Otega Oweh scored 15 of his 17 points after halftime as 14th-ranked Kentucky took control late in the first half and pulled away for an 80-57 victory over visiting South Carolina on Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Ky.
The Wildcats (16-7, 5-5 SEC) bounced back nicely from consecutive losses to Arkansas and No. 25 Ole Miss and won for just the second time in six games. South Carolina (10-13, 0-10) remained the lone winless team in SEC play.
Oweh made 5 of 7 shots in the second half when Kentucky outscored South Carolina 47-38. He shot 6-of-10 overall and helped the Wildcats earn their most lopsided win in conference play this season.
Reserve Brandon Garrison added a season-high 15 on 7-of-8 shooting as he and Oweh were a combined 13-of-18 from the floor. Koby Brea added 10 and a career-high six assists as Kentucky’s bench totaled 39 points.
Amari Williams also scored 10 as the Wildcats shot 48.4 percent, hit 15 layups and led for the final 31:50.
The Wildcats got a boost as Lamont Butler returned from missing three games with a shoulder injury and scored eight points in 23 minutes. Second-leading scorer Jaxson Robinson played through a tweaked right hand and was held to six points in 20 minutes.
South Carolina’s Collin Murray-Boyles collected 14 points and eight rebounds but shot an inefficient 5 of 13. Jacobi Wright added 12 points while Jamarii Thomas finished with 11 as the Gamecocks shot a dreadful 32.8 percent (19 of 58) and missed 18 of 22 3-point tries.
After South Carolina inched within 21-18 on a jumper by Thomas with 4:55 remaining, Kentucky countered South Carolina’s rally with a 12-1 run and opened a 33-19 lead by halftime when Williams converted a 3-point play and hit a layup on consecutive trips in the final minute.
The Gamecocks did not let the Wildcats pull away further in the opening minutes of the second as a dunk and layup by Nick Pringle cut the deficit to 41-30 with 14:58 left. Garrison converted two dunks in a span of 55 seconds for a 47-34 lead with 11:56 left and then sank a 3 with 11:16 to go for a 50-37 lead.
Kentucky briefly let the lead slip under double digits, but Oweh hit a transition 3 with 9:50 left and got by Murray-Boyles for a dunk with 8:10 to go for a 55-41 edge. Butler then converted a 3-point play for a 61-41 lead with 7:16 remaining to start finishing it off.
–Field Level Media
