Kentucky gets Scare but Regroups to Beat Penn

Rob Dillingham had 17 points in UK's win Saturday. (Vicky Graff Photo)

It was not close to an easy win for Kentucky but in some ways it was still a very impressive 81-66 victory over Penn Saturday in Philadelphia.

The Cats looked great most of the first half and had a 39-23 lead. However, Penn responded like a team favored to win the Ivy League and a team that had already beat Villanova. this season. Penn ended the first half on a 6-0 run and eventually cut the UK lead to 47-46 five minutes into the second half. With 10 minutes to play, UK led only 61-57 and Penn was 10-for-13 from the field in the second half to this point.

However, UK regained control and pulled away for a win that might look even better by the time March Madness rolls around if Penn continues to play well

“This was a good game,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “You are talking about a team shooting 38 percent from 3 and having four guys that can make 3’s. They play a Princeton offense so now we can say we have played against that.

“I thought we had fight even though they came back.”

Former UK All-American Jack Givens was also impressed with what the Cats did.

“All in all it was a good job by Kentucky staying with the game plan,” Givens said on the UK Radio Network. “They didn’t turn the ball over as much as last game, either.”

That last game was a stunning loss in Rupp Arena to UNC-Wilmington when the Cats were just outplayed.

Against Penn, UK won the rebounding battle 41-31 thanks in large part to the return of 7-footer Aaron Bradshaw and had a 40-5 advantage in bench scoring because Bradshaw and Rob Dillingham both scored 17 points.

Kentucky had 10 turnovers but Penn only got five points off those miscues. Penn had 15 turnovers that UK turned into 22 points with its speed in transition.

“At the end of the game I put in three point guards (D.J. Wagner, Dillingham and Reed Sheppard),” Calipari said. “You also saw I shortened the game (by working the shot clock). We also went to the ball screen with Aaron and we kept finding him. He played good today.”

Penn opened the second half knocking down shots after going just 2-for-12 from 3-point range in the first half. Penn finished the second had 7-for-16 from 3.

Calipari said Penn’s shooting in the first half was impacted because UK “moved so fast that we got in their legs” and fatigue set in.

“The start of the second half I told my team they would make shots because they were rested. Just keep getting into their leges and we did,” Calipari said.

Calipari used eight players and all found a significant way to contribute. Tre Mitchell had just four points on 2-for-7 shooting but added nine rebounds and four assists. Sheppard had only six points but was 2-for-4 from the field with five rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block.

“Penn is not an easy team to play against because they can control the pace and they are patient on offense,” ESPN analyst Seth Greenberg said. “But overall this was a good win for Kentucky.”