Reed Sheppard scored 25 points off the bench to lead No. 17 Kentucky to a 101-67 home win over Stonehill on Friday in Lexington, Ky.
Sheppard made 7 of 8 shots from 3-point range and 9 of 10 overall. He added seven assists.
Rob Dillingham had 20 points and seven assists off the bench, and Antonio Reeves and Tre Mitchell each scored 15 points for the Wildcats (3-1).
Max Zegarowski and Tony Felder each scored 15 points, and Jackson Benigni added 11 points in defeat for Stonehill (1-4).
Kentucky shot 63.9 percent from the field overall (39-of-61) and 53.1 percent (17-of-32) from 3-point range.
Of Stonehill’s 64 field-goal attempts, 39 came from 3-point range. The Skyhawks converted just 11 of those 39 3-point shots.
Kentucky built a 58-37 lead at halftime, shooting 66.7 percent from the field (22-of-33) overall and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from 3-point range in the half.
Stonehill came out in the second half strong, scoring the first nine points of the second to cut Kentucky’s lead to 58-46 with 16:44 left.
The Wildcats quickly restored order, going on a 13-2 run to take a 71-48 lead with 13:51 remaining. Sheppard made two 3-pointers during the stretch.
Kentucky later ripped off a 17-3 run to take an 88-55 lead with 5:39 remaining.
The Wildcats hit the 90-point mark with 4:44 remaining on a layup by Sheppard, and then got to 100 points with under 20 seconds remaining with a layup by Justin Edwards.
Edwards and D.J. Wagner each finished the game with nine points and five boards for Kentucky.
The game was close for the first five minutes until Kentucky started to separate itself.
The Wildcats went on a 14-0 run over a span of 2:49 to take a 30-15 lead with 11:53 remaining in the first half.
Kentucky was doubling up Stonehill 42-21 after Mitchell made a layup with 6:57 before halftime.
–Field Level Media