MILWAUKEE -- Kentucky got an energizing scoring surge from its bench on Friday, helping the Wildcats pull away from upset-minded Troy in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Freshman guard Collin Chandler and sophomore center Brandon Garrison sparked a 16-0 run that broke open a close game and sent the third-seeded Wildcats on to the second round with a 76-57 win over the 14-seed Trojans at Fiserv Forum.
Chandler made a pair of 3-pointers and buried three free throws after being fouled on another long-range attempt to account for all nine of his points during the run. Meanwhile, Garrison hit a 3-pointer of his own to go along with a layup and a free throw for six of his 13 points during the decisive spurt.
"I feel like this is exactly where he's supposed to be," Kentucky guard Otega Oweh said of Chandler. "... It's great seeing it. We're at that point of the year where freshmen aren't freshmen no more, so he's stepping up. He's not playing like a freshman."
"The best part of coaching," UK head coach Mark Pope said of watching Chandler's emergence late in the season. "... Here he is on the biggest stage he's ever been on in his entire life in a high-pressure game with a bunch of teammates that are hanging on by a thread health-wise, and he's like 'I'm ready. I'm ready to go get this.'"
Regarding Garrison's big contributions on both ends of the floor, Pope added: "I'm telling you guys, BG is going to turn into a really, really special player."
In addition to a combined 22 points from Garrison and Chandler, Kentucky also got 20 points, eight rebounds, and six assists from Oweh. Koby Brea and Andrew Carr each chipped in with 13 points for the Cats, who shot 48% on the night, made 10 3-pointers, and dished out 23 assists on their 28 made field goals.
"They're as good as an offensive team as I've seen throughout," Troy head coach Scott Cross said. "I watch a lot of college basketball... Kentucky can really, really score the basketball."
Kentucky (23-11) advances to the second round, where the Cats will face the winner of Friday's late game in Milwaukee between sixth-seeded Illinois and 11-seed Xavier.
Troy (23-11) was led by forward Myles Rigsby with 17 points. The Trojans were held to 35% from the field and made just eight of 25 attempts from the 3-point arc. Their leading scorer on the season, guard Tayton Conerway, was held to 12 points on 5-for-12 shooting and a 1-for-7 night from the arc.
Rebounding was a big factor in the game. Kentucky won the battle 39-38, but more importantly, held the Trojans to just 10 second-chance points. Troy entered the matchup ranked sixth nationally in offensive rebound percentage.
Amari Williams led UK with a game-high 13 rebounds.
"His size and his defensive ability were greater than what I expected," Cross said of Williams. "You see on film that he's a big ol' guy, but standing next to him, he really defended the rim well. We got some advantages off the pick-and-roll where we could maybe play two-on-one, but you drive it in there, and he's blocking shots or bluffing and walling up guys."
*****
In this "Rapid Recap" feature, we touch on some quick-hitters from the UK game...
KEY MOMENT:
Troy made this a competitive game for the entire first half and the first seven minutes of the second half. Leading only 45-39, Kentucky needed a spark and found one in the form of freshman guard Collin Chandler. He led the Cats on a 16-0 run, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and three free throws, to open up a 21-point lead and crush the Trojans' hopes of pulling a March Madness upset. Backup center Brandon Garrison was also big during the run, scoring six points on a 3-pointer, a layup and a free throw.
GAME BALL:
Collin Chandler, Kentucky -- Other players had bigger stat lines, but the freshman guard's flurry of points midway through the second half came when the Wildcats needed them most. UK had been unable to shake pesky Troy all night, leading by six with 12:55 to go, but Chandler made the big shots to break it open.
BY THE NUMBERS:
1st - Win in the NCAA Tournament for Kentucky head coach Mark Pope.
6 - Different players made a 3-pointer for the Cats, the first time that has happened in an NCAA Tournament game since 2010 against East Tennessee State.
14-0 - Kentucky's record since 2003 in NCAA Tournament games played on Friday.
20-8-6-2 - Points, rebounds, assists and steals for UK's Otega Oweh, the first player in program history to record as many in each category in an NCAA Tournament game.
23:10 - Assist-to-turnover ratio for the Cats, who assisted on 23 of their 28 made field goals on the night.
131-55 - Kentucky's all-time record in the NCAA Tournament.
QUOTABLE:
"There's been ups and downs and setbacks, but it's been a great learning lesson this whole year of patience and trusting myself and trusting God and his plan for me." -- UK freshman guard Collin Chandler
UP NEXT:
Kentucky returns to action on Sunday against the winner of tonight's matchup between Illinois (6) and Xavier (11).
