Mouhamed Dioubate recorded 14 points, 12 rebounds and five steals to help Kentucky post a 72-60 victory over Indiana on Saturday night at Lexington, Ky., in the storied programs’ first matchup in over nine years.
Jaland Lowe scored 13 points for the Wildcats (7-4), who outscored the Hoosiers 40-21 in the second half. Otega Oweh added 10 points as Kentucky won its second straight game.
Tucker DeVries and Lamar Wilkerson each scored 15 points for the Hoosiers (8-3), who lost for the third time in the past four games. Tayton Conerway added 11 points in a contest between unranked clubs.
The Wildcats closed the game with a 30-11 run in the first matchup between the teams since Indiana recorded a 73-67 win over the Wildcats in the second round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. Kentucky leads the series 33-25.
Malachi Moreno had four steals for Kentucky, which shot 37.9% from the field and made 3 of 15 from 3-point range.
Indiana connected on 34.1% of its shots, including a porous 4 of 24 from behind the arc. The Hoosiers did knock down 26 of 29 free-throw attempts, but they committed 18 turnovers.
The Wildcats had just four turnovers and held a 23-6 advantage in points off turnovers. Kentucky had a 13-2 edge in steals.
Indiana led 49-42 after DeVries’ basket with 14:18 remaining in the game.
Kentucky responded with 10 straight points and 17 of the next 19. Dioubate capped the 10-0 burst with two putbacks to give the Wildcats a 52-49 lead with 10:44 left in the contest.
Sam Alexis scored for the Hoosiers before Kentucky ran off seven more straight points. Dioubate’s three-point play made it 59-51 with 8:02 left.
Back-to-back baskets by Brandon Garrison and Lowe pushed the Kentucky lead to 65-54 with 5:23 remaining.
Wilkerson and DeVries answered with baskets as Indiana crept within seven with 3:42 left, but the Hoosiers wouldn’t make another field-goal attempt and shot just 27.3% (6 of 22) in the second half.
Lowe scored five straight points to give the Wildcats a 70-58 lead with 1:47 to play. The lead was 14 before Indiana broke its scoreless drought with Trent Sisley’s two free throws with 8.6 seconds left.
Wilkerson scored 12 first-half points as the Hoosiers led 39-32 at the break.
Indiana was 18 of 19 from the free-throw line in the half, while Kentucky was just 13 of 21.
