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Kentucky Rolls Penn State 85-47
Lamb has 26 to lead Kentucky
UNCASVILLE,
Conn. (AP) - Kentucky's star freshman Anthony Davis had just three
points on Saturday. Coach John Calipari isn't concerned.
Sophomore
Doron Lamb had 26 points and the Wildcats routed Penn State 85-47 in
the Hall of Fame Tip-Off tournament in Connecticut.
Kyle Wiltjer
added 19 points and Terrence Jones had 15 points, nine rebounds and
five assists for Kentucky (3-0), which didn't put five players in
double figures for the first time this season.
They didn't need to.
"Anthony
Davis' line, six rebounds, three points and three blocks, and it ain't
close, he's the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft," Calipari said. "It
doesn't matter. Just play because the next game he may go for 25. Today
Doron went for 25. So it doesn't matter. Play."
They did.
The
Wildcats held Penn State without a field goal for more than 11 1/2
minutes during the first half, opening up a 34-point lead, and never
looked back.
"We all believe in one another, and we play like it," Jones said. "No one cares who shoots the ball. We're just having fun."
Tim Frazier had 11 points, six rebounds and six assists to lead Penn State (3-1), which had opened the season with three wins.
The Nittany Lions shot 27 percent from the field, 16 percent in the first half.
The
Wildcats, who struggled in the first half of their 75-65 win over No.
12 Kansas earlier in the week, had a much faster start on Saturday.
They
opened the game in a full-court press and jumped out to a 16-5 lead, a
run that included a four-point play when Michael Kidd-Gilchrist grabbed
a missed free throw by Jones and then hit a 3-point shot from the
corner.
It was 38-12 after three consecutive 3-pointers by
Kentucky, one from Jones and two more by Lamb, part of a 14-0 run by
the Wildcats.
"We had 12 turnovers at the half against
(Kansas)," Calipari said. We competed with ourselves, we didn't compete
against Kansas. Today, we passed to each other. We had 19 assists."
Lamb
hit six of his first eight shots, and his driving layup pushed the lead
to 30 points with just under 5 minutes left in the first half. At that
point, he was outscoring Penn State 17-12.
"I think I played
great," Lamb said. "Just like Coach said, my motor is getting better. I
just wanted to come out and play hard and keep my motor going."
Frazier,
who came in averaging almost 21 points and nine assists, hit a layup
for Penn State with 11:34 left in the half. The Nittany Lions didn't
get another field goal until Jon Graham tipped in his own missed dunk
at the buzzer to make it 47-15 at the half.
Penn State, which started last season 4-0, opened this season with wins at home over Hartford, Radford and Long Island.
Penn State was 6 for 37 from the field in the first half, including 1 of 15 from behind the 3-point arc.
"My
team is going to grow up," coach Patrick Chambers said. "We just got to
keep tapping. We just have to use this as a learning experience."
Kentucky
shot 53 percent from the floor. Penn State held its first three
opponents to under 38 percent shooting and forced more than 18
turnovers per game. The Wildcats turned the ball over 10 times.
Kentucky, which has the most wins in Division I with 2,055, had never before played in the state of Connecticut.
This
was just the fourth meeting between the two schools and Kentucky leads
the series 3-1. Penn State won the previous meeting back in 2000.
The
Nittany Lions are 1-10 all time against teams ranked second in the
nation. Penn State's last win against a team ranked this high was a
65-63 victory over Michigan State in 2001.
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