Kentucky discovers its defense. See how the Wildcats dismantled Monmouth.

A matchup billed as defenseless Kentucky against winless Monmouth was no contest.

Kentucky routed Monmouth 90-44 Wednesday night in a fashion the Cats — and no doubt UK fans — longed to enjoy. UK had not won by a larger margin since beating Missouri 86-37 on Jan. 13, 2015.

When asked Tuesday about the chances of a blowout victory, PJ Washington said, “We haven’t done that in any game this year. That would be a great start for us. That’s what we’re looking to do. We feel like we’re a great team. We just need to do what we do in practice in a game.”

Much of the game looked like a breezy workout for Kentucky. The one-sided nature of the game showed most obviously on three-point shots.

UK, which improved to 6-1, made a season-high 10 three-pointers. Monmouth, the only team on the schedule averaging fewer three-point baskets than UK (4.7 per game), missed its first nine shots from beyond the arc and made only two of 16 three-point shots. A second three with 61 seconds left allowed the Hawks to avoid becoming the first UK opponent since Missouri on Jan. 13, 2015 (1-of-18), to make only one three-point shot.

Tyler Herro led a balanced Kentucky attack with 16 points. Keldon Johnson added 15, Quade Green 14 and Reid Travis 13.

Monmouth Coach King Rice came to Lexington with no illusions about his team pulling off a shocking upset.

“We’re not a high major, so their kids are going to be stronger and bigger,” he said Tuesday. “So they’re really going to try to pressure us, I think, and we have to handle the ball and have good spacing so their athleticism don’t really, really take over.”

Monmouth also planned to shorten the game — and test Kentucky’s willingness to defend — by milking the shot clock. Of course, UK Coach John Calipari had repeatedly called for more pride in defending. The Cats came into the game ranked No. 279 in field-goal defense (opponents making 45.8 percent of their shots) and No. 350 in three-point defense (43.4 percent).

“Try to make them play defense longer than 10, 15 seconds. . . . ,” Rice said. “Every coach knows if you play defense for 25 seconds, you have a chance to make a mistake. . . . We’ve got to slow down a little bit, make them guard us a little bit longer. Take great shots so they can’t get out in transition.”

Monmouth slowed the game down. But “great shots” were not in abundance.

A 44-22 halftime lead suggested Kentucky played defense deep into the shot clock. Opponents had been averaging 35 points in first halves.

Monmouth had only one basket in the final 9:34 of the first half. In that time, Kentucky outscored the Hawks 22-4 to greatly expand what had been a 22-18 lead.

In the half, Monmouth made only nine of 27 shots. None of the Hawks’ five three-point shots went in. This continued a pattern. Monmouth came into the game ranked No. 337 in scoring (60.6 ppg) and No. 332 in shooting (37.8 percent).

By contrast, Kentucky exceeded its average of 5.0 three-point baskets in the first half alone. UK made six of 15 before halftime. That included Ashton Hagans’ first three-pointer of the young season and Reid Travis’ third.

Monmouth’s chances of competing faded early. The Hawks started only one player taller than 6-foot-4. And that player, 6-8 Mustapha Traore, picked up two quick fouls and played only three minutes in the first half.

No doubt that helped Kentucky enjoy a 20-12 rebounding advantage.

Game change

The start time for UK’s game against UNC Greensboro on Saturday has been moved up to 1 p.m.

There’s also a change in the television coverage. The game will be on ESPN2.

Next game

UNC Greensboro at No. 10 Kentucky

When: 1 p.m. Saturday

TV: ESPN2

This story was originally published November 28, 2018 at 10:45 PM.