• Recap
• Bleachers
• Game Tracker

Young, Kentucky top UTA

Nov 20, 2013 - 4:56 AM Lexington, KY (SportsNetwork.com) - James Young made five 3-pointers and led all scorers with 26 points to lead No. 4 Kentucky past Texas-Arlington, 105-76, as part of the Keightley Classic at Rupp Arena.

Julius Randle recorded another double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds and Willie Cauley-Stein added 14 points and 10 boards off the bench for the previously top-ranked Wildcats (4-1), who shot 51 percent from the field and pulled away early in the second half.

Brandon Edwards and Reger Dowell netted 24 and 20 points, respectively, in the second straight loss for the Mavericks (2-3).

"There are a lot of positives...and we have to figure out a way to get a couple of wins in this tournament before we go back home," Texas-Arlington head coach Scott Cross said.

Kentucky, which started five freshmen for the second straight game after its loss to now-No. 1 Michigan State, jumped in front by double digits in the early going -- thanks to Young pouring in 13 points in the first six-plus minutes -- but showed its inexperience with three consecutive turnovers that led to easy Texas-Arlington buckets.

The transition layups were part of a 9-0 run that cut the Mavs' deficit to four, and the underdogs pulled within 28-25 following a Dowell 3-pointer with just over six minutes left in the opening half.

After John Calipari called a timeout, his Wildcats quickly responded with the next 12 points, four coming from Randle on a dunk and a tip-in off a miss, and the hosts went into the break with a 42-33 advantage.

Kentucky put the game out of reach with a 13-3 run and an 11-0 spurt over the first eight minutes to the second half.

"I wasn't happy about a lot of things in the first half," Calipari said. "Then in the second half, I thought we played with some emotion."

Back-to-back 3-pointers by Andrew Harrison and Young extended Kentucky's lead to 55-36 less than three minutes in, and Texas-Arlington did not have the firepower for a comeback.

Game Notes

This was the first meeting between the programs ... Kentucky improved to 10-3 all-time against members of the Sun Belt Conference ... Randle has five double-doubles to begin his freshman season. The last Kentucky player to post five straight double-doubles was Jim Andrews, who accomplished the feat in 1971-72. ... Harrison finished with 15 points ... Dowell, an Oklahoma State transfer, came in averaging 26.0 points per game ... Kentucky plays Cleveland State next Monday ... Texas-Arlington, which lost to Cleveland State its previous time out, plays at Robert Morris on Thursday.