After battling through 75 minutes of scoreless action Wednesday night, Kentucky senior defender Jacob Kemper netted his first career goal on a strike from 30 yards out, leading the Wildcats to a 1-0 win over Memphis in the opening round of the Conference USA Tournament, hosted by UAB in Hoover, Ala.

Kentucky (10-8-1) needed a win in the first-round C-USA Tournament game to boost its post-season résumé as well as advance to face C-USA regular-season champion and No. 19 SMU on Friday. UK owned the No. 26 NCAA RPI and the No. 13 strength of schedule in the nation entering Wednesday's game.