Amari Williams dunks his way to a halftime lead for Kentucky vs. Troy

Kentucky's Amari Williams, Andrew Carr, Lamont Butler, Otega Oweh, and Koby Brea at the podium during the press conference ahead of Kentucky's first NCAA Tournament game - Mont Dawson, Kentucky Sports Radio

Vibe check, BBN. How are we feeling? It wasn’t the prettiest thing in the world, but a 10-0 run in the final minutes gave Kentucky some much-needed breathing room after a nerve-wracking slobber-knocker to get things rolling here in Milwaukee.

After starting just 1-8 from three, Trent Noah and Andrew Carr hit back-to-back shots from deep, followed by a coast-to-coast finish from Amari Williams that nearly caved the roof in. A Koby Brea dunk would put the Cats up by 11 with Troy’s Jackson Fields hitting a big-time three to stop the bleeding, giving the good guys a 35-27 lead at the break.

OH MY GOODNESS AMARI WILLIAMS GOING COAST TO COAST 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/0TZHxXLOkC
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 22, 2025

Overall, Kentucky is shooting 14-28 from the field (50.0%), 3-10 from deep (30%) and 4-6 at the line (66.7%) with five turnovers. Carr leads the way with 11 points on 4-4 shooting, followed by Otega Oweh with 10, Brea and Brandon Garrison with four apiece and Noah and Williams with three each.

For the Trojans, Fields leads the way with seven, followed by star Tayton Conerway with six and Marcus Rigsby Jr. with five.

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Other numbers of note: we’re tied 19-19 on the glass, up 20-12 in the paint and 10-5 on assists with Troy scoring just three points off Kentucky’s five turnovers with two fastbreak points overall.

The path to a big-time win is there, but it’ll take some more cushion before anyone is feeling too comfortable about the Cats surviving and advancing.

20 minutes to find out one way or another.