LEXINGTON, Ky. _ In Sunday night's 93-59 victory over Duquesne, Kentucky continued to force the opposition to play Whack-A-Mole.
If one, two, three or more UK players didn't get the opponent, then one, two, three or more teammates would.
Ten Kentucky players scored in the first half alone against Duquesne, which preseason magazines had picked to finish 12th (The Sporting News) or 13th (Blue Ribbon and Athlon) in the Atlantic 10.
Mychal Mulder, who played only the final two minutes against Michigan State, contributed several silky smooth jumpers and finished with a career-high 13 points. He scored only 12 points all of last season.
Besides Mulder, four other Cats scored double-digit points. De'Aaron Fox led UK with 16 points. He also had seven rebounds and six assists.
Malik Monk, the star of Tuesday's victory over Michigan State, added 14 points. Isaiah Briscoe had 13 and Bam Adebayo chipped in 12 points and eight rebounds.
From a team standpoint, Kentucky added rebounding to its tools. The Cats, who came into the game having been outrebounded 116-107 in the season's first three games, enjoyed a 49-32 advantage on the boards.
The constant for Kentucky remained defense. Duquesne did not get its 10th basket until only 12:21 left. Overall, the Dukes made a season-low 30.4 percent of their shots.
"We're kind of refinding ourselves," Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said before the game.
That seemed especially true in terms of 3-point shooting. The Dukes lost guards Micah Mason and Derrick Colter from last season. The pair made 36.3 percent of their 3-point shots and were dubbed "one of the nation's best 3-point shooting duos" by The Sporting News.
Against UK, Duquesne made only five of 25 3-point shots.
Duquesne (2-3) did not meet any of its keys for the game: Limit Kentucky's transition offense, reduce turnovers to a minimum and keep UK out of the lane.
As a 50-23 lead at intermission suggested, Kentucky dominated the first half. The Cats took the lead for good with 17:24 left, then steadily expanded the advantage.
UK's defense again made scoring difficult. Duquesne made only six of 29 shots in the first half. The Dukes had only four points in the paint.
Rebounding, which had been "disappointing" according to associate coach Kenny Payne, was not an issue in the first half. Kentucky enjoyed a 26-18 advantage on the boards.
Duquesne had only one second-chance basket. Nakye Sanders had a putback with 11:50 left when two UK players got in each other's way trying for the defensive rebound.
Evidence mounted that Kentucky will have plenty of potential contributors this season. Mulder had five points and four rebounds off the bench in the half.
Adebayo, who had struggled in foul trouble in two earlier games, had eight points and four rebounds in the first half. He posted up for scores on each side of the lane, feathering in baby hooks with each hand.
Isaac Humphries also had a baby hook off a post-up. Those scorers were part of UK's 22-4 advantage in points from the paint in the half.
Kentucky's guards also contributed. Briscoe (nine points, five assists, three rebounds) and Fox (12 points, five rebounds and four assists) were flirting with triple-doubles going into halftime.
The first half got chippie down the stretch. Duquesne's Ferry was hit with a technical foul. He protested a no-call when a collision with Adebayo left Sanders on the floor wincing in pain.
On UK's next possession, Duquesne forward Eric James' hard foul sent Briscoe to the floor. Replays showed James bump Briscoe as the UK player arose.
Willis, who set a goal of playing better defense this season, may have scored defensive points early in the second half. He hounded a Duquesne player into a turnover near mid-court. That led to a reach-back dunk by Monk.
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