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UNCASVILLE, Conn. Old Dominion coach Blaine Taylor says he's not much into moral victories.
But he wasn't completely unhappy Sunday after his team hung with No.2 Kentucky through most of the Hall of Fame Tip-Off championship, before falling to the Wildcats 62-52.
The Monarchs trailed 50-49 with seven minutes to go, before Kentucky went on a late 12-1 run to put the game away.
"I thought we belonged in this game," Taylor said. "We thought we could play against this opponent and I think our kids did."
Chris Cooper had 17 points and 12 rebounds for Old Dominion (3-2). Trian Iliadis added 11 points and Kent Bazemore had 10 and four steals for the Monarchs, who were coming off a 68-66 overtime win against South Florida.
Darius Miller came off the bench to score 13 points and dish out five assists to lead the Wildcats (4-0)
"We got out of here alive somehow, and the reason we got out of alive is because Darius played," Calipari said. "If he didn't play, we'd probably get beat by 10 or 12."
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist also scored 13 points and fellow freshman Anthony Davis added 11 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for Kentucky, which beat Penn State 85-47 on Saturday.
ODU took an early 18-11 lead behind the shooting and rebounding of Cooper, who had six points and four rebounds during that stretch, while Bazemore added seven points.
 | "I'm not really into moral victories, but I do think our kids gave a good account of ourselves and Old Dominion." -Coach Blaine Taylor |
The deficit matched Kentucky's largest of the season. They also trailed Kansas by seven points in the first half on Tuesday.
"We were just scrapping," Taylor said. "I kind of jokingly said let's make him call the first timeout, and I think he called the first three. But we just scrapped around. It thought we were pretty good with loose balls and we came up with some boards."
After a timeout, Kentucky went on a 7-0 run to tie it. But Old Dominion would not go away. A steal and layup by Iliadis put ODU back up by five.
Miller, Kentucky's only senior, brought the Wildcats back, scoring seven points on a 9-0 run to close the half. Miller had nine points, topping his season high in the first 20 minutes, and Kentucky led 32-27 at halftime.
Calipari said Miller was only Wildcat who had success penetrating the ODU zone defense.
"I just try to take what they give me," Miller said. "So I was just driving the gaps."
The Wildcats extended that to 40-31 after Doron Lamb was fouled after hitting a 3-point shot, and made the free throw.
Old Dominion went without a field goal for five minutes before Cooper powered into the lane with 10:23 left. But a basket by Wright brought the Monarchs back to within five at 46-41.
Iliadis hit back-to-back 3-pointers to close the gap to 50-49 with seven minutes remaining, while the Wildcats missed free throws on three consecutive 3-point play opportunities to help ODU hang around.
But Kidd-Gilchrist's layup began the run that put the game away and his dunk on an assist by Miller made it 60-49.
Lamb, who had 26 points on 8-of-13 shooting in Saturday's 85-47 win over Penn State, had eight points on Sunday.
Bazmore, who broke a bone in his left foot over the summer and had surgery in August, made his first start of the season for ODU. He had been coming off the bench as he allows the bone to heal.
Nick Wright had nine points and six rebounds for the Monarchs.
"We got Nick Wright back and we have our other post players, so that just helped me a lot," Cooper said.
ODU finished the day shooting .321 (18-56) from the floor, while Kentucky was .453(24-53). The second ranked Wildcats also dominated the boards, 43-33, but ODU'sdefense forced UK into 21 turnovers, while the Monarchs only turned it over 12 times.
ODU returns to action Wednesday night when they host Vermont at 7 pm in the TedConstant Convocation Center.