March 17, 2000

Complete NCAA Tourney Coverage

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LEXINGTON, Kty. – With the Wildcats’ thrilling 85-80 double-overtime victory over St. Bonaventure on Thursday, Kentucky advances to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the ninth straight season where it will meet Syracuse with a chance to advance to Auburn Hills, Mich. next week for the Midwest Region Tournament semifinals.

Overall, the Cats own a 19-12 record in the second game of NCAA Tournament play (not including consolation games). Since 1992, UK has lost only once in the second round – a 75-63 defeat to Marquette in 1994. In the ’90s, UK was 7-1 in second-round action and the Cats also have won 11 of their last 12 second-round games dating back to 1983.

No. 16 Syracuse is seeded fourth in this year’s tournament while 19th-ranked Kentucky is seeded fifth. For the Wildcats, this is their 14th game against a ranked team this season and UK is 6-7 vs. ranked opponents.

2000 NCAA TOURNAMENT – 2nd ROUND

#5 Kentucky Wildcats (23-9, 12-4 SEC) vs.
#4 Syracuse Orangemen (25-5, 13-3 Big East)

1:10 p.m. ET – March 18, 2000 – Cleveland, Ohio
Cleveland State Convocation Center (13,610)

RADIO

UK Radio Network
Ralph Hacker, Sam Bowie, Dave Baker

TELEVISION

CBS Sports
Kevin Harlan, Jon Sundvold

UKathletics.com

Follow the Wildcats in cyberspace with live stats, notes, audio and much, much more.

PROBABLE STARTERS

KENTUCKY

Key Cats Off The Bench

SYRACUSE

* Assists per game

Team Comparisons

Coaching Comparisons

Jim Boeheim (Syracuse ’66)

Blue-Orange Series

Series Record: UK leads 8-2
at Neutral Sites: UK leads 4-0
in NCAA Tournament play: UK leads 2-0

The Wildcats have won the last three meetings against the Orangemen, including a 76-67 win in the 1996 NCAA Championship game. The teams have played once since the title game — a convincing 87-53 UK victory eight months later in the ’96 Great Alaska Shootout.

Kentucky’s first meeting with Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament occurred March 29, 1975, a 95-79 win in the National Semifinals. The Cats went on to lose to UCLA in the title game two days later, 92-85, John Wooden’s last game as head coach of the Bruins.

Coach Tubby Smith is 0-1 against the Orangemen after one of the most exciting 1996 NCAA Tournament games. He coached his Georgia Bulldogs to a near upset of the Orangemen, losing in the West Region semifinal game after Syracuse’s John Wallace canned a clutch three-pointer for the win, 83-81.

Jim Boeheim has coached his Orangemen to two wins in seven attempts vs. Kentucky. Both victories occurred in the Carrier Dome — an 89-73 win on Feb. 26, 1989 and a 93-85 victory over Rick Pitino’s 1994 team. Pitino was a former Boeheim assistant coach. Boeheim has since lost his last three games against the Cats.

Vs. Big East

Kentucky is 1-0 vs. Big East teams this season, winning at Miami, 60-57, on Jan. 29. Overall, the Wildcats own an 81-32 (71.7%) record against teams from the Big East.

Common Opponents

Syracuse began the season with the nation’s longest win streak — 19 games — before losing three of its next five. Among the losses was an 82-69 defeat at Louisville. In addition, both Kentucky and Syracuse played at South Carolina within a three-day period. On Jan. 13, South Carolina nearly ended the Orangemen’s win streak at 12 games before SU pulled out a 77-74 win in overtime. On Jan. 15, Kentucky beat the host Gamecocks, 64-48.

The Cats have a 4-0 record against the three common opponents while the Orangemen are 2-1. Here’s the rundown:

Leftovers

Three players in this matchup played in the last UK-Syracuse game. In the second half, Jamaal Magloire scored 14 of his then-career-high 16 points and grabbed seven of his eight rebounds as the Wildcats rolled to victory in the 1996 Great Alaska Shootout. He also added two blocks and two steals and hit all six of his free-throw attempts. Even fellow freshman Steve Masiello saw his first collegiate action, scoring his only field goal attempt as the Cats won the first-round game.

The results weren’t so good for Syracuse’s Jason Hart. The freshman point guard was 1-for-13 from the field, committed six turnovers before finishing with five points and five steals.

Uncommon Opponents

The two universities met in the 1999 Music City Bowl in Nashville. The Wildcats led for much of the game before a fourth quarter Syracuse rally gave the Orangemen a 20-13 victory on Dec. 29.

Attendance Champs

Kentucky edged Syracuse again this season as the national attendance champions. The Wildcats averaged 22,448 fans per home game at Rupp Arena, which topped Syracuse for the fifth straight year. The Orangemen averaged 20,807 at the Carrier Dome this season.

Last Game

In the NCAA Tournament’s first double-overtime game in three years, Kentucky outlasted St. Bonaventure, 85-80 in the Wildcats’ first game without suspended swingman Desmond Allison.

Tayshaun Prince led the way for the Wildcats, pouring in five three-pointers for a career-high 28 points in 48 minutes, the most points by a Cat this season. He scored the final nine points of regulation for UK and his biggest basket of the game was his final three-pointer with seven seconds left to tie the game at 63.

In the first overtime, UK had a chance to win the game at the foul line, but only converted 11 of 16 charity tosses. Still, with :00.4 of a second remaining and UK leading 76-73, Marvin Stone appeared to block David Messiah Capers’ three-point shot but was whistled for a foul, giving the 56% shooter three free throws. Despite UK’s attempt to ice him with two timeouts, Messiah Capers canned all three to send the game to its second overtime.

Finally, a basket by Magloire, a follow by Stone and a loose ball pick-up and layup by Keith Bogans propelled UK to victory. Only seven Wildcats saw action, and Saul Smith and Jules Camara fouled out in the first overtime period.

Kentucky shot 50 percent for the game (28-56), just the fourth time this season UK has hit at least half of its shots. Camara, earning his 10th start of the season, tallied nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks. Jamaal Magloire nearly had another double-double, adding 11 points and nine rebounds.

The Wildcats improved to 32-9 in first-round NCAA Tournament action.

Comeback Cats

The victory over St. Bonaventure marked the first time this season the Wildcats rallied inside the final five minutes for a victory. In the previous seven games when UK had trailed at the five-minute mark, the Cats had lost, and St. Bonaventure led 54-49 with five to play.

It also was the first time Kentucky earned a win when trailing inside the final two minutes. The Bonnies led 61-60 with two minutes left before the overtime periods.

Overtime Marks

The Wildcats have a 44-33 overtime record since it first lost a 25-23 OT decision at Central in 1907. Under Tubby Smith, Kentucky has never lost an overtime game, winning all seven. In NCAA Tournament play, UK is 3-0 under Smith, defeating Stanford, 86-85 in the 1998 Final Four and beating Kansas last season in the second round, 92-88. Prior to Smith’s arrival at Kentucky, the Cats has lost seven of their previous eight overtime games.

Tubby Smith is 15-3 in overtime games during his nine-year coaching career. He’s 7-0 at UK, 2-1 at Georgia and 6-2 at Tulsa. He’s 3-1 in double-overtime games, including a 2-1 mark at Tulsa.

The Cats are 4-4 in NCAA Tournament overtime games. Since 1992, UK is 3-3 in NCAA Tournament overtime games.

Kentucky’s double-overtime victory was its first double-overtime game since 1981, 71-68 victory over Georgia. The victory improved the Big Blue’s all-time double-overtime record to 4-3.

New Leading Scorer

Tayshaun Prince’s career-high 28 points propelled the sophomore to the top of the UK charts. He’s now averaging 13.4 ppg to lead the team, averaging 19.5 ppg in the last four games.

Nearly as impressive is Keith Bogans‘ play, who scored 19 points vs. St. Bonaventure, his eighth straight double-figure performance. In the last five games, the freshman has averaged 18.6 ppg. Bogans is averaging 12.5 ppg this season, which ranks third on the team. His one steal against the Bonnies set the UK freshman record for steals in a season with 46.

NCAA Tournament Tallies

Kentucky has won 21 of 23 NCAA Tournament games in the last five seasons.

The Wildcats have an 85-35 (70.8%) record in 41 NCAA Tournament appearances. UK holds the NCAA records for appearances (41), wins (85) and games played (120). In addition, the Cats’ winning percentage ranks fourth all-time.

Kentucky has won seven NCAA Championships — 1948, ’49, ’51, ’58, ’78, ’96 and ’98.

Tubby’s March

Tubby Smith is now 16-5 overall in NCAA Tournament games, coaching his last seven teams to the tournament and five of his last six squads to the round of 16. Among active coaches, he ranks second in winning percentage (76.2%) and is one of a select few who have coached three teams to the NCAA Tournament — Tulsa, Georgia and Kentucky.

Smith has a 17-2 record in the month of March since taking over the Cats’ program. He’s 10-1 at UK in the NCAA Tournament.

UK vs. Top 25

Kentucky is 6-7 against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 this season, and 3-3 vs. top-10 teams. Rankings were current on the date the game was played. Here’s the rundown: