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Kentucky cruises past South Carolina

Feb 5, 2012 - 2:35 AM Columbia, SC (Sports Network) - Anthony Davis scored 22 points and No. 1 Kentucky had no trouble racing past South Carolina, 86-52, on Saturday for its 15th straight win.

Doron Lamb added 18 points, Terrence Jones scored 16 and the Wildcats (23-1, 9-0 SEC) remained unbeaten since their last-second loss to Indiana on December 10.

Davis and Jones outscored South Carolina by themselves in the first half, 34-25, as Kentucky built a 52-25 lead.

"They looked like the No. 1 team in the country," South Carolina coach Darrin Horn said.

Damien Leonard had 19 points and Anthony Gill scored 10 for the Gamecocks (9-13, 1-7), who fell to 1-9 all-time versus the No. 1 team in the AP poll.

Kentucky, which earned its second straight season sweep of South Carolina, is 9-0 in conference play for the first time since winning its first 10 SEC games in 2005.

Entering the game, the Wildcats had held their previous three opponents to 50 points or less. They were trying to make it four in a row for the first time since the 1950-51 season, but failed.

The two extra points hardly mattered.

"The people in South Carolina have to understand, what they saw is absolutely (the best we have played)," said Kentucky coach John Calipari. "We played well at LSU, but not like this. This was the best we have played."

Jones scored six points during an 11-0 run in the first half that increased Kentucky's lead from seven points to 18. Davis capped the spurt with a three- point play to make it 36-18.

Kentucky ended the first half on an 8-0 burst to take a 52-25 lead into the break, then pushed the overall run to 15-0 for a 59-25 advantage on Davis' dunk about two minutes into the second half.

The Wildcats went ahead by as many as 41 points several times after that. They shot 51.6 percent for the game, while South Carolina shot 30.5 percent.

Game Notes

Davis had 18 points in the first half and Jones scored 16...Kentucky leads all-time series 46-10, including a 79-64 victory on January 7...The Wildcats are 68-1 under Calipari when holding an opponent to 67 points or fewer.