Kentucky vs. Stony Brook: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2016

The No. 4-seeded Kentucky Wildcats breezed past the No. 13-seeded Stony Brook Seawolves, 85-57, in East Region play Thursday night at Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines, Iowa, behind a superlative defensive display. 

In the win, the Wildcats held the America East Conference champions to 26.3 percent shooting from the field and 23.1 percent shooting from three as they made history thanks to the long arms of Skal Labissiere and Alex Poythress, according to ESPN Stats & Info. 

Labissiere finished with 12 points, four rebounds and six blocks while Poythress tallied 12 points, four boards, two blocks and two steals. Kentucky point guard Tyler Ulis added 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting and broke John Wall's single-season school assist record by tallying seven dimes, according to the Courier-Journal's Kyle Tucker.  

Jamal Murray, who opened the game 1-of-9 from the field, finished with a team-high 19 points, and Isaiah Briscoe added 13 points as all five Kentucky starters finished in double-figures. 

Stony Brook star Jameel Warney stuffed the stat sheet with 23 points and 15 rebounds, but the Seawolves didn't boast any other double-figure scorers, aside from Carson Puriefoy with 10 points, in a blowout loss that started in aesthetically displeasing fashion.  

The Wildcats offense floundered spectacularly relative to its high standards throughout the first half as all Kentucky players combined to shoot 32.4 percent from the field, but the defense stepped up in a big way. 

Bothered by Kentucky's impressive length around the rim, Stony Brook was limited to a season-low 19 points in the first half. The Seawolves shot 18.9 percent from the field and 0-of-5 from three-point range during that stretch—numbers that weren't exactly ideal given the caliber of their opponent, according to ESPN.com's Jeff Borzello: 

As a team, Kentucky blocked nine shots in the first half—five of which came courtesy of Labissiere. Poythress also made his presence felt with an emphatic swat to close out Kentucky's arguably best defensive half of the season: 

ESPN Stats & Info provided a look at just how much Stony Brook struggled to score on the interior against Kentucky's talented bigs: 

Although the Wildcats entered their first-round matchup ranked 71st in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom.com, Thursday's performance offered a glimpse at this team's ceiling on that end of the floor. 

And with a showdown looming against the No. 5-seeded Indiana Hoosiers following their 99-74 defeat of the Chattanooga Mocs, Kentucky will need more of the same from Labissiere, Poythress and Co. when it comes to protecting the rim and ultimately deterring the opposition from driving to the cup. 

Yogi Ferrell, OG Anunoby and Thomas Bryant will give Kentucky all it can handle, but the Wildcats should be able to keep pace behind an offense that found its groove throughout the second half. 

With Ulis at the controls, Murray stroking jumpers from deep and Labissiere emerging as a real pick-and-pop weapon from the free-throw line, Kentucky has the sort of balanced attack necessary to make a deep run. 

Postgame Reaction

"We obviously played an excellent team," Stony Brook head coach Steve Pikiell said, per the Lexington Herald-Leader's Jerry Tipton. "Their athleticism was evident."

"They were being Kentucky...Huge in their 3-4-5," Warney said, according to Tipton. "You just can't get away from the athleticism."

"We had the opening-game jitters, which is normal," Kentucky head coach John Calipari said of his team's sluggish first half showing, according to ESPN.com's Mitch Sherman. "We start three freshmen."

Speaking of Murray, Calipari added the following, per Tipton: "He's going to be special. He has the mental makeup. He' never high and never low." 

"It's not just about being consistent; it's about getting better," Calipari added, according to Tipton. 

Check out Bleacher Report's live updating bracket to track your picks along the road to the Final Four.