No. 8 Kentucky flying high ahead of Western Kentucky meeting

Kentucky will aim to improve upon its best start in seven seasons when it hosts Western Kentucky on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky., in the final game of the BBN Invitational.The Wildcats (5-0) are ranked No. 8 in the latest Associated Press poll and are setting impressive offensive milestones even for a program as tradition-rich as Kentucky, which includes eight national championships.The Wildcats have scored 97 or more points in their first four home games for the first time in program history and eclipsed the 100-point mark in three of those games. Their lone trip out of state was a solid 77-72 victory over Duke in a matchup of top-10 teams in Atlanta.Kentucky has also made at least 10 three-pointers in each of its first five games of a season for the first time ever.”I think Kentucky attracts good people,” Kentucky coach Mark Pope said after the Wildcats’ 108-59 win over Jackson State on Friday. “It’s the one place in all college basketball where you represent just a fanbase in a different, unique way.”Otega Oweh and Koby Brea have led the Wildcats’ early scoring outburst.Oweh, who is averaging 16.2 points per game, had 21 points on 8-for-12 shooting against Jackson State.”He gets us off to unbelievable starts every night,” Pope told reporters after that game. “He’s probably been our most consistent guy in games.”Brea, who scored 22 points against Jackson State and is averaging 16.0 points per game, is leading the nation in 3-point accuracy at 74.1 percent.As a team, the Wildcats are shooting 42.3 percent from beyond the arc. And the few times they miss, Amari Williams has been doing the dirty work on the glass, averaging 10.8 boards in addition to 9.6 points per game.Kentucky faces a different challenge than it’s had to contend with so far in the Hilltoppers (3-2), who have won three in a row after losing their first two games to Wichita State and Grand Canyon.

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