LEXINGTON, Ky. – Early in the second half, Yale had a 37-35 lead over No. 16 Kentucky, and it looked like an upset could be in the cards. The Wildcats, though, turned to last year's national player of the year Oscar Tshiebwe, and he delivered in a big way.
Tshiebwe, all 6-foot-9, 260 points of him, scored 22 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as Kentucky held off the Bulldogs 69-59 before a full house of 20,264 at Rupp Arena.
It was a strong effort from Yale, which went toe-to-toe with one of the top programs in the nation.
"I thought our team played hard, I thought we played well," said
James Jones, The Joel E. Smilow, Class of 1954 Head Coach of the Bulldogs. "We had a couple of lapses that hurt us."
Jack Molloy scored 14 points to lead three Bulldogs in double figures.
EJ Jarvis was 6-of-12 from the field to finish with 12 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds.
August Mahoney made 4-of-5 shots and had 10 points.
Tshiebwe was 13-of-18 from the field and added 12 rebounds.
Trailing by six at halftime, Yale scored the first eight points of the second half to take a 35-33 lead.
John Poulakidas had five points during the run, a three-pointer that tied the score and a jumper that put the Bulldogs in front.
The Wildcats, though, answered with the next seven points.
Kentucky (7-2) shot 50 percent from the field in the game, including 61.5 percent in the second half.
Yale played without leading scorer
Matt Knowling, who was out with an injury.
It was the second straight strong showing for the Bulldogs against a major conference opponent. They fell 71-61 to Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse on Tuesday.
Yale is right back in action on Monday, playing at Fairfield. Tipoff is slated for 7 p.m.
