LEXINGTON, Ky. — Mainstays Oscar Tshiebwe and Sahvir Wheeler continued to be Mr. Inside and Mr. Outside for Kentucky on Tuesday night.
With freshman TyTy Washington adding a personal revival, Kentucky routed Mount St. Mary’s, 80-55, in Rupp Arena.
Tshiebwe assured himself of a third double-double in three games minutes into the second half. He finished with a career-high 24 points to go with 16 rebounds.
Wheeler drove to the basket repeatedly for scores, finishing with 12 points while posting an 8-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. That made his ratio in the last two games 20-to-1.
In UK’s first two games, Washington made only 8 of 24 shots (none of three attempts from 3-point range). He contributed 16 points against Mount St. Mary’s, while making 7 of 12 shots (2 of 3 from 3-point range).
“He’s got to understand that’s how people are going to play him all year,” UK staffer James “Bruiser” Flint said after Washington made three of 14 shots against Duke’s defense. “Freshman have to learn that.”
Washington looked more confident Tuesday night.
The Mountaineers, who were picked to finish near the top in the Northeast Conference by Blue Ribbon (third), Lindy’s (second) and Athlon (third), looked the part in the first half.
But Mount St. Mary’s was playing its fourth game in eight days. That span included travel to Lexington on Sunday. So, the Mountaineers had one day to prepare for Kentucky, said coach Dan Engelstad, who added, “We’ve got to lock in.”
Perhaps fatigue played a part in Kentucky opening the second half with 23-5 run that decided the outcome.
A revived Washington helped Kentucky take a 38-27 halftime lead. The freshman scored 12 points in the opening half.
Tshiebwe did not limit himself to inside muscle. Instead, he showed the kind of offensive versatility that UK coach John Calipari had been saying was part of the big man’s game.
UK’s first possession included a post feed to Tshiebwe, who turned into the lane, faced up and made the shot.
Before the second television timeout, Tshiebwe made two 15-foot jump shots, which surely receded into faded memory the air-ball he shot from a similar distance against Robert Morris. He finished the half on the way to another double-double as he scored a team-high 14 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Even with that Mount St. Mary’s competed. The teams traded the lead seven times inside the first seven minutes.
Tshiebwe’s second face-up jumper gave Kentucky the lead for good at 12-11 with 13:29 left.
Mount St. Mary’s was within 29-25 with barely three minutes left in the half.
Kentucky finished strong, outscoring the Mountaineers 9-2 the rest of the way.
The second of Washington’s two 3-pointers came with 50.3 seconds left gave UK its first double-digit lead and set the halftime score.
Washington made 5 of 6 shots, his only miss of the first half being a 3-point heave in the final seconds.
The second half was only 43 seconds old when Mount St. Mary’s called time. Kentucky scored on Wheeler’s straight-line drive and a dunk by Tshiebwe off a Wheeler pass to expand the lead to 42-27. That prompted the timeout.
The timeout did not stem Kentucky’s momentum. Wheeler, who apparently put on his driving shoes at halftime, drove for a reverse layup. Then Washington hit a floater.
The crowd erupted on the next UK possession. Tshiebwe missed a shot from near the top of key, but he hustled to the basket to get the rebound. That was his 10th rebound of the game with the possession resulting in another Wheeler driving layup.
Ultimately, UK scored the first 13 points of the second half to go up 51-27.
With the UK lead extended to 61-32, Mount St. Mary’s called another timeout at the 13:09 mark.
Kentucky kept the pressing its advantage. A 3-pointer by Kellan Grady put the Cats ahead 68-37 with 11:12 left. That made it a 30-10 UK run to start the second half.
When Tshiebwe left the game with 2:39 left, the crowd gave him a warm ovation.
