LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Kentucky coach John Calipari is known throughout college basketball for his dislike of zone defense. On Friday night, it was the zone that sparked the Wildcats to a 73-63 victory over Utah Valley, avoiding the most stunning upset of the new season.

"We went zone and it kind of got us going," Calipari said.

"But that's what we should use the zone for. But we had too many guys that were just getting beat on the dribble. Too many guys out of position. But that's what happens when you have all freshmen and a couple sophomores. That's exactly what you see."

Kentucky fell behind Utah Valley by 12 points less than two minutes into the second half. But then Calipari switched to the zone and numerous turnovers followed, resulting in easy transition baskets. All told, Kentucky ripped off an 18-0 run to erase the 12-point deficit en route to the 10-point victory.

"The start was kind of expected," Calipari said. "We shot 21 percent in the first half and at halftime I said, 'This is good for us, let's see who we are. Let's see who is willing to fight.'"

Kentucky was led in scoring by freshman guard Hamidou Diallo with 18 points, 13 coming in the second half. Next came freshman guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander with 13 points, freshman forward Kevin Knox with 12 and freshman forward Nick Richards with 10. Sophomore Wenyen Gabriel led the Wildcats with 12 rebounds.

"Right now with this team I can't be concerned with score," Calipari said. "It's, 'Are they playing the right way? Do they have a competitive spirit? Are they fighting? Are they playing through fatigue? Are they doing it together or are one or two guys, do they keep breaking down?'"

Senior guard Kenneth Ogbe topped Utah Valley (0-1) with 12 points. Sophomore guard Jake Toolson added 11 and junior guard Conner Toolson, senior guard Brandon Randolph and graduate student forward Zach Nelson scored 10 apiece.

The first half was dominated by Utah Valley as the Wolverines led 34-25 at intermission, built on a 7-0 run in the final 3:19 of the first half. Kentucky missed its final 15 shots of the half.

Utah Valley outrebounded Kentucky 25-16 in the opening 20 minutes.

Neilson led Utah Valley with eight points. Randolph and Ogbe added five points each. Utah Valley shot 40 percent.

Kentucky was ice cold, shooting just 22 percent (7 of 32). Richards had eight points and Diallo and Gilgeous-Alexander five each.

"I'm not a big moral victory guy," Utah Valley coach Mark Pope said. "We're trying to win. We may be ahead of ourselves thinking we can roll into this great arena and win, but that's who we are.

"That's where we want to be at the end of the season. There will be a big payoff this season."

The game marked the return of Pope to Rupp Arena. He was an important member of Kentucky's 1996 NCAA Tournament championship team.

"I love this place," Pope said. "This is hallowed ground here. It had a huge impact on my life. That was a huge driving force in wanting so badly to win this game.

"I don't know that I've lost in this building very much and it hurts just as much now as it did then."

NOTES: In terms of degree of difficulty, no other team in America can match Utah Valley's opening to the 2017-18 season. The Wolverines lost at No. 5 Kentucky 73-63 on Friday and face No. 1 Duke on Saturday at Cameron Indoor Stadium. ... Utah Valley won two games last year in the College Basketball Invitational, the school's first-ever postseason victories. ... Kentucky entered the regular season having won three exhibition games by an average of 36.7 points, scoring 100.3 points per game.