FRIDAY'S SCORES
@#2 Kentucky 91,
Eastern Kentucky 49
@Wisconsin 65,
Eastern Illinois 52
@Iowa 87,
SIUE 60
#2 KENTUCKY 91, EASTERN KENTUCKY 49
LEXINGTON, Ky. - The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team fell to No. 2 Kentucky, 91-49, on Friday night at Rupp Arena.
Freshman Michael Moreno came off the bench to lead EKU (1-1) in scoring at 14 points. The former Scott County High School star connected on four three-pointers in the game. He added five rebounds.
Senior Ty Taylor contributed nine points for the Colonels, while junior Jacquess Hobbs finished with six points and team-bests in rebounds (seven), assists (five) and steals (three).
Nick Richards paced six Kentucky players in double figures with 21 points and 10 boards.
The Wildcats opened the game on a 14-0 run, capped by an Ashton Hagans layup with 13:42 remaining in the first half. A three-point play by junior Darius Hicks at the 12:57 mark finally got the Colonels on the board.
Kentucky (2-0) led by 23 late in the first half, but a pair of free throws by Moreno with three seconds on the clock made it 46-25 at the break.
Moreno drained all four his three-pointers in the second half en route to a 14-point performance.
Eastern turned Kentucky over 18 times on the night and held the Wildcats to just 2-of-14 shooting from beyond the arc (14 percent). The Colonels, meanwhile, connected on eight three-pointers in the game.
WISCONSIN 65, EASTERN ILLINOIS 52
MADISON, Wis. - Eastern Illinois closed to within three points with just under nine minutes to play on Friday night at Wisconsin. Following a Mack Smith 3-pointer that made it a 3-point game, Wisconsin went on a 15-0 run to pull away for a 65-52 win.
EIU fell to 0-2 on the season while Wisconsin improved to 1-1 on the year.
The Panthers had a much different start on Friday evening than they did in the season opener Tuesday at No. 12 Texas Tech. At Wisconsin, Madison native Shareef Smith gave the Panthers an early 5-4 lead.
Wisconsin would settle in and use its size to its advantage. The Badgers had six first-half blocks and were able to draw fouls against the smaller EIU squad. Wisconsin was 8-of-8 from the free throw line in the first half and 20-of-24 for the game. Wisconsin finished with 12 blocks in the game.
The Badgers would pull out to a 14-7 lead on a 3-pointer by Brevin Pritzl and basket by Kobe King. King’s dunk at the 7:45 mark of the first half pushed the Badgers out to a 21-10 lead. King had ten first half points, finishing the game with 18.
EIU found a steady stream of 3-pointers late in the first half as they closed to 28-23 with 3:56 to play in the first on a 3-pointer by Shareef Smith. EIU finished the game 7-of-19 from 3-point range.
Wisconsin would lead 34-27 at the half holding EIU to 35 percent shooting in the first half and 33 percent shooting for the game.
The Panthers made a couple of second half charges cutting the lead to four points on a bucket by Shareef Smith with 12:43 to play. A Mack Smith 3-pointer with 8:56 to play would cut the margin to 46-43 as Smith made a 3-pointer for the 51st consecutive game – the longest active streak in the NCAA.
Each EIU run was answered by Wisconsin including the final 15-0 run that was eventually ended with dunk by Jordan Skipper-Brown off a good inside pass from George Dixon.
Dixon followed up his season opening double-double at Texas Tech with 11 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers. Marvin Johnson added 12 points.
Nate Reuvers just missed a triple-double with 14 points, 14 rebounds and nine blocks. EIU’s defense did hold Wisconsin to 38 percent shooting.
IOWA 87, SIUE 60
IOWA CITY, Iowa - Iowa connected on 27 of 32 free throws on its way to an 87-60 win over SIUE men's basketball in nonconference action Friday at Carver Hawkeye Arena.
Iowa, which won its season opener for the ninth consecutive year, also improved to 16-0 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference. SIUE slipped to 1-1 on the season.
The Hawkeyes were 12-14 from the free throw line in the first half and 15-18 in the second half, while SIUE was just 4 for 4 the entire game.
The Cougars kept stride with Iowa over most of the game's first half, never trailing by double digits until a C.J. Frederick jumper with 2:08 left in the half gave Iowa a 33-22 advantage. The Hawkeyes had a 38-26 lead at the half.
Iowa's 6-11 center Luka Garza used his size advantage to collect a double-double. He scored a game-high 20 points while grabbing a game-high 12 rebounds. He was 6 for 10 at the free throw line.
Iowa's Joe Wisecamp was 5 for 10 from the field and 3 for 7 from three-point range for 16 points.
Cam Williams and Kenyon Duling each scored 10 points to pace the Cougars, who shot 41.9 percent (26-62) from the field overall.
Iowa outrebounded SIUE 38-31 and scored 36 points in the paint and 13 second-chance points.
The Cougars force 12 Iowa turnovers and turned them into 15 points.