UK leads 35-27 at halftime

Josh Harrellson hit a three-pointer from near the top of the key with 2.4 seconds left to give Kentucky a 35-27 halftime lead.

Harrellson’s basket eased the pain of an uneven final few minutes of the half for UK.

When Jon Hood hit a three-pointer from the right corner with 2:38 left (the team’s first three of the half), Kentucky had its largest lead: 30-18.

Then UK nearly frittered much of it away.

Four turnovers in five possessions helped Cleveland State close within 32-27. That stretch came with John Wall on the bench when he picked up his second foul at the 2:23 mark.

Twenty-nine seconds earlier, the public address announcement gave the crowd a weather report: 50-some degrees in Lexington and Cleveland and 86 in Cancun.

Things got hotter for Kentuck without Wall. Bledsoe turned it over in back-to-back possessions. On the second, Cleveland State junior Norris Cole picked his pocket near mid-court and drove with purpose. Bledsoe fouled to prevent the basket closed UK’s lead to 32-27 with 9.1 seconds left.

Harrellson answered with a steadying three-pointer.