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Kentucky cruises past Lamar in primer for battle with Louisville

Dec 29, 2011 - 5:03 AM Lexington, KY (Sports Network) - Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 18 points, as No. 3 Kentucky cruised to an 86-64 win over Lamar on Wednesday night.

Darius Miller and Marquis Teague both added 15 points for the Wildcats (12-1), who have won four in a row. Doron Lamb added 12 points, while Anthony Davis finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and six blocks.

Mike James poured in a game-high 29 points in defeat, while Anthony Miles had 11 for the Cardinals (8-5), losers of two straight.

"We couldn't have played any harder," said Lamar coach Pat Knight. "This is just going to help us in conference. I thought we gave them everything we could."

Wednesday ended a brutal two-game stretch for Lamar, which fell to No. 2 Ohio State, 70-50, on December 20 before departing for a holiday break.

Kentucky was also returning from a period of inactivity, as they hadn't taken the court since last Thursday's victory over Loyola-Maryland. Despite the break, the Wildcats opened strong, using an 11-2 run to grab a decisive early advantage.

They were up 44-28 at the break and the advantage reached 26 late in the second half. For the game, they shot 49.1 percent from the field, including a 7-of-14 effort from beyond the arc.

In all, Wednesday's tilt proved little more than a primer for Saturday's matchup with No. 4 Louisville.

Kentucky will put its nation-leading 43-game home win streak on the line New Year's Eve against a Cardinals squad which suffered its first loss of the season on Wednesday, falling 71-68 to No. 12 Georgetown.

"They shoot the ball. They play extremely -- they are a good team. It's going to be a hard game for us to win here," said Wildcats coach John Calipari.

Game Notes

This was the third all-time meeting between the teams. Kentucky has won all three games...Wildcats sophomore Terrence Jones returned after missing the previous two games with a dislocated pinky. He notched nine points and six boards in 27 minutes.