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LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) - UT Arlington was right with No. 4 Kentucky for much of the first half. Then the Wildcats used their size to take over the game.
It was just too much for the Mavericks to overcome.
Brandon Edwards had 24 points and 10 rebounds for UT Arlington, but James Young scored 26 points to lead Kentucky to a runaway 105-76 victory on Tuesday night.
"We're well aware of the talent level Kentucky has," Mavericks coach Scott Cross said. "The first half, I thought we did a great job. To be able outrebound them in the first half was definitely a big positive for us. Of course, Kentucky responded really well in the second half."
Kentucky (4-1) outrebounded UTA 29-13 in the second half for a 46-34 advantage. Julius Randle had 22 points and 10 rebounds and Willie Cauley-Stein added 14 points and 10 boards for the Wildcats.
Kentucky also used its massive size advantage to score 48 points in the paint. It shot 54.3 percent (19 of 35) from the field after the break and cruised down the stretch.
The first half wasn't so easy thanks to the Mavericks (2-3), who hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close to 28-25 with 6:04 to go before Kentucky went on a 12-0 run to shut the door early.
"Kentucky has a lot of size," Cross said. "One of the things we have is some quickness at a couple different positions. We have to try and utilize that as best as we can, but their big guys were rotating to help. It was just a block party in there."
Senior guard Reger Dowell had 20 points for UT Arlington, but was 8 for 21 from the field. Excluding Edwards' 9-of-15 shooting, the Mavericks made just 17 of their 48 attempts.
Kentucky's freshmen were too much for UT Arlington to handle. Young made five 3-pointers. Randle registered his fifth double-double in as many games this season, while freshmen Andrew Harrison and Marcus Lee added 15 and 10 points respectively.
Leading 42-33 at halftime, Kentucky's 13-5 run over 3:24 provided some breathing room and the Wildcats steadily pulled away from there for their first 100-point game since beating LIU Brooklyn 104-75 last Nov. 23.
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