Northern Kentucky stays close but can’t overcome Kentucky

INDIANAPOLIS — Bam Adebayo had 15 points and 18 rebounds on Friday night as Kentucky showed the new kids on their block how it’s done at NCAA Tournament time, gritting out a 79-70 victory over stubborn Northern Kentucky.

The second-seeded Wildcats (30-5) won their 12th straight and got their first-game jitters out of the way. They also wound up with a surprisingly close finish after pulling ahead by 18 points in the second half.

The Norse (24-11) closed within 75-68 on Drew McDonald’s 3-pointer with 35 seconds left. Malik Monk made four free throws to close it out. Monk, the SEC’s player of the year, missed all of his six shots from beyond the arc and finished with 12 points, eight below his average. Freshman De’Aaron Fox scored 19 points.

Northern Kentucky reached the tournament in its first year of eligibility, only the seventh team to do so since 1970. For the Norse, the tournament was more of a starting point than the end of a season.

BIG PICTURE

Northern Kentucky: Guard Lavone Holland II, who was the Horizon League Tournament’s MVP, had 22 points on 10-of-21 shooting.

Kentucky: The Wildcats’ freshman trio of Fox, Monk and Adebayo came in averaging 49.9 points, 14.5 rebounds and 7.7 assists per game. They combined for 36 points, 22 rebounds and six assists.

PERFECT 2s

With Kentucky and Duke winning on Friday night, all of the No. 2 seeds advanced. Arizona won easily on Thursday night against North Dakota. While a top seed has never lost to a No. 16 seed, some No. 2 seeds have gone down hard in recent years. In the previous five years, four No. 2 seeds got knocked off in their opening games. The most recent upset came last year when Middle Tennessee beat Michigan State 90-81.

UP NEXT

Kentucky plays Wichita State on Sunday. The Shockers beat Dayton 64-58 in the earlier game. Wichita State was 35-0 when it lost to Kentucky 78-76 in the second round of the 2014 tournament.