"I was happy to see Jeff Sheppard and Allen Edwards shoot the ball well," said Wildcats coach Tubby Smith. "We need them to be playing well. Our defense was outstanding, by far the best defense all year long."
Mike McCarthy and Jamie Cammaert scored nine points apiece for Canisius (4-2), which lost to Kentucky for the second straight season. The Golden Griffins lost 68-45 to Kentucky at Rupp Arena last season.
Nazr Mohammed again played well off the bench, netting 11 points and six rebounds in 14 minutes. Sheppard, mired in a season-long shooting slump, hit 8-of-11 shots from the field and 4-of-6 from 3-point range. Sheppard started quickly, burying two 3-pointers as Kentucky started raced to an 11-4 lead following a jumper by Wayne Turner 3:42 into the contest.
A 7-2 spurt by Canisius drew it within 23-18 with 6:33 left in the first half after a 3-pointer by McCarthy. But the Wildcats responded with an 11-2 tear to break the game open.
Scott Padgett hit two free throws and a jumper before Mohammed had a tip-in to push the margin to 29-18. Edwards had a basket and Kevin Worley had two free throws for the Golden Griffins before Mohammed hit a jumper and free throw to cap the run and give Kentucky a 34-20 lead with 2:22 remaining.
Canisius scored the first basket of the second half before the Wildcats responded with an 18-2 tear that propelled them to a 57-31 lead. Sheppard had the first eight Kentucky points in the run, which Mohammed ended with a layup with 12:35 to play.
Kentucky, which shot 18-of-26 from the field in the second half, shot 55 percent (34-of-62) overall. The Wildcats held a 43-25 rebounding edge, including 16-10 on the offensive end.
"The rebounding really killed us, especially on the offensive end," Golden Griffins coach Mike MacDonald said. "Some of that was poor boxouts, but some of that's recruiting, they've got bigger guys."
(5) Kentucky 81, CANISIUS 54 KENTUCKY (81) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Padgett 26 1-4 4-4 1-1 2 0 6 Turner 22 2-5 1-2 2-8 6 3 5 Sheppard 24 8-11 1-2 0-0 5 1 21 Magloire 18 1-2 0-0 3-5 1 3 2 Edwards 27 7-13 0-0 2-4 4 1 14 Masiello 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 Smith 18 2-5 0-0 0-2 2 2 4 Mohammed 14 5-7 1-4 4-6 0 1 11 Evans 12 4-4 0-0 2-4 0 1 8 Mills 11 1-3 0-0 0-1 2 1 3 Hogan 5 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0 Anthony 11 1-5 0-0 0-1 0 2 3 Bradley 8 2-2 0-0 0-3 1 1 4 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 34-62 7-12 14-36 23 18 81 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.548, FT-.583. 3-Point Goals: 6-17, .353 (Padgett 0-2, Turner 0-1, Sheppard 4-6, Edwards 0-3, Smith 0-1, Mills 1-2, Anthony 1-2). Team rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 6 (Magloire 4, Mohammed, Bradley). Turnovers: 11 (Evans 2, Masiello 2, Anthony, Hogan, Padgett, Sheppard, Smith, Turner). Steals: 5 (Edwards 2, Sheppard, Smith, Turner). CANISIUS (54) fg ft rb min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp Lambkin 24 1-6 0-0 0-1 1 2 3 Cammaert 27 3-7 3-5 1-2 5 2 9 Tribul 21 2-7 3-4 0-1 0 1 7 Thompson 30 3-10 0-0 0-1 0 0 6 Worley 29 2-4 2-2 0-2 2 4 8 Young 6 1-4 1-2 0-1 2 0 4 Dupree 9 1-2 0-0 1-1 1 0 2 Fenn 23 1-5 4-4 2-2 0 2 6 McCarthy 27 3-8 1-2 3-8 0 0 9 Bentick 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 _______________________________________________ TOTALS 200 17-53 14-19 7-19 11 11 54 _______________________________________________ Percentages: FG-.321, FT-.737. 3-Point Goals: 6-18, .333 (Lambkin 1-2, Cammaert 0-2, Thompson 0-3, Worley 2-3, Young 1-3, Mccarthy 2-5). Team rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 2 (Fenn 2). Turnovers: 13 (Worley 4, Cammaert 2, Thompson 2, Bentick, McCarthy). Steals: 6 (McCarthy 3, Cammaert, Thompson, Tribul). __________________________________ Kentucky 39 42 - 81 Canisius 25 29 - 54 __________________________________ Technical fouls: None. A: 10,083. Officials: John Cahill, Joe Mingle.