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No. 16 Kentucky’s bench comes alive in win over Penn

Dec 9, 2023; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Penn Quakers guard Tyler Perkins (4) shoots the ball against Kentucky Wildcats forward Tre Mitchell (4) in the first half at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports
Credit: Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Coming off the bench, Aaron Bradshaw had 17 points, 11 rebounds and three blocked shots and Rob Dillingham scored 17 points as No. 16 Kentucky defeated host Pennsylvania, 81-66, Saturday in Philadelphia.

Antonio Reeves added 16 points for the Wildcats (7-2), who avenged an 80-73 loss to UNC Wilmington.

Clark Slajchert led the Quakers with 17 points and Tyler Perkins added 15. Sam Brown scored 12 and Nick Spinoso had 10 points, nine rebounds, five assists and four blocked shots.

Pennsylvania fell to 6-5.

D.J. Wagner hit a corner trey with 11:20 left in the second half for a 61-51 lead.

Brown made his fourth 3-pointer on Pennsylvania’s next possession and Perkins came back with a 3-pointer to quickly close within four.

Reeves connected on a short runner off one foot and then converted a difficult layup with 8:49 left for a 65-57 Kentucky advantage. The lead swelled to 70-57 with 7:34 to go following a 3-pointer by Reeves.

Kentucky cruised to the win from there.

Slajchert hit a short runner in the lane and Pennsylvania trailed 23-21 with 6:55 remaining in the first half.

Dillingham responded with a 3-pointer to put Kentucky ahead by five, 26-21. Bradshaw soon grabbed an offensive rebound and scored for a seven-point advantage with 5:14 left.

Brown missed a shot in the lane and a 3-pointer from the corner for the Quakers and Kentucky capitalized as Reeves dropped in a 15-foot jumper for a 30-21 advantage with 3:46 left.

The Wildcats used a 16-2 run to take a 39-23 lead with 1:23 to go.

Kentucky went ahead 39-29 at halftime thanks in large part to nine points and seven rebounds from Bradshaw.

Slajchert paced the Quakers with 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Pennsylvania finished the half on a 6-0 spurt.

Perkins knocked down a 3-pointer from the top of the key and the Quakers got within 41-36 with 18:28 remaining in the second half.

Brown then launched a deep trey from the wing to cut the deficit to 47-46 with 15:17 to go.

The Wildcats scored the next four points including a thunderous dunk by Dillingham for a 51-46 advantage with 14:09 left.

–Field Level Media

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