LEXINGTON, Ky. -- John Calipari expected growing pains. Welcomed them even. Told anyone who would listen it would take time for No. 4 Kentucky to embrace and understand his "dribble drive" offense.

Turns out, scoring points might be the least of Kentucky's worries.

Though the Wildcats were never really in danger during a 102-92 win over Sam Houston State in the Cancun Challenge on Thursday, Calipari was hardly in the mood to celebrate after his team let another opponent stick around thanks to a lackluster defensive performance that at times lacked energy, effort and intensity.

"They have no urgency defensively, none," Calipari fumed after his team improved to 3-0.

Watching Sam Houston State put together a record-setting performance from behind the arc, it was hard to argue.

The Bearkats made 18 of 38 3-pointers, including 11 by senior guard Corey Allmond, to keep things interesting deep into the second half no matter how hard Calipari tried to get the Wildcats to ramp up the defensive pressure.

He called time-outs. He pulled players out. He yelled so loudly his voice echoed off the Rupp Arena rafters.

None of it slowed Allmond, whose 11 3s were a Rupp Arena record.

"I knew I was going to get a lot of open looks because of the fast pace they play," said Allmond, who finished with a career-high 37 points.

Sometimes, Allmond didn't even have to be open. During one sequence in the first half he knocked down an off-balance double-pump 3-pointer with Kentucky guard John Wall draped all over him, then followed it up with another one from the corner in which he somehow got the ball over the outstretched hands of 6-foot-9 Kentucky forward Patrick Patterson, from Huntington.

"Sometimes we didn't bring it a lot on the defensive end and other times we just messed up on a lack of communication," Kentucky forward Darius Miller said. "We didn't play how we wanted to."

NO. 1 KANSAS 94, CENTRAL ARKANSAS 44: Tyrel Reed hit four 3-pointers for 12 points and No. 1 Kansas scored 23 straight points in the first half to overwhelm Central Arkansas 94-44 Thursday night.

Coming off a tight victory over Memphis two days earlier, Kansas (3-0) dismantled Central Arkansas from the start. Spreading the ball around on offense, the Jayhawks shot 57 percent and had four players score 12 points for their 43rd straight home win.

Central Arkansas (1-2) never stood a chance in its first game at Allen Fieldhouse. The Bears had trouble even finding shots and missed when they did, shooting 25 percent. Jared Rehmel had 11 points to lead the Bears, who went 12 minutes without a field goal during Kansas' big first-half run.

NO. 5 VILLANOVA 69, GEORGE MASON 68: Freshman Isaiah Armwood hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left, rallying Villanova past George Mason in the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Armwood won it for the Wildcats (3-0) with his only shot of the game. He played just four minutes and came off the bench after Antonio Pena and Taylor King both fouled out.

SYRACUSE 95, NO. 13 CALIFORNIA 73: Scoop Jardine scored a career-high 22 points, Wes Johnson had 17 points and 11 rebounds, and Syracuse raced past California in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic.

Syracuse confounded the Bears (2-1) from the tip with coach Jim Boeheim's trademark zone defense, building a double-digit lead by halftime. The Orange then put the game away with a brutally efficient 15-4 run early in the second half.

NO. 18 DAYTON 63, NO. 21 GEORGIA TECH 59: Sophomore guard Paul Williams scored seven of his 13 points in the final minute, including a go-ahead 3-pointer, in Dayton's win in the opening game of the O'Reilly Auto Parts Puerto Rico Tip-Off.

Chris Johnson scored 19 points for Dayton (2-0), going 4 for 8 from behind the 3-point line, and Luke Fabrizius added 12 points.

NO. 24 MINNESOTA 76, UTAH VALLEY 51: Freshman Rodney Williams had 17 points, six rebounds and four steals in his first career start, helping Minnesota pull away from Utah Valley in the second half.

Missing senior leader and top scorer Lawrence Westbrook to a stomach virus, the Gophers (3-0) finished 5 for 19 from 3-point range and were outrebounded 34-29 by a team in its first year as a full-fledged Division I program.

Damian Johnson had 15 points, six rebounds, three blocks and two steals, though, to lead another strong defensive effort. Minnesota had 30 points off 26 Utah Valley turnovers, and five Gophers turnovers only gave the Wolverines (1-2) two points.

Jordan Swarbick led Utah Valley with 11 points and Tyray Petty had eight points and nine rebounds.

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