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The No. 2 Kentucky Wildcats survived a sloppy performance to beat the 15th-seeded Northern Kentucky Norse 79-70 at Bankers Life Fieldhouse in Indianapolis and advance to the second round of the NCAA tournament Friday.
Kentucky struggled at times offensively, shooting 44.3 percent from the floor and just 17.6 percent from three-point range, but its defense was a difference-maker, as it held Northern Kentucky to a 35.6 percent conversion rate from the field.
Despite the strong defensive play, Drew Franklin of Kentucky Sports Radio stressed the importance of all-around improvement in the coming rounds to avoid an early exit:
Freshman guard De'Aaron Fox led the way for the Wildcats with 19 points, while freshman forward Bam Adebayo added 15 points and 18 rebounds to continue his recent double-double trend, according to Kentucky Basketball:
Kentucky BasketballBam Adebayo has his team-leading seventh double-double of the season and four over the last eight games.