NCAA Tournament 2017, Kentucky vs Northern Kentucky: Highlights, score and recap

The Kentucky Wildcats have certainly looked better than they did on Friday, but they still edged out the Northern Kentucky Norse in the First Round

Based on talent alone, the Kentucky Wildcats should’ve been able to simply dismantle the Northern Kentucky Norse in the First Round action of the 2017 NCAA Tournament on Friday. However, John Calipari’s group showed their youth and inexperience on numerous occasions and it made things a bit dicier than they ever should have been.

While Bam Adebayo and Isaiah Briscoe were steady forces for the Wildcats throughout the game and helped them jump out to a 14-point halftime lead, the other two star freshman couldn’t say the same.

De’Aaron Fox scored well, but suffered from turnover issues in the second half when he seemed to put it in cruise control. Malik Monk, on the other hand, seemingly couldn’t find his normally money shooting stroke for the entirety of the game on Friday.

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Despite the best efforts of Northern Kentucky’s veteran leaders in Carson Williams and Lavone Holland, though, the lead the Wildcats built in the first half was simply too substantial. The Norse played until the final buzzer and gave Kentucky absolutely everything they could handle at times, but it was still the Wildcats that prevailed.

One thing that’s for sure, however, is that the Wildcats are going to have to be better than they were in the First Round come Sunday. The Wichita State Shockers are far from anyone to be taken likely. And if Fox and Monk struggle like they did on Friday against the Norse, they could wind up on the wrong end of an early upset.

Highlights

Three Stars

Bam Adebayo, Kentucky – The Wildcats’ big man was absolutely phenomenal on Friday night in a tough matchup. He dominated on the interior as he finished the win with 15 points, 18 rebounds, one assist and one block.

Isaiah Briscoe, Kentucky – Freshman will always get the shine when it comes to Kentucky and deservedly so. But Briscoe shined on Friday with 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists, two steals and two blocks on 7-of-11 shooting.

Carson Williams, Northern Kentucky – One of the catalysts of the Norse keeping this one close, Williams was big time as he finished the night with 21 points, nine rebounds and one assist on 7-of-10 shooting.