The Wright State men's basketball team hung tough with #2 Kentucky Friday night before falling to the Wildcats 78-63 at Rupp Arena.

UK scored the first five points of the game and held the lead throughout, but the Raiders only trailed 23-18 following a JT Yoho three-pointer with 8:36 remaining in the first half.

Kentucky went on a 12-4 run to push the advantage into double figures before back-to-back Joe Thomasson baskets trimmed the margin to 35-26 in the final minute.  The Wildcats, though, tallied the final four points to go up 39-26 at the half.

UK shot 59 percent in the opening 20 minutes compared to 31 percent for the Raiders.

The differential swung between 10 and 15 for the first 11 minutes of the second half before two Tyler Ulis free throws at the 8:39 mark gave the Wildcats a 63-47 lead. 

Kentucky eventually pushed the advantage to as much as 71-51 with 5:26 to play before WSU finished the game with a 12-7 run, with seven of those points coming from Grant Benzinger.

The Wildcats shot 53 percent from the field for the game and went 26 of 37 from the foul line while Wright State shot 36 percent overall and was 15 of 17 at the stripe.  The Raiders, though, connected on six of 14 three-point attempts and led 8-6 in second-chance points.

Benzinger paced WSU with 19 points, 15 coming after halftime, while Yoho added 13 and Mark Alstork and Thomasson nine each.

Ulis led all scorers with 21 for Kentucky (4-0).

Wright State (1-3) opens the home portion of its schedule on Tuesday, November 24, as the Raiders host Mount St. Joseph at the Wright State Nutter Center.