Isaiah Wilkins 11 and Darius Thompson 10.
The Cavaliers began the day leading the nation in scoring defense by holding opponents to 38.8 points per game.
Iowa (3-2) barely bested that average, led by Peter Jok’s 13 points.
The Hawkeyes shot only 31.3 percent from the field including 26.1 percent from 3-point range.
The Cavaliers hit 48.3 percent from the field including 47.1 percent on 3s.
No. 20 Baylor 66, No. 19 Louisville 63
PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas — King McClure scored all 15 of his points in the second half and Baylor rallied from 22 points down in the Battle 4 Atlantis championship game.
Johnathan Motley also had 15 points, and Terry Maston had 10 of his 12 in the final 20 minutes. The Bears (6-0) shot 65 percent in the second half in a stunning reversal from a start that saw the Cardinals shut down just about everything.
Louisville led by 22 points late in the first half, by 20 early in the second and 54-42 on Quentin Snider’s 3-pointer at the 10:07 mark. But the Bears responded with a 21-5 run, with Motley putting the ball on the floor to drive by Anas Mahmoud for the go-ahead dunk with 2:49 left.
Motley was selected the tournament MVP.
