Graham Ike dominated with 28 points and 10 rebounds, Braden Huff added 20 points and No. 11 Gonzaga overwhelmed No. 18 Kentucky in a 94-59 victory on Friday night as part of the Music City Madness in Nashville, Tenn.
Gonzaga (8-1), which bounced back from a 40-point loss to then-No. 7 Michigan on Nov. 26, enjoyed a wire-to-wire victory. Huff scored the game’s first points 12 seconds in and the Bulldogs never looked back. They jumped out to a 19-2 lead, led 43-20 by halftime and extended it to 37 points in the second half.
Rounding out the Bulldogs’ double-digit scorers were Adam Miller and Braeden Smith, who both finished with 11 points off the bench. Smith also had six rebounds and six assists. Gonzaga shot 57.1% from the field and made half of its 3-point attempts (9 of 18).
The 35-point loss for Kentucky (5-4) was its first by 30 or more since a 118-84 loss to Duke on Nov. 6, 2018. The Wildcats have lost all four of their games against ranked opponents this season.
Otega Oweh led Kentucky with 16 points, five rebounds and five assists. Collin Chandler finished with 11 points for the Wildcats, who shot 26.7% from the field and 20.6% from 3-point range.
Gonzaga’s fast start featured 3-pointers by Mario Saint-Supery and Steele Venters and an old-fashioned three-point play by Huff. A jumper by Miller at the 12:12 mark made it 19-2.
Kentucky missed its first 10 field-goal attempts and had five turnovers before Denzel Aberdeen knocked down a corner 3. But the Wildcats never cut significantly into the lead.
The Bulldogs had another 7-0 spurt later in the half, taking a 30-11 lead on a putback by Ike at the 5:44 mark. By halftime, Gonzaga had made 50% (17 of 34) of its shots from the field compared to Kentucky’s 16.1% (5 of 31). The Bulldogs had a 22-4 advantage in points in the paint, thanks in part to Ike’s 17 first-half points.
Kentucky, which rallied back from a 16-point halftime deficit against Gonzaga last season, didn’t fare any better in the second half.
The Bulldogs extended their lead to 61-30 with just under 13 minutes left after a 7-0 run, started with a 3 by Emmanuel Innocenti.
Gonzaga leads the all-time series 3-2. Up next, Gonzaga returns home to face North Florida on Sunday. Kentucky hosts North Carolina Central on Tuesday.
–Field Level Media
