Brandon Knight scored 23 points and Kentucky bounced back from its first loss of the season with a 91-57 win over Boston University on Tuesday night. Terrence Jones added 18 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (5-1), who shot 59 percent from the field and overwhelmed the Terriers (4-4) over the final 20 minutes. Kentucky led by just seven points at halftime before opening the second half on an 18-3 run to break things open.
Kentucky coach John Calipari was on the sideline two days after the passing of his mother, Donna, who died on Sunday following a lengthy battle with cancer. The players honored her by sporting black socks, while Kentucky's assistants donned black suits and some fans -- particularly in the student section -- wore black T-shirts. Calipari thanked everyone for their support before the game via his Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying he was sure his mother was watching from "the luxury boxes with a whole crew of UK luminaries cheering right along with her."
Calipari called his team too "selfish" following an 84-67 loss to Connecticut in the finals of the Maui Invitational, a game in which the Wildcats were dominated from nearly the opening tip.
He urged them to communicate better on defense and share the ball on offense.
They did that after perhaps shaking off some late jet lag from their trip. Kentucky led just 40-33 at halftime as Boston hung around by attacking the offensive boards and harassing the Wildcats into careless turnovers.
Any hopes of pulling the upset and giving Kentucky its first losing streak under Calipari, however, evaporated during a blistering opening 8 minutes to the second half.The run started slowly with two free throws by Jones before the Wildcats really heated up. Doron Lamb hit a runner in the lane, DeAndre Liggins knocked down a 3-pointer and Knight followed with a pullup jumper following a steal by Lamb.
Knight drilled a 3-pointer on Kentucky's next trip before a layup by Jones and a 3-pointer by Darius Miller mushroomed the lead to 57-36. BU coach Patrick Chambers then received a technical foul and Jones hit a free throws, but the Wildcats were just getting started.
Josh Harrellson tipped in a miss by Jones then added a layup off a nifty no-look pass from Jones. Miller and Lamb added 3-pointers and by the time Miller converted an alley-oop the Wildcats were up 70-40 and could start thinking about a showdown at North Carolina on Saturday. Harrellson finished with 12 points and 11 rebounds and Lamb wound up with 13 as Kentucky knocked down 10 of 16 3-pointers.
A week after Calipari blasted his team for being "me first," the Wildcats had 21 assists on 32 field goals, including six by Knight. It was more than enough to fend off the Terriers, who came in with notable wins over Nevada, Cornell and George Washington but were no match when Kentucky hit the gas after halftime.
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