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No. 1 Kentucky uses strong 2nd half to get by No. 6 Texas

Mark Zerof / USA TODAY Sports

Kentucky shot 1-for-12 from 3-point range and was outrebounded 42-31 on its home floor.

But Willie Cauley-Stein and the No. 1 Wildcats still found a way past sixth- ranked Texas, 63-51, in their first real test of the season.

Cauley-Stein's best game as a college player couldn't have come at a better time for the Wildcats, who struggled to score all night but got it done on the defensive end.

The 7-footer was dominant on D while matching a career-high with 20 points. He finished with 12 rebounds, five steals and three blocked shots.

Dakari Johnson scored 11 points, Karl-Anthony Towns netted 10, and Alex Poythress chipped in eight for the unbeaten Wildcats (8-0).

Open looks were at a premium for Texas (7-1), which finished just 14-of-47 from the floor and 4-for-20 from behind the arc. Jonathan Holmes paced the Longhorns with 14 points and Demarcus Holland had 10 with a game-high five assists.

After a balanced first half, Kentucky asserted its dominance out of the break. Trey Lyles and Johnson both scored a pair of field goals and Cauley-Stein made two free throws during a 10-0 run to open the second half.

Prince Ibeh broke the seal for Texas with a dunk on a feed from Holland, but the Wildcats scored the next eight to build a comfortable 16-point lead. Cauley-Stein's alley-oop in transition from Aaron Harrison, which accounted for the 39th and 40th points, nearly brought the roof off of Rupp Arena.

Two Texas runs of 7-0 and 6-0 later in the half had the Longhorns within striking distance.

It was 53-47 with under three minutes to go when Cauley-Stein intercepted an entry pass from Connor Lammert and Andrew Harrison hit Kentucky's first 3- pointer at the other end.

In poetic fashion, Cauley-Stein put an exclamation mark on the win with another alley-oop from Andrew Harrison with less than a minute to play. He left the court to a rousing ovation moments later.

The Longhorns turned it over seven times in the first eight minutes of the game, but they still led 10-9 at the second media timeout following Kendal Yancy's putback layup.

It was 20-14 when Kentucky finally got going. Towns drew a flagrant 1 foul on Holmes and made both free throws, then knocked down a jumper from the nail. Tyler Ulis scored in transition following Yancy's missed jumper, and just like that, the game was tied.

Out of a timeout, Cauley-Stein went to a righty jump hook to put Kentucky in front, 22-20. Texas then scored six of the next eight points and Cauley- Stein made another hook shot to send the two teams into halftime tied at 26.

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