No. 1 Kentucky holds off No. 4 Louisville 58-50


              Kentucky's Andrew Harrison, right, shoots as Louisville's Mangok Mathiang defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday Dec. 27, 2014, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)
Kentucky's Andrew Harrison, right, shoots as Louisville's Mangok Mathiang defends during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game, Saturday Dec. 27, 2014, in Louisville, Ky. (AP Photo/Timothy D. Easley)

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) - Tyler Ulis shook off a bloody cut by his right eye to score 12 key second-half points and lead top-ranked Kentucky to a hard-fought 58-50 victory over No. 4 Louisville on Saturday.

An inadvertent elbow by Louisville's Chris Jones in the first half left Ulis with two thin bandages. He hit two big 3-pointers to give the Wildcats (13-0) a cushion in this showdown between unbeaten Bluegrass State rivals.

Fellow freshmen Karl-Anthony Towns, Devin Booker and Trey Lyles joined in to help stake Kentucky to a 50-38 lead with 4:43 left.

Towns had 10 points and nine rebounds, while Booker added nine points for Kentucky, which held Louisville (11-1) to 26 percent shooting in a game defined by defense until the Wildcats' freshmen started making their shots.

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