LEXINGTON, Ky. - Fifty years from now, when members of the 2011-12 Transylvania men's basketball team recall Wednesday's exhibition with the mighty Kentucky Wildcats, they'll be able to tell their grandkids that they scored first and took an 11-4 lead.

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Kentucky, the second-ranked team in America, would rally only to see the Division III Pioneers tie the score at 17-all. With 6:30 left in the first half, the Wildcats' margin was only five, 26-21.

Okay, so the inevitable finally happened, with Kentucky taking a 97-53 decision before 21,024 rowdy fans at Rupp Arena, a good number of them in Crimson. But make no mistake, the bigger school had to work for the win in the first meeting of the two programs in 100 years.

"We competed," said Transy head coach Brian Lane. "I was happy with our poise. We came into the game wanting to play well enough to help them get better. I guarantee that they'll have things to look at on the game tape tomorrow."

Kentucky head coach John Calipari complimented the Pioneers for playing a more physcial game than the Wildcats did in the early going and forcing them out of their game plan.

"We were shooting threes early," said Calipari. "I kept thinking 'when are we going to take it inside?'"

The Kentucky coach also noted the warm greeting Transy received during introductions.

"That shows how great our fans are," he said. "Transylvania is a part of our community, part of the fabric here. I thought they played great."

Looking at the statistics, Kentucky clearly took advantage of its size, outscoring the Pioneers 60-12 in the paint. But the Wildcats had 13 offensive rebounds, just two more than the Pioneers.

Transy also held Kentucky to just two of 12 shooting from three-point range in the first half, which ended with the Cats on top, 37-23. Kentucky stretched its lead in the final period, leading by as many as 45 points in the waning minutes.

Up 97-53, Kentucky got the ball with under 10 seconds to play, but dribbled out the clock rather than go for the century mark.

"If they had scored 100, that would have kind of hurt my feelings," quipped Lane.

Tate Cox paced the Pioneers with 15 points, hitting five of 12 from three-point range, four of five in the second half. Barrett Meyer added 13 points and three assists while Ethan Spurlin notched 12 points and a team-best six rebounds.

Cox and Meyer combined for eight of Transy's first 11 points, spurring the early lead. For the record, the first basket was Meyer's triple 38 seconds into the contest. Kentucky didn't get its first lead until the 13:48 mark on a Doron Lamb layup.

Brandon Rash scored eight first half points, but fouled out in the second half after battling UK big men Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis.

Transy hit seven of 16 treys in the second half and finished at 31.6 percent for the game. The Pioneers canned 19 of 61 overall for 31.1 percent.

Kentucky shot 68 percent in the second half and 59 percent for the game, concentrating on its inside game over the final 20 minutes.

Lane and the Wildcats walked the six blocks to Rupp Arena before the game and during his post-game news conference he said he thought that might have affected his team.

"We walked to the game and I don't think there is any question the outcome of the game is my fault," he smiled. "It may have taken something out of us."

Jones led Kentucky with 22 points and 12 rebounds while Lamb and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist each added 19.

Transy will open the season at home against Spalding on Nov. 15.