No. 1 Kentucky fends off Boston, moves to 5-0

Boston University tested the Wildcats at times Tuesday night at Rupp Arena, but Kentucky topped the Terriers 82-62 thanks to a big night in the paint from Skal Labissiere and another smooth performance at the point from Tyler Ulis.

This is the second straight season United Kingdom has thumped the Terriers in Rupp Arena, and while Jones says this year’s Wildcats don’t have the depth they did a year ago, he’s impressed with what he sees for now.

Skal Labissiere managed to grab 7 rebounds while shooting 7-13 to score 13 points, improving as the game progressed.

Boston was led by senior guard John Papale, who scored 15 points.

Frank Mason III had 16 points, Wayne Selden Jr. scored 15 and Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk had 13 for Kansas in a game that wasn’t as close as the final score. USF celebrated its first victory Tuesday, defeating Albany, 63-61. Senior Alex Poythress was the first sub off the bench, just over four minutes in … The preseason first-team All-American is averaging 25.3 points through three games. Oklahoma outrebounded the Cardinals 51-23 in a warmup for Sunday’s home game against Wisconsin.

So, I thought we did a much better job in the second half guarding and kind of wearing them down a little bit.

Memorable moment: Marcus Lee somehow avoided an ejection after shoving Boston’s Nathan Dieudonne to the ground at the 10:54 mark of the second half. Athletically, you’re an athlete, explode and go get balls, even if it’s on the floor. Ulis also had six assists, three steals and two turnovers in 34 minutes.

IN will play UNLV for fifth place on Wednesday.

COACH CALIPARI: They will play here next year, I believe.

North Carolina 80, Kansas State 70 – Jutin Jackson’s 22 points propelled the No.9 Tar Heels (5-1) to the championship of the CBE Classic in Kansas City. The Commodores were never threatened in the second half and led by as many as 24 points. Barber scored six of his points in overtime when the Wolfpack outscored the Tigers by an 18-7 margin. Labissiere has a similar change in front of him with LSU’s Ben Simmons the prohibitive early favorite to go No. 1. He finished with 14.

LAHAINA, Hawaii – Wade Baldwin IV and Damian Jones both scored 17 points, and Vanderbilt easily handled Wake Forest in the semifinals of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational.

Harvard 3, Northeastern 0 – Emerance Maschmeyer stopped 31 shots to lead the No. 8 Crimson (7-1-1) over the the fourth-ranked Huskies (11-3-1) at Bright-Landry Center. But The Wildcats finally woke up and put together an 18-2 run to win the game.

“I’m not really anxious”, Murray said of his offensive game.

All the projections, including the common sense projection, said this game with Boston University would be a walkover for the unbeaten University of Kentucky basketball team.

Kentucky (4-0) had their hands full with Albany and didn’t pull away in that game until the latter minutes.

CINCINNATI – Troy Caupain and Jacob Evans III scored 15 points apiece, and Cincinnati overcame low-percentage shooting to beat Southeastern Louisiana. Gary Clark had 12 points and eight rebounds.