NEW YORK, NY – The University of Kentucky (7-1) secured a 93-76 victory over Monmouth University (3-7) on Saturday afternoon in the Citi Hoops Classic hosted at Madison Square Garden. It marked the third time Monmouth has ever played at MSG, with the Hawks led by freshman Deion Hammond's career-high 19 points and Micah Seaborn's (Fort Worth, TX/Prime Prep Academy) 18.

Monmouth won the second half 45-39, doing so after trimming a 29-point UK led down to 21 thanks to a 7-0 push that included a smooth drive to the rim from Austin Tilghman (Wilmington, DE/Archbishop Carroll). Hammond was part of the strong second-half effort from the Blue and White, scoring 14 of his 19 and hitting all four of his threes in the second. Sam Ibiezugbe (Simsbury, CT/The Masters School) also chipped in eight second-half tallies. In the final seconds, Dan Pillari (Oceanport, NJ/Shore Regional) closed things out with a long three-pointer that made the final 93-76 Kentucky.

Kentucky built a 24-10 lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half after out-rebounding the Hawks 14-4 during that span. A 7-0 run led by Seaborn prompted a UK timeout and the Hawks trailed 32-20 after falling behind by as many as 19. The Wildcats closed out the final eight minutes of the frame on a 22-11 run to take a 23 point advantage into the break.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I want to start by thanking Coach Calipari and Kentucky to do a game like this at The Garden, that is pretty special. As for the game I am proud of my kids, when you look at the score it does not say how it really was, but Coach Cal pointed out you beat us in the second half. I am proud because my kids kept fighting and when it's Kentucky and they come with All-American players when they were in high school you could get discouraged but our kids did not get discouraged." – King Rice

"It is incredible people now know who Monmouth is outside of New Jersey. We got to play at The Garden, we were out matched like our Carolina game but it was another step up to a major game. I think this team will continue to get better from dealing with this type of team." – King Rice

"In the first half, there were spells where they struggled, then you see them at the end how they played. They are going to be good in their league. I said to him (Coach Rice) I've watched the games and the tapes and he said 'oh my, we could have won this one and we could have won that one – it's how this stuff goes though'." – Kentucky Head Coach John Calipari

-Today's game was played as part of the Citi Hoops Classic.
-It marked the third time Monmouth played in Madison Square Garden, and first since 1997.
-MU is now 1-2 all time at MSG.
-King Rice has scheduled a top-25 opponent in six of his first seven seasons.
-Today marks the first time MU fell to a top-10 opponent since last December 28 at #9 North Carolina.
-Rice used a starting lineup of Tilghman, Seaborn, Salnave, Traore and Quinn for the second time this year (12/2 at UConn).
-Monmouth dished out a season-high 20 assists, led by Ray Salnave's five.
-Hammond led the Hawks in scoring for the second time this season, netting a career-best 19 points.
-Both times Hammond has led MU in scoring has come in a professional arena (Prudential Center, Madison Square Garden).
-High school teammates Marcus McClary and Nick Richards (The Patrick School) played against each other at the collegiate level for the first time.
-Dan Pillari scored his first points of the season with a late triple.
-Sam Ibiezugbe matched a career high with eight points and four made field goals.
-MU was a perfect 7-of-7 from the foul line in the second half.

NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Monmouth won the second half 45-39 after trailing by 23 at the half.
-Kentucky outshot Monmouth 53.4% to 37.1%.
-MU limited UK to 20% from deep in the second half.
-MU outscored Kentucky off the bench 38-27.
-The Wildcats put four players in double figures, led by Hamidou Diallo's 23 points.
-UK outscored Monmouth in the paint by a 38-26 count.
-Ray Salnave contributed a stat line of seven points, five assists, three rebounds and three steals.
UP NEXT
The Hawks will face in-state rival Princeton on Tuesday, December 12.