Kentucky freshman Marquis Teague harassed an opponent in the Wildcats' 97-53 exhibition victory over Transylvania on Wednesday at Rupp Arena. (247Sports Photo by Jeff Drummond)

It took a while for the Cats to run away, but UK finally pulled ahead of Transylvania and won Wednesday’s exhibition opener 97-53.

Terrence Jones led the Cats with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the floor. He struggled in the first half but hit six of his seven second-half shots.

Doron Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each finished with 19 points.

Anthony Davis had six points on 2-of-7 shooting from the field, but his defense was more impressive. The 6-10 freshman, who appeared to tower over the Pioneers—their tallest player of significant minutes was 6-5—finished with eight blocks.

MISSING IN ACTION
Stacey Poole did nothing to quell the talk of his impending transfer from Kentucky after not dressing or sitting on the bench for the game. His status with the program remains unclear.

Poole tweeted earlier Wednesday that he appreciated the support from fans but “it was his decision” about his future. The 6-foot-4 sophomore guard appeared in just 16 games as a freshman, scoring four points on 1-of-9 shooting and pulling down three rebounds. He saw action in just four of the Wildcats’ final 21 games last season, logging only four minutes.

The son of former Florida great, Stacey Poole Sr., was rated as high as the No. 33 recruit in the class of 2010 by one recruiting outlet but failed to crack the Cats’ rotation on a team lacking depth a year ago.