LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — The Kentucky men's basketball team had its first test of the young season Sunday, and it did not pass said test, falling to Richmond 76-64.
The Wildcats' talent and length wasn't enough to take down the Spiders, a veteran group that is anticipated to win the Atlantic-10.
The second half seemed to really show the inexperience of UK, where the team was careless with the ball, didn't have any sort of rhythm offensively, and couldn't get buckets to fall around the rim.
Kentucky relied on Wake Forest transfer Olivier Sarr heavily in the first half, where he scored 14 of the team's 32 points. He seemed to get a little more tired in the second, and finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
Brandon Boston Jr. was also making some plays throughout the game, finishing with 20 points and 10 rebounds.
Terrence Clarke would get things going in the second half, and finished with 15 points and 6 rebounds.
Turnovers were the achilles heel for the Wildcats as they turned the ball away 21 times, including 11 turnovers in the second half.
Three-point baskets were also an issue, as the Wildcats went 0-10 from beyond the arc, which shouldn't be a concern heading forward. Boston and Sarr each said those are shots they hit in practice and that they just weren't falling Sunday.
Richmond had four players score in double figures with Blake Francis and Nathan Cayo each finishing with 18 points.
Jacob Gilyard, who led the nation in steals per game a year ago, had 5 steals on Sunday.
Kentucky doesn't have much time to adjust, as they travel to Indianapolis Tuesday to face No. 6 Kansas in the Champion's Classic. Tip-off is approximately set for 9:30 p.m.
*This is a developing story with updates to be added
