At the Half: Kentucky leads Providence 38-31

toppin — GREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 17: Jacob Toppin #0 of the Kentucky Wildcats reacts after a play during the first half against the Providence Friars in the first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at The Fieldhouse at Greensboro Coliseum on March 17, 2023 in Greensboro, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)

After 20 minutes of play, No. 6 seed Kentucky leads No. 11 seed Providence 38-31 here in Greensboro. After starting the game ice cold, the Cats are now nice and warm, shooting 45.7% (16-35) from the floor, 40% (4-10) from three, all four of those treys coming from Antonio Reeves.

Reeves leads all scorers with 14 points, all of those threes coming at crucial times for Kentucky. With 2:13 left, he hit a three to extend Kentucky’s lead to 8. On the other end, Jacob Toppin blocked a Bryce Hopkins dunk, and Reeves swished another trey to push the lead to 11 and just about blow the roof off Greensboro Coliseum.

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Speaking of Toppin, he and Oscar Tshiebwe are playing like men possessed. Toppin has 12 points (6-11 FG), 2 rebounds, and 2 assists, winning the matchup vs. Hopkins, who has 5 points (2-7 FG, 0-2 3PT), 1 rebound, 1 assist, 2 fouls, and 1 turnover. Oscar has 13 rebounds and 6 points already, dominating the Friars on the boards. The only other Cats that have scored are Cason Wallace (2 points, 0-4 FG) and Chris Livingston (4 points, 5 rebounds).

Providence isn’t going away though. Jared Bynum hit two big threes, one as the buzzer was going off, to cut Kentucky’s lead to 7. Need the Cats to carry the energy they ended the half with to the start of the second.