LEXINGTON, KY - Antonio Reeves scored 18 points and C.J. Frederick added 14 to lead No. 4 (AP) Kentucky to a 77-52 win over Duquesne in the Tribute Classic presented by Kentucky Tourism at Rupp Arena on Friday night.
Jimmy Clark III led Duquesne, which shot 30 percent, with a career-high 11 points, all of which came in the first half.
Austin Rotroff scored all eight of his points in the second half and R.J. Gunn hit a pair of 3-pointers in adding seven points for the Dukes.
Kentucky held Duquesne to three field goals over the last 11:07 in building a 38-22 halftime lead.
UK got 3-pointers from Reeves and Chris Livingston in the final eight minutes to double their lead from eight to 16.
The Dukes were outshot 50 percent to 25 percent in the opening 20 minutes.
Duquesne got back-to-back buckets from
Tre Williams and a 3-pointer from
Quincy McGriff to pull within nine less than two minutes into the second half, before the Cats answered with a 6-0 run.
DU cut it to 11 on a
Joe Reece 3-pointer with 11:22 left, but could get no closer as Kentucky built its lead to 21 on a Jacob Toppin dunk with 8:17 to go.
Kentucky, which shot 46 percent, went 11-of-19 from 3-point.
The Dukes finished 7-of-26 from the arc.
Duquesne (1-0) returns home to face South Carolina State in its second game of the Tribute Classic presented by Kentucky Tourism on Monday, Nov 11 at 7:00 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by CBSSN
NOTES
- Duquesne, which shot .303, had a Dambrot Era high 11 shots blocked.
- DU got 3-pointers from six players (7-of-26, .269 overall).
- Kentucky, which shot 46 percent for the game, was 11-of-19 from deep. UK's .579 success rate from 3-point was the best by an opponent against a Dambrot-coached DU team.
- Jimmy Clark III's 11 points - all of which came in the first half - eclipsed his previous career high of nine set vs. James Madison while at VCU in 2020-21. Clark also tied his career high with four steals.
- Austin Rotroff's eight points off the bench were his most since his 10-point outing vs. New Hampshire on Dec. 11, 2021. Rotroff also added a team-high six rebounds in 15 minutes of action.
- Tevin Brewer played 15 minutes in his Duquesne debut. Andy Barba also saw his first game action.
- Duquesne's largest lead came at 3-0... Kentucky's largest lead was the 25-point final margin ... there was one tie and three lead changes before Ugonna Onyenso gave the Wildcats the lead for good on dunk with 14:03 left in the first half ... Kentucky led for 37:13 ... Duquesne led for 1:51.
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