LEXINGTON, Ky. — While not as pretty as their previous victories, the Kentucky Wildcats did enough to preserve their perfect start to the season in a rare matchup with Western Kentucky on Tuesday night.

The No. 8-ranked Cats defeated the Hilltoppers 87-68 in just the fifth regular-season meeting between the two programs. Kentucky improved its record to 6-0, but — other than a 77-72 win over then-No. 6 Duke a couple of weeks ago — this was the toughest test of the Mark Pope era so far.

UK came into the game as 24.5-point favorites but never led by more than 21 points before slowly finishing off the Hilltoppers at the end. WKU narrowed the Wildcats’ lead to as little as six points midway through the second half, but UK led by at least double digits over the final 9:47 of the game — never truly in danger of losing down the stretch.

Andrew Carr had a big game for the Wildcats, tallying a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Otega Oweh also scored 18 points, while Lamont Butler was in double figures with 14 points, adding five rebounds and four assists.

Western Kentucky hung around but scored only two baskets over a period of nearly nine minutes that stretched beyond the final TV timeout of the night, and UK finally took its first lead of more than 20 points inside of two minutes remaining.

Julius Thedford led the Hilltoppers in scoring with 18 points.

The Cats started out a bit slow, too, missing three of their first four shots before rattling off six straight makes — four layups, bookended by two 3-pointers from Jaxson Robinson — to take a 19-9 lead about six minutes into the game.

Still, Western Kentucky hung around, getting the deficit back to single digits quickly and keeping the game close for most of the first half. The Cats endured a stretch where they missed 12 of 14 shots — and they started the game 2 for 12 from 3-point range — before going on a 12-2 run toward the end of the half to build a 16-point advantage.

UK took a 45-33 lead into halftime.

This was just the eighth meeting between the two programs, and Kentucky now has a 6-2 advantage in the series. It was the first time since the 2001-02 season — when WKU upset the Cats in Rupp Arena — that the Hilltoppers were part of UK’s intended schedule. (The Cats and Toppers also played in Rupp during the 2021-22 season, but WKU was a late replacement for Louisville, which had to drop out of the rivalry game due to COVID-19 protocols.)

The Hilltoppers — in their first season under new head coach Hank Plona — fell to 3-3 on the season with the loss, and they’ll be back in action Friday night against Marshall.

Next UK basketball game

The Wildcats will be back in Rupp Arena on Friday night for a game against Georgia State, which came into the day at No. 224 in the KenPom ratings. The only power conference team that the Panthers (3-3) have played this season is Mississippi State, and the 25th-ranked Bulldogs won that game 101-66 on Nov. 8.

The matchup with Georgia State will be Kentucky’s final home game before a big week away from Lexington. The Cats play their first true road game at Clemson on Dec. 3 and then travel to Seattle for a matchup with No. 3 Gonzaga on Dec. 7.

The UK-Georgia State game is set for 7 p.m. ET Friday on SEC Network.

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