Gonzaga welcomed Kentucky on a rare visit to the Great Northwest with an avalanche of energy and emotion for which the Wildcats could never fully recover.
The No. 2 Bulldogs, humbled by Texas in a blowout loss earlier this week, paid it forward to No. 4 Kentucky in an 88-72 romp on Sunday in front of a raucous crowd of 12,333 at Spokane Veterans Memorial Arena.
Gonzaga (3-1) raced to a 10-2 lead in the opening moments of the game and led by 16 at the half. The Cats pulled within four midway through the second half but could not overcome foul trouble for big man Oscar Tshiebwe and lost by the halftime margin.
"I wouldn't trade my team for anyone's team, but I'm not happy," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "They imposed their will on us."
Kentucky (2-2) shot 25% from the field in the first half. Tshiebwe had 14 points at the break on 4-of-7 shooting, but the rest of his teammates went a combined 4-for-25 and missed all 10 of their 3-point attempts.
To make matters worse, the Cats were smashed on the glass. Gonzaga pulled down the first 13 rebounds of the game and finished with a 39-29 edge despite UK getting 15 from Tshiebwe, last year's national player of the year and NCAA rebounding leader.
"The way we were rebounding," Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. "I didn’t know we could hang with them on the glass.”
Three players topped the 20-point mark for Gonzaga, led by a game-high 24 points from guard Rasir Bolton. Drew Timme and Julian Strawther added 22 and 20, respectively, for the Bulldogs, who shot 55% from the field.
Tshiebwe led the Cats with 20 points to go along with his 15 rebounds. Jacob Toppin (16), Cason Wallace (14), and Antonio Reeves (10) also reached double-figures for UK, which shot 39% on the night.
"You're not winning in the college game if you're not making any shots," Calipari said. "We were 0-for-10 at halftime from 3, and they were good looks. C'mon."
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK loss...
KEY MOMENT:
Kentucky trimmed an 18-point margin to 49-45 with 13:07 to go, but Oscar Tshiebwe was tagged with his fourth foul on a questionable call defending a shot near the rim with 12:48 to play. He went to the bench, and Gonzaga responded with a 19-10 spurt to reclaim control of the game. With Tshiebwe sidelined, TImme scored seven of his 22 points during the run. Kentucky still hung within six after a Sahvir Wheeler 3-pointer at the 9:50 mark but proceded to turn the ball over on three of its next four trips down the court as the lead grew back to 70-57. The Cats got no closer than nine the rest of the way.
GAME BALL:
Julian Strawther, Gonzaga -- Not too many UK fans could have likely picked the Bulldogs' junior wing out of a police lineup heading into the game, but they all know about him now. He was the big energy guy for Gonzaga early on and finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds.
BY THE NUMBERS:
0 - Blocked shots by Kentucky, which entered the game with 40 rejections in four games this season.
1st - Meeting between the two elite programs since the 2002 Maui Invitational, won 80-72 by UK.
6 of 25 - Kentucky's 3-point shooting. The Cats are 13 of 50 from the arc in their two losses this season.
10 - Steals by Kentucky, including four by Cason Wallace. The freshman guard now has 17 steals in his first five games.
14 - Rebounds pulled down by the nine UK players not named Oscar Tshiebwe.
22-12 - Foul differential between UK and Gonzaga. The home team was whistled for only five fouls in the second half.
44-24 - Gonzaga scoring edge in the paint.
QUOTABLE:
"We do have time, and that's where we've got to get better." -- UK coach John Calipari on playing just one game over the next nine games.
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Wednesday at Rupp Arena in a 4 p.m. ET matchup with North Florida prior to the Thanksgiving holiday. The game will be broadcast by the SEC Network+
