Five Wildcats Hit Double Figures as No. 23 Kentucky Outlasts James Madison's 3-Point Barrage 89-80

James Madison came to Rupp Arena with a plan that almost worked: fire away from 3 and dare No. 23 Kentucky to keep up. The Dukes buried 15 of them on Friday night. They led as late as the midway point of the second half. And they still walked out with an 89-80 loss, because Kentucky answered every barrage with a deeper bench, a better paint game and one decisive 11-0 burst that turned a tense November game into a comfortable one.

Zoom Diallo and Alex Wilkins scored 16 points apiece, Justin McBride added 13 against his former school, Mason Williams had 12 off the bench and Braydon Hawthorne chipped in 10 as five Wildcats reached double figures in front of 19,292. Kentucky is 2-0. James Madison falls to 0-2 despite 26 points from Brandon Lee.

A First Half Built on Threes

This was never the rout the Manhattan game was three nights earlier. Malachi Moreno opened the scoring with a layup, and James Madison immediately answered from deep. The Dukes hit two early 3s to grab a 6-4 lead, and the pattern was set: Kentucky scored inside, JMU spaced the floor and let it fly.

Kentucky got its first real separation when Wilkins knocked down a 3 for a 10-8 lead and Diallo followed with a three-point play and a 3, pushing the margin to 16-8. That lasted about as long as it took JMU to reset. The Dukes ripped off seven straight points to get within one, then tied it at 18 with yet another triple.

The rest of the half was a trade. Mason Williams and McBride hit back-to-back 3s to put Kentucky up 25-19, and JMU countered with a four-point play to make it 25-23. Hawthorne and Franck Kepnang scored to push the lead back to five, Moreno threw down a dunk to make it seven, and JMU kept finding shooters. By the time the Dukes hit their sixth 3 of the half, a seven-point Kentucky cushion was down to 33-31.

JMU actually took the lead late in the half, and Kentucky needed a Diallo driving layup just before the horn to tie it at 39-39 going into the locker room.

The 11-0 Run That Decided It

The second half started with more of the same. JMU hit a 3 for a 42-41 lead, Kentucky answered with a Moreno free throw and layups from Diallo and Wilkins, and the margin wobbled between two and four points for several minutes. Milan Momcilovic scored at the rim to put the Wildcats up 52-51, and the Dukes took it right back at 53-52.

Then James Madison made its 12th 3-pointer of the night for a 56-54 lead, and Kentucky finally flipped the switch.

Mason Williams tied it with a jumper in the lane. Wilkins buried a corner 3 to go ahead 59-56. McBride followed with a 3 of his own, and Ousmane N'Diaye hit another from deep to make it 65-56. That was 11 straight points, including 3s from Wilkins, McBride and N'Diaye, and JMU never led again.

The Dukes did not go quietly. They trimmed the lead to seven, then to 73-68 with a five-point burst that briefly made Rupp nervous. Kentucky shut the door the same way it opened it, with threes from Mason Williams and McBride to stretch the lead to 79-68. The Wildcats led by as many as 14 before settling for the nine-point win.

The Bench Was the Difference

Kentucky's starters were fine. Kentucky's reserves won the game. The bench outscored JMU's 39-24, and every one of those Kentucky reserves who played real minutes delivered something.

Mason Williams was the steadiest player on the floor. Williams scored 12 on 5-of-8 shooting, made two 3s, handed out a team-high five assists and did not commit a turnover in 24 minutes. Hawthorne was quietly efficient, going 5 of 8 for 10 points with four rebounds. Kam Williams made a pair of free throws for his first points of the season.

Then there was McBride, who had the kind of night players circle when the schedule comes out. Facing the program he used to play for, McBride scored 13 on 4-of-6 shooting, hit 3 of 4 from deep and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds, all of them on the defensive glass. Two of his 3s came during the stretches that broke the game open.

Diallo was the starter who drove the offense, going 7 of 11 while mostly attacking the rim. The driving layup to tie the game at halftime was the kind of veteran play Kentucky needed in a half where nothing came easy. Wilkins matched Diallo with 16 in just 21 minutes, going 4 of 8, 2 of 3 from deep and a perfect 6 of 6 at the line, though four fouls capped the minutes. Moreno added eight points, seven rebounds and two blocks.

The one quiet star was Momcilovic. After hitting six 3s in the opener against Manhattan, the Iowa State transfer went 1 of 8 from deep and finished with seven points. Kentucky won anyway, which says plenty about Mark Pope's depth.

Brandon Lee Kept JMU Alive

James Madison will hate the result and should like a lot of the tape. Brandon Lee was the best player in the building for long stretches, scoring 26 on 7-of-14 shooting and getting to the line constantly. Lee went 10 of 13 on free throws. The rest of the Dukes went 1 of 2.

Garrett Sundra was lethal in a smaller role, going 5 of 7 with four 3s for 15 points. Paul Jones III came off the bench and took nothing but 3s, making 4 of 9 for 12 points. Ace Meeks hit two more triples for eight. Adrian Myers did the dirty work with six rebounds and four assists, and K.J. Windham dished out five assists, though Windham shot just 2 of 11.

The Dukes shared the ball beautifully, with 19 assists on 27 made field goals, and they took care of it, turning it over only seven times. They also crashed the offensive glass for 14 offensive rebounds.

Inside the Numbers

The shot chart tells the story. James Madison made more 3s than Kentucky, 15 to 10, and shot 33 percent from deep on 45 attempts. That volume kept the Dukes in the game. But inside the arc, JMU made just 12 of 23 twos, while Kentucky made 22 of 35.

Kentucky owned the paint 40-20 and won fast break points 20-10. Both teams turned it over seven times, and the Wildcats scored 13 points off those mistakes to JMU's nine. Kentucky shot 51 percent overall (32 of 63) and 36 percent from 3 (10 of 28), went 15 of 19 at the line and won the rebounding battle 40-36.

The second half was where the difference showed. Kentucky scored 50 points after the break, and JMU, even while hitting shots, could not keep pace. The Wildcats led for 83 percent of the game according to ESPN's tracking, and JMU's largest lead all night was two points.

What It Means

For Kentucky, this was the right kind of test before the schedule turns serious. The Wildcats now head to Chicago to face No. 17 Kansas in the State Farm Champions Classic on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 9:30 p.m. ET on ESPN. A team that gives up 15 3s to a Sun Belt opponent will have to tighten up its perimeter defense before that one, and Momcilovic will want the shooting stroke back.

But the depth on display Friday is a real weapon. Five players in double figures, a bench that scored 39, and a closing run built by four different shooters is not a one-man team.

For James Madison, picked second in the Sun Belt preseason poll, there is no shame in this one. The Dukes went into Rupp, hung around for 30 minutes and got a 26-point night from Lee that should travel. They are 0-2 after an opening loss to Miami (Ohio), and next up is a trip to Delaware on Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Kentucky's early-season story so far is simple. Some nights Momcilovic will carry the offense. On nights like Friday, everyone else can. Here's the official box score (opens in a new tab), Kentucky's game recap (opens in a new tab), and our recap of Kentucky's win over Manhattan.

Sources: ESPN box score and team stats, UK Athletics, JMU Athletics. More men's college basketball coverage on Undrafted.

Kansas will be a different animal. But if the Wildcats bring this bench and a tighter perimeter defense to Chicago, they will be a problem for anyone.

Photo: UK Athletics.