FINAL: Kentucky overcomes slow start, downs Texas A&M-Commerce 81-61

In the opening 10 minutes of Friday night’s game at Rupp Arena, Texas A&M-Commerce looked like anything but a team in just its second season as a Division I program. But as these early-schedule matchups typically go, the better, more talented squad came out on top in the end. That was the case once again.

No. 16 Kentucky (2-0) was able to fight back from a double-digit deficit in the first half against Texas A&M-Commerce, coming away with an 81-61 win over the Lions. All five of the Wildcats starters finished with at least 10 points, led by fifth-year guard Antonio Reeves and his 21 points on five made three-pointers. Fellow veteran Tre Mitchell added 18 points and eight rebounds while freshman Justin Edwards chipped in 16 points and seven more boards.

As a team, Kentucky shot 47.8 percent from the field, 34.8 percent (8-23) from beyond the arc, and 90 percent (9-10) from the free-throw line. The Wildcats turned the ball over just three times while forcing the Lions into 14 miscues. Kentucky won the rebounding battle (36-33) and finished with more points in the paint (42-26) while also holding Texas A&M-Commerce to under 42 percent overall shooting.

It wasn’t anything but an ideal start for the Wildcats. Texas A&M-Commerce came out ready to play, shooting the lights out from the jump. The Lions started the night making four of its first five three-pointers while Kentucky couldn’t get anything going on the other end. An 8-0 lead for the visitors quickly ballooned into a 19-6 advantage.

But as you could have guessed, Kentucky finally settled in — and it started with the arrival of freshman Reed Sheppard. Although he didn’t fill up the box score, good things began to happen for the ‘Cats once the rookie checked in. A 13-point lead for Texas A&M-Commerce nearly disappeared completely in a matter of minutes as a 13-2 run for Kentucky brought them back into the game.

A layup by Wagner soon after would give UK its first lead of the night, 25-24. The ‘Cats never looked back from there. At the halftime break, it was 38-30 in favor of the home team as Reeves led the way with 13 points. Edwards also chipped in eight points and five rebounds in the opening 20 minutes of action while Sheppard was a +18 in the box score. Kentucky had turned the ball over just twice at the intermission.

The second half for Kentucky was more of what the end of the first half produced. Although the Wildcats could never truly blow the game wide open, they continued to cruise up double-digits. The Lions would get as close as 12 points with roughly six minutes left, but that was as far as the comeback would go. UK led by as many as 22 points before settling on the 20-point win.

Next up for Kentucky is a showdown against No. 1 Kansas in Chicago on Tuesday.