Kentucky steamrolls North Florida in midweek matchup

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WYMT/UK Athletics) - Kentucky is getting in on the Thanksgiving festivities early with a feast of points in a 96-56 win over North Florida.

Antonio Reeves, in his first career start, and Jacob Toppin led all scorers with 20 points each.

After hitting just 25 percent of its first-half shots, and no three pointers in the first 20 minutes on Sunday, the Cats were much the opposite on Wednesday. UK hit 22 of 41 (53.7 percent) of its shots in the first half, including seven of 15 (46.7 percent) from behind the arc.

Reeves’ first half output was the most points scored by a UK player in the first half since PJ Washington did so against Vanderbilt in 2019. He finished the game with 20 points.

In the second half, it was Jacob Toppin who had the hot hand. Toppin made four of his first five shots, including a three, on his way to 11 second-half points and a career-high 20 points for the game.

Oscar Tshiebwe had a solid all-around game with 16 points, 15 rebounds and a career-high five assists. He added two blocks and three steals for good measure.

Kentucky will host Bellarmine on Tuesday, November 29, before playing Michigan in London on December 4.