LEXINGTON, Ky. — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and his Kentucky teammates knew they were capable of a dominant performance. Facing archrival Louisville motivated the No. 16 Wildcats to go out and prove it.
Gilgeous-Alexander came off the bench to score a career-high 24 points, including 17 after halftime, PJ Washington added 16 and Kentucky used several runs to blow out rival Louisville 90-61 Friday in the annual showdown for Bluegrass supremacy.
Seeking to regroup after last week's 83-75 loss to unranked UCLA, the Wildcats (10-2) used a 20-6 run to close the first half with a 41-27 lead. Their 24-11 surge over 8:41 in the second helped built a 67-38 lead that eventually reached 32, a gap helped by 57 percent second-half shooting.
Gilgeous-Alexander had a lot to do with that, especially inside.
The freshman guard from Canada shot 6 of 10 after the break to finish 9 of 16 from the field and top his previous scoring best of 15 points against Monmouth on Dec. 9. Playing at times with Washington and Quade Green (13 points), Gilgeous-Alexander registered five second-half layups alone.
"I knew it would come eventually," said Gilgeous-Alexander, who also had five rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes. "I've just been working, and once you work good things will happen. And it happened tonight."
Washington helped earlier with 10 points down the stretch in the first half for a halftime lead that expanded as Kentucky earned its biggest series win since a 76-46 rout in Lexington during the 1999-2000 season.
The Wildcats' mix of man and zone defenses meanwhile held Louisville (10-3) to 35 percent shooting, including 3 of 25 from long range. Most impressive to coach John Calipari was doing that after last weekend's disappointing effort against the Bruins.
"That's as good as we play," the coach said. "We played just about as good as we can play, mainly because we finally competed and battled for an entire game."
NO. 2 MICHIGAN ST. 111, CLEVELAND ST. 61
EAST LANSING, Mich. — Nick Ward had 22 points and 14 rebounds, and No. 2 Michigan State rolled to a victory over Cleveland State, the third straight game for the Spartans with over 100 points.
The Spartans led 63-25 at halftime after shooting 74 percent from the field in the opening 20 minutes — including 9 of 13 from 3-point range. Michigan State (13-1) is making short work of the weaker opponents on its schedule. The Spartans scored 107 points against Houston Baptist and 102 against Long Beach State.
Joshua Langford scored 23 points for Michigan State, and Miles Bridges added 18 with eight rebounds and seven assists.
Bobby Word scored 26 points for Cleveland State (3-10) and made seven 3-pointers.
Michigan State finished 15 of 26 from beyond the arc and shot 65 percent overall.
NO. 7 WEST VIRGINIA 85, OKLAHOMA STATE 79
STILLWATER, Okla. — Teddy Allen scored 15 points, leading six West Virginia players in double figures Friday night as the seventh-ranked Mountaineers rallied to an victory over Oklahoma State in the Big 12 opener for both teams.
West Virginia (12-1, 1-0 Big 12), trailed by seven early in the second half, but rode Allen, who scored 13 of his team-high points over the final 20 minutes. The Mountaineers, who won their 12th straight, got 13 points from Sagaba Konate, 12 each from Javon Carter and Daxter Miles Jr., 11 from Lamont West and 10 from James Bolden in a balanced scoring night.
The Cowboys (10-3, 0-1), the nation's No. 2 free throw shooting team entering the game, went just 11 of 19 from the line in the second half.
Jeffrey Carroll and Tavarius Shine scored 17 points each to lead the Cowboys.
Both teams claim defensive identities and it showed, as each reached a season-high for turnovers. West Virginia forced 21 turnovers and Oklahoma State 18, and the teams combined for 22 steals.