Kevin Knox Leads Kentucky Past Davidson 78-73 In NCAA Tournament 2018 Round 1 [VIDEO]

The No. 5-seed Kentucky Wildcats won their challenging first-round NCAA Tournament game against No. 12 Davidson on Thursday thanks to an impressive outing from Kevin Knox. 

Kentucky vs. Davidson NCAA Round 1 highlights

The freshman forward scored 25 points for SEC Tournament champions Kentucky, (25-10) which finished 0-6 in 3-point shooting in the game against another team also named the Wildcats.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander also provided much help for Kentucky’s offense: he logged 19 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and five steals.

Kentucky hasn’t lost a first-round NCAA Tourney contest since 2008. Wildcats coach John Calipari wasn’t entirely pleased with his team’s performance on Thursday, however, as one ESPN.com reporter noted:

Davidson (21-12) shot 29.4 percent from the field in the first half, including 3-of-15 from three-point range.

Several Kentucky players on offense, however, put on fine displays of athleticism:

Davidson tied it up at 52 with nine minutes remaining, but Kentucky ultimately used a 9-0 run to pull away. Knox secured his team’s victory with a big jump-shot:

Kentucky will next face the winner of No. 4 Arizona and No. 13 Buffalo in the South Regional’s second round on Saturday. That game will begin at 5:15pm EST and air on CBS.