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Sunday, December 3, 2000
This win eased some Kentucky blues
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
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CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- This game was never solely about Kentucky
freshman Jason Parker returning to the campus that denied his admission. It
was and remains a game that could change Kentucky's season.
Yes, it's only early December. But Kentucky at 1-4, without a win
over a team in a major conference, would not have bode well for the confidence of
the seven first-year Wildcats, let alone the school's fanatical following.
|  | | Kentucky's Tayshaun Prince (21) Keith Bogans (10) and Marquis Estill congratulate each other on a job well done Saturday.
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Beating North Carolina 93-76 Saturday at the Dean Smith Center helped
shelve the frustration of the first three weeks of the season: the one-point
last-second loss at St. John's, the overtime collapse against UCLA and a
shocking home-opening loss to Penn State.
Kentucky wouldn't learn much if it had whipped another opponent like
Jacksonville State this weekend for its second win. The Wildcats needed a
name game to see if they had potential.
The Wildcats were close to being buried when North Carolina built a
10-2 lead, but this Tar Heels team has not learned how to finish a team yet.
Instead, Kentucky went from where it was -- making just 2 of 14 3-pointers in the
first half -- to where it can go the rest of the season with a 27-14 run to
take a three-point halftime lead. The Wildcats did this by playing with a purpose, being aggressive
defensively and on the boards, and by being smarter about shot selection.
Oh yeah, the heralded Parker did receive the only ovation of the Kentucky
starters when he was introduced. But he was plagued by foul problems -- two in the first half, when he played only five minutes -- and two in the second half, which limited him to 12 total
minutes, six points and three rebounds. Parker was the last one to exit amid a
flourish of television cameras and still photographers. He left without
answering questions, banned from the media like the rest of the freshmen.
But there was no reason to gag anyone else. They had a right to say Kentucky
was back -- at least for now.
"We responded with energy and emotion," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said.
"We're a blue-collar team. We were emotionally and psychologically ready to
win. I knew it would be time to come together because we were so close. But
when you're a fragile young team and you lose close games it can be tough.
That's what happened to us in New York."
And it also occurred against Penn State when Joe and Jon Crispin scored a
combined 57 points against the Wildcats. That performance sent the Wildcats
into 'Operation Must-win' this weekend.
Senior point guard Saul Smith said the team held player-only
meetings to air out their concerns. The gist was the team wasn't playing
Kentucky basketball, as evidenced by the 1-3 record. They openly talked about
the Carolina game being pivotal for the season.
The Wildcats were stunned when they shot so poorly to start the game, but
seemed at ease when they could penetrate into the lane, get second
shots and find openings on the perimeter. With Carolina unable to settle
down, the Wildcats seized the opportunity. They never gave it back. That
kind of mentality is the only way a team that doesn't possess shooters (only
J.P. Blevins is a career plus 31-percent 3-point shooter) can survive at the
elite level.
"It really lightens our mood up to more of a 'Let's have more fun and win
by 20 every time,' " Saul Smith said. "This win was tremendous. This was a
great atmosphere. We were playing uptight and lost games because of it."
What was missing from Kentucky in the first three weeks was the type of
energy they got off the bench. Freshman guard Cliff Hawkins popped in 11
points in 18 minutes with five assists and a turnover. But his activity on
the defensive end seemed to lift the team. Having him push Smith doesn't
hurt, either. Keith Bogans shook off a poor-shooting first half (0 for 3 on
3's) by staying with his shot for three 3's in the second. Even the embattled
shooter Tayshaun Prince hit 3's. He entered the game shooting 5 of 25, missed
his first two and then hit two of his next six.
"We had the advantage speed-wise and found ourselves beating them off the
dribble more," Saul Smith said of Carolina's erratic point guard play from
Brian Morrison and Adam Boone. "We saw a weakness and exploited it. We got
more open shots and moved the ball with crisp passes. I got a couple of
shots where I was wide-open and knocked them down."
The Tar Heels also were exploited inside as Marquis Estill had 19 points
and 11 rebounds, getting second shots against Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang.
The defensive work on Joseph Forte for all but the final three minutes made him a
non-factor for the second straight game after Charlie Bell locked him up in
Wednesday's loss to Michigan State.
Kentucky scored the biggest must-win on a day when Maryland faced a similar
situation against Michigan, Wisconsin the same against Xavier and Indiana was in
a similar predicament against Southern Illinois. While Carolina has to
wonder about its toughness, the continued inconsistencies at the point and
its inability to rebound in a tight situation, Kentucky leaves Chapel Hill
knowing it's capable of winning big-time games again.
Normally that's a given in Lexington. After starting the year 4-4 last season,
Kentucky won 19 of its last 25 games. The Wildcats started the season with
seven newcomers and minus first-round pick Jamaal Magloire, probable
starting center Jules Camara because of a season-long ban for a zero-tolerance
alcohol policy and scoring reserve Desmond Allison, who transferred before
he suffered the same fate.
Normalcy won't magically return to Lexington because of one upset victory, but it should be more realistic
that this team will be a factor before March.
"We've been through it before, but the underclassmen haven't," Prince said.
"We all knew how hungry we had to be for a victory. We looked at this is a
must-win situation and we got it done."
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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