J.D. Hall 
Kentucky and Western Kentucky
Kentucky was led by Otega Oweh and Andrew Carr with 18 points each in a physical matchup with Western Kentucky, a 87-68 Wildcat win Tuesday night in Rupp Arena. Joining them in double figures was Lamont Butler with 14. Kobe Brea finally looked human, hitting just 3-7 from 3, dropping his season percentage down to 68% (23-34).
It was a rough, un-even game that was only a 6 point game with 11:54 on the clock, 57-51. From there, Kentucky would impose its will finishing on a 30-17 run for the final margin. Oweh would spark a 14-4 run, that effectively ended the game, over the next 3 plus minutes.
Western Kentucky, a team that returned 8 players from a NCAA tournament team a year ago, never backed down. For times throughout the game, they looked like the more athletic, quicker team. It was the type of game that Kentucky needs in the non-conference and will do a lot for preparing them going forward in the season.
WKU was led by Julius Thedford with 18 and Babacar Faye with 16 before fouling out with 7:18 remaining in the game. WKU would shoot 29 free throws with 16 coming from Thedford (7-10) and Faye (6-6). Joining them in double figure was Enoch Kalambay with 10.
Kentucky was able to overcome a poor shooting night, just 8-29 from 3 (27.6%) and 25-62 overall (40.3%) both over 11% below their season averages. They were able to do this by holding WKU to just 4-26 from 3 (15.4%) and 21-66 overall (31.8%) from the floor. Kentucky also dominated on the glass 54-41, a stat that Coach Pope has been emphasizing all season. Kentucky would also get 42 chances from the free throw line, but only convert 29. 71 combined free throws, 42 in the second half alone, slowed down the pace and interrupted the flow of the game. It was also the way WKU needed to play to keep it close, and it worked for most of the night. It just wasn’t enough to overcome the size and skill that this Kentucky team has.
We also learned a lot about Kentucky tonight. In a game where they were being hit in the mouth and the shots weren’t falling from outside, they pivoted and began attacking the paint and showed that they can win a grind it out game. It bodes well for conference play, which begins in just over a month, with the likes of Auburn, Tennessee and Texas A&M playing this kind of physical defense.
What other teams should worry about though, and Pope talked about this in his postgame, it was a bad offensive night for Kentucky and they put up 87 points. Scary what a great night on offense will be!
Kentucky returns to action Friday night at 7:00pm against Georgia State at Rupp Arena and SEC Network.
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