Kentucky defeats DePaul, will play UCLA next

Randolph Morris scored 20 points, including nine of Kentucky’s final 11, and the 20th-ranked Wildcats held off DePaul, 87-81, on Monday night in the opening round of the EA Sports Maui Invitational at Hawaii.

The Wildcats (3-0) will play No. 5 UCLA in the semifinals today.

Kentucky was never able to shake the Blue Demons (1-3) in a game that saw both teams shoot better than 53% from the field.

“I thought our kids did a great job of keeping their composure and made some big stops,” Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said.

Sammy Mejia and Wilson Chandler each had 17 points for DePaul, which was within 74-69 on a three-pointer by Marcus Heard with 4:45 to play. Morris scored the last four points of a 6-0 run that put the Wildcats up, 80-69, with 2:50 to play.

Kentucky, which won this tournament in 1993, scored the first 10 points and led, 16-4, five minutes into the game. The Wildcats led, 18-7, after making eight of their first 11 shots.

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SOUTHLAND MEN

Illinois State 66, Cal State Northridge 44 -- Dominitrix Johnson scored 16 points, 12 of them on four-for-seven three-point shooting, and Boo Richardson had 15 for the Redbirds (2-2) at Normal, Ill.

Anthony Slack chipped in 12 points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Redbirds (2-2), who managed 27 points off Matadors turnovers.

The Matadors (4-2) were led by 14 points from Calvin Chitwood. Jayme Miller scored 10 points off the bench, the team’s only other player in double figures, before fouling out with 1:43 to play.

A 12-5 Matadors run to end the game made little difference after Illinois State took a 36-16 advantage into halftime and only built on it, leading by as many as 29 points with 5:15 remaining.

The Redbirds set a home record by holding the Matadors to the lowest field-goal percentage by an opponent (25.9%) and tied the record for fewest field goals made by a visiting team (14).