Kentucky moves to 10-1 on the year with 82-55 win over Central Michigan

by: Phoenix Stevens6 hours agoPStevensKSR

Heading into Sunday’s game against Central Michigan, Kentucky had won two consecutive games and they were looking to make it a third against the Chippewas. Speaking of a third win, Kentucky was also looking to make it 3-0 all-time against Central Michigan.

Kentucky did just that, beating Central Michigan 82-55 to move to 10-1 on the season and 5-0 in Historic Memorial Coliseum this year.

This was a bit of a slow start for Kentucky, but not in the way you may expect knowing this team. Normally, a “slow start” would be describing how Kentucky couldn’t hit shots to start the game, but it was actually the defense that was a bit lackluster in the first half of Sunday’s contest. Through one, Kentucky led 25-17.

During the second quarter media timeout, Kenny Brooks clearly instilled something in the team because they would proceed to go up 41-27 with 3:33 left to go in the half, but again, Central Michigan started hitting shots. It wasn’t over just yet with it being a 45-38 game at the half. The Chips were chipping away at Kentucky’s lead, slowly but surely.

Of course, that was the story of the first half, but then the offense woke up following the intermission.

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Kentucky started the third quarter on a 12-0 run — just like they did against Miami — to propel them to a lead to give them some space on the scoreboard. With 4:36 to go in the third, it was 58-40 Cats and 66-47 at the end of the period. From there, it was Kentucky’s ball game.

The last two games have shown us some imperfections with this squad, but at the end of the day, they’ve been able to close out wins when need be. 10-1 is a good place to be in.

Kentucky doesn’t play for another week. Next Sunday, they’ll go on the road to take on Belmont in the final game of the home-and-home series between the two programs. Belmont is 4-5 on the year, but their record doesn’t quite indicate how good they are. That matchup against the Bruins is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.