Lexington, KY (SportsNetwork.com) – Aaron Harrison led a balanced Kentucky
attack with 19 points and the No. 1 Wildcats used a big second half to pull
away from Boston University, 89-65, to remain unbeaten on the season.
Devin Booker had 15 points and seven assists and Karl-Anthony Towns blocked
five shots for Kentucky (4-0), which dismantled fifth-ranked Kansas earlier in
the week in Indianapolis before returning home for an eight-game homestand.
“When you have a team like this and you’re not shooting and scoring, then you
can involve yourself in different ways to contribute to the win,” said Booker,
who made his first career start.
Cedric Hankerson scored a game-high 24 points for BU (1-2), which stayed
competitive for most of the night before a late rally resulted in a crooked
final score.
The Wildcats led 16-7 after Dakari Johnson’s putback dunk and looked to be on
their way to another rout, but BU quickly closed the gap. Nathan Dieudonne and
Justin Alston had dunks to bookend an 9-0 run that stretched around the second
media timeout to tie the game.
Kentucky responded with 10 straight, including four each from Harrison
and Willie Cauley-Stein. The lead hovered between five and 10 for the rest of
the half, and Eric Fanning’s 3-pointer with five seconds left pulled the
Terriers within five, 40-35, at the break.
“Well, we didn’t fight in the first half,” said Kentucky head coach John
Calipari. “We didn’t drive it enough, we didn’t get in the gaps.”
Hankerson did all he could to keep the them afloat. His 3-ball at 16:20 had
BU within two.
But Kentucky ran away with it after a big run later in the half. Back-to-back
Trey Lyles dunks, including an alley-oop from Booker, gave the Wildcats a
63-50 lead near the midpoint of the second half.
The spread reached 20 after Harrison’s layup with 5:48 left, and it never got
close from there.
Game Notes
Kentucky has won 17 straight non-conference home games … The Wildcats don’t
go on the road until Dec. 20 against UCLA in Chicago … Kentucky is 4-0 all-
time against BU … Kentucky forward Alex Poythress missed the game with an
illness.
