March 15, 1998
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) – For the first time in four years, the Kentucky Wildcatsaren’t a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament. It looks like they’re taking itpersonally.
Second-seeded Kentucky extended its month of domination with anotherdouble-figure victory Sunday, routing No. 10 seed Saint Louis 88-61 in thesecond round of the South Regional.
The Wildcats (31-4) scored the first 10 points of the game, then destroyedthe Billikens (22-11) with a five-minute stretch later in the half that was athing of beauty.
After Saint Louis cut the deficit to 19-11 on Ryan Luechtefeld’s baselinejumper, Kentucky reeled off the next 19 points, showing off every one of itsmyriad weapons.
Like the 3-pointer? Three different players – Allen Edwards, Jeff Sheppardand Wayne Turner – connected from outside the arc.
Are dunks your thing? Nazr Mohammed and Michael Bradley wound up withrim-rocking slams when teammates threaded dazzling passes to them under thebasket.
A fan of in-your-face defense? There were plenty of examples – Kentucky hadsix steals and six blocks in the first half – but one particular sequencesummed up the plight facing a Saint Louis team that didn’t seem to have as manyplayers on the court as the Wildcats.
Jamal Magloire forced a jump ball by blocking a shot under the basket, butthe possession arrow favored the Billikens. Not to worry: Kentucky got the ballon a five-second call when Saint Louis couldn’t inbound.
By the end of the spurt – the game just 13 minutes old – Kentucky had a38-11 lead and the Billikens were thoroughly demoralized. The Wildcatsstretched their lead to 30 points late in the first half before settling for a46-18 lead at halftime.
Kentucky shot 59 percent (19-of-32) in the first half and hit nearly as manyattempts from 3-point range (5-of-10) as Saint Louis did from anywhere on thecourt. The Billikens made only 6-of-31 shots (19 percent) in that dismalopening period.
