The Cats had 42 points in the paint, compared to just 20 for Nicholls. UK also had an advantage in fast break points (20-6), assists (21-9) and rebounds (51-30).
“We had some tightness on the floor on the offensive end but I was so proud of our defensive performance,” said UK head coach Mark Pope. “We have a really long road to keep getting better, but I’m excited about coaching this team.”
Kentucky missed its first four shots of the game before Brandon Garrison took a lob pass from Mo Dioubate and slammed it home for the first points of the game. UK would lead 5-2 before Denzel Aberdeen hit a three from the corner to extend the lead to six.
The Cats led 8-4 before scoring five in a row, on a free throw from Malachi Moreno, a dunk from Oweh and two Oweh free throws, to lead 13-4. Nicholls scored the next three before a Jasper Johnson bucket made it 15-7.
After Nicholls hit a three, UK got layups from Johnson and Andrija Jelavic to extend the lead to 19-10. Following two free throws by the Colonels, the Cats got an Aberdeen layup and a Collin Chandler three to lead 24-12. The Cats would score the final three points of the half and took a 28-15 lead into the break.
Kentucky scored the first five points of the second half on a layup by Oweh and a Chandler three. After the Colonels scored, UK got a three-point play from Aberdeen to lead 36-17. After another Nicholls basket, the Cats got a layup from Dioubate and a three from Oweh to lead 41-19, forcing a Nicholls timeout. Kentucky made its first five shots of the second half.
Nicholls responded with a 7-2 run to get within 17, but UK got a dunk from Garrison, two Oweh free throws, a Johnson three, a Jelavic jumper and a Moreno dunk to complete an 11-0 run and stretch the lead to 54-26.
The Cats would continue to extend the advantage, eventually leading by as many as 32 points before settling for the 26-point victory.
Kentucky returns to action on Friday, hosting Valparaiso inside Rupp Arena. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. ET and the game can be seen on SEC Network Plus.