Cason Wallace scored 14 points and Oscar Tshiebwe had a double-double to lead No. 19 Kentucky over Michigan 73-69 on Sunday at the O2 Arena in a London showcase of two marquee American college sports teams.
Wallace, who finished with 14 points, was 4 of 4 on 3-point shooting with his most important one giving the Wildcats (6-2) a five-point lead with 1:11 to play.
Tshiebwe, last season’s consensus national player of the year, scored 13 points and pulled down 14 rebounds amid foul trouble that kept him on the bench for extended spells.
Jacob Toppin added 14 while Sahvir Wheeler and Antonio Reeves tossed in 11 each.
Kentucky returns to Rupp Arena on Saturday to host yale. Tipoff is set for 1 pm.
At London, England
SCORE BY HALVES:
MI (5-3)….36 33 – 69
UK (6-2)…37 36 – 73
Scoring:
Michigan (69) – Terrence Williams 0(1) 0-2 3; Hunter Dickerson 9(1) 2-3 23; Kobe Bufkin 2(1) 4-4 11; Jaelin Llewellyn 2 0-0 4; Jett Howard 3(2) 4-6 16; Dug McDaniel 1(1) 0-0 5; Tarris Reed Jr, 0 1-2 1; and Isaiah Barnes 0(2) 0-0 6. Totals: 17(8) 11-17 69.
Kentucky (72) – Jacob Toppin 6 2-3 14; Oscar Tshiebwe 5 3-4 13; Sahvir Wheeler 3(1) 2-6 11; Antonio Reeves 3(1) 0-0 11; Cason Wallace 1(4) 0-2 14; CJ Fredrick 0(1) 0-1 3; Daimion Collins 0 1-2 1; Chris Livingston 1 0-0 2; and Ugonna Onyenso 1 2-2 4. Totals: 18(9) 10-20 73.
Next up: Kentucky (6-2) vs. Yale (7-2), 1 pm, Nov. 10.