In a tale of two halves, the High Point men's basketball team stood toe-to-toe with No. 10 Kentucky over the first 20 minutes before eventually falling, 75-55.

 

The Panthers (3-2) held a lead over the Wildcats (5-1) and trailed by just four points, 34-30, at halftime. Kentucky turned things up in the second half out-scoring HPU 41-25.

 

Sophomore Arizona Reid had another breakout game for the Panthers finishing with career highs in both points (29) and rebounds (16). Senior Akeem Scott also posted double figures scoring 12 points. Rajon Rondo paced the UK performers with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six assists.

 

"It is disappointing to lose a game when you play as hard as we did tonight," said HPU head coach Bart Lundy. "I was very pleased with our team's effort and I felt like we were prepared and played with a great deal of focus. We just had trouble making shots especially in the second half and that proved costly."

 

For the game, High Point shot 35 percent on 22 of 62 shooting from the floor. The Panthers were icy cold from beyond the three-point line going just 1 for 19 (5 percent). Kentucky finished the game shooting 49.2 percent while connecting on five treys. The Wildcats also won the battle of the boards, 43-35. High Point forced the Wildcats into 21 turnovers while committing just 17 of their own.

 

High Point returns home for their lone game at Millis Arena in December, as the Panthers host Ferrum College on Saturday at 7 p.m.