Lexington, Ky. (November 16, 2021)--Mount St. Mary's hung tough with 13th ranked Kentucky in the first half, but the Wildcats opened the second half with a 13-0 run en route to an 80-55 win on Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.  Jalen Benjamin, Josh Reaves and Dakota Leffew each hit double figures for the Mount in the game.

After struggling in the opening minutes in road losses at Villanova and Saint Joseph's, the Mount came out aggressively to take a 7-4 lead.  Nana Opoku scored on a jumper in the paint on the Mount's opening possession, and Reaves connected on a three-pointer for a 5-4 lead.  Opoku then jammed home a pass from Malik Jefferson to provide the Mount a three-point lead and early energy in the game.  The teams traded the lead for the next few minutes with the Mount pulling ahead, 11-10, on a Leffew bucket.  The Wildcats responded to grab a 29-20 advantage, but the Mount countered with the next five points on a Benjamin triple and a Jefferson putback to force a Kentucky timeout with the Mount trailing 29-25 with 4:02 left in the half. 

Kentucky was able to regain the momentum, closing the half with a 9-to-2 run to take a 38-to-27 lead at the break.  The Wildcats then opened the second half with 13 consecutive points to make it a 22-to-2 run overall for a 51-27 advantage.  Kentucky took its biggest lead at 70-39 after a Keion Brooks, Jr., layup with 7:24 remaining, but the Mountaineers hung tough, stringing together a good defensive stretch while scoring nine unanswered points to trim the deficit to 70-48.  Jefferson started the run with a basket, Benjamin converted four free throws, and freshman Jaylin Gibson drained a three-pointer to cap the run.  That would be the closest the Mount would get the rest of the way as Kentucky closed out the 80-55 victory.

Reaves hit 3-of-7 from three-point range en route to his 11-point effort while Benjamin added 11 points and a pair of assists in the game.  Leffew chipped in 10 points off the bench, his second game in a row with double figures in scoring. 

Kentucky's Oscar Tshiebwe was the catalyst for the Wildcats in the game, finishing with 24 points and 16 rebounds.  Tshiebwe, who entered the game averaging 20.0 rebounds on the season, was 11-of-14 from the field in the game.  Kentucky shot 53.1 percent in the game while holding the Mountaineers to 32.0 percent shooting.

Mount St. Mary's continues its road trip with a Friday night matchup with former Northeast Conference rival Robert Morris at 7:00 p.m.