LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It was the PJ & EJ Show on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.

The Wildcats' talented initialed forwards, PJ Washington and EJ Montgomery, both turned in strong performances in a dominant 76-48 win over South Carolina.

Washington scored a game-high 20 points while Montgomery recorded the first double-double of his college career with 11 points and 13 rebounds in the surprisingly lopsided thrashing of the Gamecocks.

"EJ was really good," UK head coach John Calipari said. "Double-double. Active. Playing hard. Blocking shots. He's starting to come around, and this was a great game for him to prove it against a really physical team. They're going to get body-to-body on you, and he was still able to get it done."

"It's a good feeling when you put in all the hard work every day to come out and improve, and you do it," Montgomery said.

Added Washington: "It was great. I'm happy for (Montgomery). I'm one of his biggest fans, and just to see him go out there and put a smile on everyone's faces, that's big for us."

No. 5 Kentucky (19-3, 8-1 SEC) racked up its ninth consecutive victory.

In addition to the big performances by Washington and Montgomery, the Cats also got 11 points and nine rebounds from grad transfer forward Reid Travis and 11 points from freshman wing Tyler Herro.

South Carolina (11-11, 6-3 SEC) was held to 35.8 percent shooting from the field and committed 19 turnovers leading to 26 points for UK.

The Gamecocks were hurt by foul trouble for star forward Chris Silva, who scored 27 points in last year's South Carolina win over UK. He picked up two fouls in the game's first five minutes and logged only 15 minutes, finishing with four points and four rebounds.

Without having to battle Silva for most of the night, Kentucky dominated the glass. The Cats finished with a 50-27 advantage in the rebound column.

South Carolina head coach Frank Martin pointed to UK's aggressiveness as the difference in the game.

"We continue to struggle with physicality," he said. "Any time we play a team that plays with physicality, we haven't answered the bell this year."

Calipari suggested the Cats used the Gamecocks' strength against them.

"If a team is a disruptive defensive team, let's disrupt them," he said. "If a team likes to run, let's run them. You take their strength and make it not your strength. You know what I'm saying? That's kind of how I try to do this."

Added the UK boss: "We played really good today... I loved our toughness, especially from our young guys."

*****

In this Cats Illustrated "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK victory...

THE GOOD:

EJ Montgomery's emergence the last two games (11 points, 16 rebounds, 2 blocked shots) could give the Cats yet another weapon in their arsenal. Opponents have to be more than a little concerned to see the McDonald's All-American coming to life as UK continues to rack up wins.

THE BAD:

Ashton Hagans' first half. The freshman guard had six turnovers and no assists as UK held a modest 39-28 lead at the break. He was able to turn that around, however, and dished out four assists with no turnovers in the second half. The Cats were still upside down (11/14) in the assist-to-turnover ratio for the game.

THE UGLY:

Aesthetically, this was kind of the type of game we expected with South Carolina coming to town. Both Calipari and Martin like to slug it out and turn the game into a grinder. This one featured only two fast-break points for each team.

GAME BALL:

EJ Montgomery, Kentucky -- Easy call. The 6-foot-10 freshman from Florida was 5-of-7 from the field and recorded 11 points and 13 rebounds in only 20 minutes of action. His previous game highs were 10 points (Nov. 9 vs. Southern Illinois) and seven rebounds (twice, Nov. 9 vs.Southern Illinois and Nov. 14 vs. North Dakota).

BY THE NUMBERS:

1st - Career double-double for UK freshman forward EJ Montgomery.

4th - Twenty-point scoring effort for UK sophomore forward PJ Washington in the last five games.

6 - Consecutive UK opponents held to 63 points or less.

11 - Steals by UK, including three by freshman guard Ashton Hagans.

21 - Offensive rebounds for the Cats, led by six for Reid Travis.

28-2 - UK's record against South Carolina in Lexington.

52-12 - UK's all-time record against South Carolina.

QUOTABLE:

"I don't know Cal's team, I'm not at practice every day, but he's got three guys on the front line, two of which started last year who are real good and a fifth-year senior, so I'm sure EJ (Montgomery) keeps getting better because he's dealing with those guys in practice. He got an opportunity today, and he was extremely active on the interior. He protected the rim. He rebounded every ball that came off the rim. That's a credit to EJ. They called his number today, and he responded." -- South Carolina coach Frank Martin

UP NEXT:

Kentucky returns to action Saturday at Mississippi State. The Cats won the first meeting between the clubs 76-55 on Jan. 22 at Rupp Arena. The Bulldogs (16-5, 4-4 SEC) play host to No. 21 LSU on Wednesday night before UK visits Starkville.