Todays News

[ukfaninva]

Big Mo keys Big Blue
class=head2Morris too much for other Wildcats
class=sidebarBy Brett Dawson
bdawson@courier-journal.com (mailto:bdawson@courier-journal.com)
The Courier-Journal


CHICAGO — It was billed as a matchup of the mighty against the mite, the University of Kentucky's low-post power vs. Villanova's perimeter punch.

Score one for Goliath.

UK rode center Randolph Morris' 19 points and 11 rebounds to a 67-58 victory over Villanova in a battle of Wildcats last night in the West Regional at the United Center, extending its streak of first-round NCAA Tournament wins to 17.

Morris continued his own streak, following two strong Southeastern Conference Tournament games with his third straight double-double.

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/SPORTS03/703170500/1002/SPORTS

[ukfaninva]

Kentucky needs Round-1 style in Round-2 test

CHICAGO — Put the grumbling on hold. Stop worrying about recruiting. Don't look for a fresh statement about the future makeup of the University of Kentucky basketball coaching staff this weekend.



Tubby Smith's team still has an opportunity to put a king-sized exclamation point on this season. The Wildcats did the thing they're expected to do in the first round of the NCAA Tournament -- advance into the second round.

The Cats dispatched Villanova 67-58 last night in the West Regional at the United Center. They've joined three other Southeastern Conference teams in Round 2. They've made the second round in their past 17 NCAA visits.

"We showed tonight that we're coming together as a team and we can play with any team in the country," UK junior guard Joe Crawford said. "I really believe we're finally playing our best basketball. The schedule we played this year prepared us for this time of year."

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070317/COLUMNISTS01/703170498/1002

[ukfaninva]

After Dwight stuff, Kentucky shows the right stuff
By John Clay
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
CHICAGO — The key was starting Dwight Perry. A mistake, you say? A bonehead move, you say, the fact that somehow Kentucky marked the wrong Perry in the pre-game scorebook, thus the barely used — three appearances that failed to total a minute — walk-on Dwight Perry was forced to start in place of regular starter Bobby Perry, forced to foul as soon as the opening tip was completed just so Bobby Perry could get in the game. How many times do you see that, much less in an NCAA Tournament game? Thing was the mistake served a vital purpose. It got what turned out to be UK’s biggest mistake of the night out of the way at the start. After that, no more brain cramps for the Cats. Just focus. Lots and lots of focus. “We’re just happy,” Coach Tubby Smith said, “to come in and put together a complete game.” A winning game, Kentucky’s seventh consecutive first-round NCAA Tournament victory as the Cats knocked off Villanova 67-58 in a West Regional game at the United Center to earn a Sunday date with No. 1 seed Kansas. Smith’s team did so by concentrating on taking prime advantage of its prime advantage, center Randolph Morris in the post. The junior center, at 6-foot-11, three inches taller than the tallest Villanova post man, scored 19 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots.

http://www.kentucky.com/285/story/19573.html

[ukfaninva]

Cats conjure throwback 'D'

By Mark Story
HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST
CHICAGO — When they got in trouble, the best of Tubby Smith’s Kentucky teams always had the same cornerstone on which to rely. They just wouldn’t let the other team score. So in this season of tumult and turmoil — with rumors swirling about the security of Smith’s job — it was fitting that his Wildcats opened the NCAA Tournament by getting in touch with the grinding, stifling defense upon which their coach built his name. When it counted last night, Kentucky shut down Villanova, holding the “other” Wildcats to only eight field goals in the second half. The result was a 67-58 UK victory, which means two wildly significant things. This much-maligned Kentucky team will not go down as the first UK squad to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since Ohio State bounced Eddie Sutton’s Cats in 1987. And, more importantly, the Cats will live to fight again, getting a shot on Sunday to play David to the Goliath that is top-seeded Kansas. The reason, pure and simple, was a dose of old-fashioned Tubby ‘D.’ “Our defense did great things,” Smith said. Playing with an energy not always seen during this year’s 22-11 slog, the Cats harried Villanova’s three best offensive players into dreadful shooting nights. Oh, in the first half they didn’t have an answer for ’Nova’s explosive point guard Scottie Reynolds.

http://www.kentucky.com/287/story/19572.html

[ukfaninva]

Morris marches on

Center has 65 points, 37 boards last 3 games
By Jerry Tipton
HERALD-LEADER STAFF WRITER
CHICAGO — For Kentucky fans who wondered the last two seasons what the often hibernating Randolph Morris might look like when fully engaged, he continued to give a roaring answer last night.

Morris’ third straight double-double led UK to a 67-58 victory over Villanova in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds to bring his totals in the last three games to 65 points and 37 boards.

“It’s always an emphasis to get me started because obviously Coach (Tubby Smith) recognizes I’m a key to a lot of what we do offensively and defensively,” said Morris, whose immodesty sounded grounded in reality. “The team really plays off of what I bring to the table.”

The Cats (22-11) avoided the program’s first opening-round defeat since 1987. Their reward: a second-round date on Sunday with powerful Kansas, the No. 1 seed in the West Region. Earlier last night, Kansas beat Niagara 107-67 to snap a two-year losing streak in first-round games. The margin of victory was the Jayhawks’ biggest in the NCAA Tournament since a 110-52 first-round win over Prairie View A&M in 1998.

On Thursday, Smith all but guaranteed that Morris would dominate Villanova. The UK coach noted his big man’s stellar play and said, “It will continue.”

http://www.kentucky.com/276/story/19569.html

[SamKat]

You and your cousin, Radiated, find good stuffabout the Cats. Thanks Tony!

There are good fans in Flatwoods, KY. Ryan Parker and his "I Bleed Blue" You Tube are season highlights from that northeastern corner of the Commonwealth.

[FatCatDaddy]

Villanova comes up short

CHICAGO - The last time Villanova's Curtis Sumpter was on a basketball court at tournament time, he suffered an injury that kept him off it for 19 months.

Last night looked just as painful for Sumpter as that day in Nashville two years ago.

The forward, who has spent five years at 'Nova, was the last player off the United Center court as he bit his No. 34 jersey and jogged into the locker room after ninth-seeded Villanova lost, 67-58, to No. 8 Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/sports/20070317_Villanova_comes_up_short.html