Kentucky cruises past Hampton

[March 20, 2015]  LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- As they have all season, the top-seeded Kentucky Wildcats made it look easy Thursday night in Midwest Region second-round action in the KFC Yum! Center.

The Wildcats steadily pulled away from the No. 16 Hampton Pirates for a 79-56 victory, improving to 35-0 on the season.

Kentucky now will play No. 8 seed Cincinnati at 2:40 p.m. Saturday with a Sweet Sixteen berth at stake.

Forward Karl-Anthony Towns had 21 points, 11 rebounds and three blocks for the Wildcats, and guard Andrew Harrison had 14 points, four rebounds and three assists. Forward Willie Cauley-Stein added seven points and 11 rebounds.

"We didn't start the game the way we wanted to, but we end up with a 23-point victory," Kentucky coach John Calipari said. "We need to play with more energy than that. We broke down on some pick and roll situations that I did not like."

Kentucky shot 45.9 percent and out-rebounded Hampton 51-31. Guard Quinton Chievous led Hampton with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The Pirated shot 28.8 percent (17 of 59).

Guard Tyler Ulis added 11 points and four rebounds for Kentucky.

The Pirates were within 13-11 with 12:49 remaining in the first half before the Wildcats went on a 28-11 run to lead 41-22 at the break.

"We have to play a lot better than that," Kentucky guard Andrew Harrison said.

Towns had 12 points and five rebounds in the opening half, and forward Trey Lyles had eight points and five rebounds. Kentucky out-rebounded Hampton 25-19 before intermission, and the Wildcats scored 12 first-half points as the result of seven Hampton turnovers.

Hampton coach Edward Joyner, Jr. was impressed with the nation's No. 1 team.

"They are as good as advertised," Joyner said. "Their size bothered us and was the difference in the game. No one is pleased with a loss, but we gave it a heck of an effort against a great team."

The Pirates made only eight of 29 first-half field-goal tries (27.6 percent).

Chievous said the Pirates were capable of playing better.

"You can't turn the ball over against a team like that and expect to win," Chievous said.

NOTES: The SEC regular-season and tournament champion Wildcats led the conference in scoring defense (54 points per game), which ranked third in the nation. They led the country in field-goal percentage defense (35.5 percent). ... G Aaron Harrison was Kentucky's leading scorer at 11.3 points a game, ranking 24th in the SEC. ... Hampton was 12-17 before winning five in a row, including the MEAC tournament championship, before facing Kentucky. ... The Pirates were 1-5 through their first six games.

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