No. 1 Kentucky 81, No. 16 Western Kentucky 66: The Wildcats dominated the final 10 minutes of the first half, pulling away in their NCAA tournament opener in the South Regional at Louisville.

Terrence Jones scored 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for Kentucky (33-2), the overall top seed in the tournament whose 24-game winning streak ended with Sunday’s SEC title game loss to Vanderbilt. The Wildcats face either No. 8 Iowa State or No. 9 Connecticut on Saturday.

With Kentucky ahead 18-17 nine minutes into the half, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s jumper sparked a half-closing 27-9 run that vaulted the Wildcats to a 45-26 halftime advantage. Kentucky scored 11 of the half’s final 12 points, punctuated by Jones’ thunderous one-handed dunk and Doron Lamb’s 3-pointer.

The Hilltoppers (16-19), who rallied from 16 points down with five minutes left to upend Mississippi Valley State in the opening round on Tuesday, made it interesting after Kentucky opened the game on a 10-0 run. T.J. Price scored nine points during a 12-0 burst that briefly put Western Kentucky ahead 12-10 five minutes into the first half.

Anthony Davis scored 16 points with nine rebounds and seven blocked shots for the Wildcats. Lamb also scored 16. The Wildcats led by as many as 32 points in the second half and were up 80-50 with 5:59 to go, before Western Kentucky finished the game on a 16-1 run.

Price scored 16 of his 21 points in the first half for Western Kentucky.

GAME NOTEBOOK: Price scored just three points in the final 10 minutes of the first half as the Wildcats pulled away. … The loss ended the Hilltoppers’ seven-game winning streak. … Kentucky shot 61.5 percent from the field in the first half, holding Western Kentucky to 31.3 percent shooting in the first 20 minutes.