Duquesne routed by Kentucky despite Oscar Tshiebwe sitting

LEXINGTON, Ky. — Antonio Reeves scored 18 points, CJ Fredrick added 14 and No. 4 Kentucky ran away from Duquesne, 77-52, on Friday night.

The Wildcats played their second consecutive game without Oscar Tshiebwe, last year’s consensus national player of the year, who’s recovering from a procedure on his right knee last month. There was no immediate word on his availability for Tuesday night’s game against Michigan State in Indianapolis.

Daimion Collins also missed his second consecutive game because of the recent death of his father in Texas. The Wildcats welcomed back point guard Sahvir Wheeler from a right leg injury, and the senior had 11 points, 11 assists and six rebounds, all of which helped Kentucky’s fast pace against the Dukes (1-1).

Jimmy Clark III scored 11 points and Austin Rotroff had eight for Duquesne, which was coming off a 91-63 home win over Montana. The Dukes shot 30%, improving from a 24% first half.

The Dukes are breaking in 10 first-year players, and the growing pains showed. They twice missed eight consecutive shots and had another stretch of six misses.

Reeves and Fredrick again set the tone with impressive perimeter shooting to follow up their debuts Monday night against Howard, when Reeves scored 22 points and Fredrick had 20.

Reeves and Fredrick each shot 5 of 9 from the field against Duquesne. Reeves made 4 of 6 from long range, and Fredrick was 4 of 7 as Kentucky finished 11 of 19 from behind the arc.

Uggona Onyenso added nine points, and Jacob Toppin and Cason Wallace each had eight. All eight Kentucky players scored at least four points. Onyenso had 10 rebounds as the Wildcats won on the glass 46-35.

After shooting 50% to lead 38-22 at halftime, Kentucky started the second half cold. Duquesne took advantage to get within 38-29 before the Wildcats mounted several small runs, including eight unanswered points over 1 minute, 20 seconds for a 53-35 lead. They weren’t seriously threatened again.

Friday’s game opened the Tribute Classic, a round-robin tournament that includes South Carolina State and North Florida.

The Kentucky backcourt continued its strong play with Wheeler complementing Reeves and Fredrick. Everybody got a chance to contribute, which should make coach John Calipari even happier.

Duquesne hosts South Carolina State on Tuesday night.