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No. 19 Kentucky Pulls Away from Pilots
LEXINGTON, Ky. --- Portland junior forward Ryan Nicholas recorded his second straight double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds, but the No. 19 Kentucky Wildcats pulled away late for a 74-46 victory before 22,285 fans Saturday afternoon at Rupp Arena.
Nicholas, who had 15 points and 19 rebounds against No. 18 UNLV on Tuesday, picked up his third double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Kevin Bailey added 11 points for the Pilots (3-6).
Trailing 35-20 at the half, Portland cut the deficit to 39-29 on a Nicholas jumper with 15:34 remaining, but the Wildcats stretched the margin back to 19 with a 9-0 run. Bailey drilled a three-pointer and Nicholas made a free throw to make it 53-39 with 5:57 left, but Kentucky was able to break Portland’s pressure defense for a series of late layups to skew the final score.
The game was tied at 10-10 following a Nicholas lay-up in the early going, but the Wildcats (6-3) would rattle off a 16-0 run as Portland went scoreless for a stretch of 5:31 before junior guard Korey Thieleke converted a layup.
Thieleke was once again solid for the Pilots finishing with nine points on 4-of-8 shooting, but the rest of the team struggled from the field. Portland finished at just 27 percent for the game, going 16-of-59 overall. Much of that had to do with the length and athleticism of Kentucky, which blocked 12 shots in the game including seven by freshman Nerlens Noel.
Portland was consistently able to get into the paint on offense, but unable to finish at the rim as Kentucky held a 42-16 advantage in points in the paint. The Wildcats also had a 25-12 margin in points off of turnovers, forcing 18 from the Pilots while committing 14.
Freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin led four Wildcats players in double figures with 15 points each. Portland native Kyle Wiltjer added 12 points for Kentucky.
Portland will return to the Chiles Center for a three-game homestand beginning with a doubleheader on Friday. The Pilot women host Fresno State at 5:15 p.m. followed by the men versus Portland Bible College at 7:30 p.m. Portland then hosts Cal State Bakersfield and North Florida on Dec. 17 and Dec. 19, respectively.
