Rob Dillingham scored 13 of his 17 points after halftime to lead five players in double figures as No. 16 Kentucky survived some shaky moments in the first half and led most of the way in an 86-46 rout over New Mexico State in both teams’ season opener Monday in Lexington, Ky.
After losing starters Oscar Tshiebwe, Jacob Toppin, Cason Wallace and Chris Livingston, the Wildcats (1-0) won the first of two tune-up games ahead of next week’s matchup with top-ranked Kansas at the Champions Classic in Chicago.
Dillingham came off the bench to make 6 of 11 shots as Kentucky shot 58.8 percent in the second half and 49.2 percent overall in the second meeting between the schools.
D.J. Wagner added 13 for the Wildcats on 6-of-13 shooting but he missed four of five 3s as the Wildcats shot 9-of-29 (31 percent) from behind the arc.
Justin Edwards and Reed Sheppard added 12 points apiece and Antonio Reeves chipped in 11 as Kentucky scored 24 points off 18 New Mexico State turnovers and finished with 25 fast-break points. Tre Mitchell had nine points and a game-high nine rebounds.
Christian Cook and Jaylin Jackson-Posey scored 10 points apiece to lead New Mexico State (0-1) in its first game under new coach Jason Hooten.
The Aggies, who moved from the Western Athletic Conference to Conference USA, shot a dreadful 32.1 percent (18-of-56) and misfired on 18 of 23 3s while also getting outrebounded 43-33.
Kentucky survived shooting 38.7 percent in the opening half when it made four of its last five baskets to get a 37-29 lead by intermission.
The Wildcats began getting further separation when Dillingham converted a putback to make it 48-33 with 15:33 left, and his three-point play capped an 11-0 burst that opened a 59-35 lead with 10:21 remaining.
Kentucky sealed the win by scoring the final 17 points of the game.
–Field Level Media