BOX SCORE
LEXINGTON, Ky.—Kentucky beat Morehead State men's basketball at its own game.
MSU fell 75-59 to the No. 4 Wildcats Friday night at Rupp Arena in the season opener for both teams. UK used its size to outrebound the Eagles by 19, most of which came on the MSU side of the floor, taking away second chance points. UK doubled the Eagles second chance points 22-11.
"We were top five in rebounding margin in the nation last year and we pride ourselves on that," MSU coach Donnie Tyndall said. "To get outrebounded by 19 in a compliment to them."
Kentucky was especially effective at taking MSU junior forward Kenneth Faried, the nation's returning leading rebounder from 2008-09, out of the game early. Faried, who averaged a double-double last year, had five points and three rebounds at halftime. He fought through low-post double teams with a 12-point second half to finish with a team-high 17, but fell short of his double-double with seven boards.
"They are so big and physical and you can't show that in practice," Tyndall said. "We have one guy who can match that in Kenneth Faried. They have three or four guys that big."
Despite Faried's struggles in the low post in the first half, the Eagle defense was able to create opportunities by forcing 14 turnovers out of the Cats. The result was a late first-half run by MSU that cut a 14-point UK lead down to five with 2:54 to play before the break.
"During that run, we played MSU basketball. That was a good feeling so we'll build on that," Tyndall said. "We need to play like that and sustain it."
UK freshman Eric Bledsoe turned on the jets in the second half. Playing in his first collegiate game, Bledsoe had just two points at halftime, but he tallied 13 of the Wildcats first 17 points of the second half, sparking a 15-4 run that gave Kentucky a comfortable 19-point margin. Bledsoe finished with 24, 22 in the second half, to lead all scorers. Patrick Patterson, who was responsible for the other four points in Kentucky's early second-half run finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds.
"If [Bledsoe] is better than [UK freshman John] Wall, wow. When he starts making jumpers like he did in the second half he's really tough," Tyndall said.
The Cats were up by as much as 25 points late, but a surging Eagle team closed out the game with a 14-6 run, highlighted by a four-point lay-up, steal, lay-up sequence with senior Les Simmons and junior Sam Goodman.
Shooting woes from the perimeter hampered Morehead State's comeback efforts. MSU shot 16.7 percent from beyond the arc, but UK wasn't much better, hitting just 21.1 percent from long range.
Junior Demonte Harper joined Faried in double digits with 12 points and defensively he had three steals. Senior Brandon Shingles dished out five assists and Faried had two blocks.
Morehead State (0-1) will open the 2009-10 home season in Johnson Arena Monday at 7 p.m. versus Brescia.