January 2, 1999
By TIM WHITMIRE
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Those questions about Kentucky’s shooting raised byconsecutive losses to No. 2 Duke and Louisville were nothing but myths,according to Florida coach Billy Donovan.
“It’s unbelievable that people say this is not a good-shooting Kentuckyteam,” Donovan said after No. 7 Kentucky opened Southeastern Conference playwith a 93-58 victory over the Gators on Saturday. “They faced a schedulethat’s most difficult, and you can’t beat the people they’ve beat being a badshooting team.”
Donovan, a former Kentucky assistant, watched the Wildcats go 11-of-22 from3-point range, then did not hesitate in labeling them the best team in thecountry.
“I think they are better than Duke, even thought they lost to them,”Donovan said.
The Wildcats (12-3) led by 28 points in the first half and by as many as 39in the second half against the Gators (9-2, 0-1), who started two freshmen andtwo sophomores. The 35-point loss was Florida’s worst since a 102-48 loss toKentucky at Rupp Arena on Jan. 21, 1981.
Kentucky did not shoot well in losing consecutive games last week for thefirst time in four years: 35 percent against Duke and 47 percent againstLouisville. In both games, the Wildcats’ 3-point shooting percentage was in theteens.
The Wildcats ended their slide with a 97-47 win Tuesday over TennesseeState, but Kentucky coach Tubby Smith decided to see what a bigger startinglineup could do against Florida. Six-foot-6 forward Heshimu Evans was moved toshooting guard, Jamaal Magloire (6-10) started at center and the forwards wereMichael Bradley (6-10) and Scott Padgett (6-9). Wayne Turner remained at pointguard.
“We felt we needed to get the top five players on the floor. You have tomake adjustments to do that,” Smith said. “I liked the way the guys played inpractice with this type of lineup.”
The move paid immediate dividends, as Kentucky jumped to a 19-9 lead. TheWildcats hit seven of their first eight shots, including three layups byBradley, two 3-pointers by Evans and another 3 by Padgett.
“The bigger lineup made them sag and we were able to shoot over the top ofit,” Smith said. “It gave us more open looks from the perimeter.”
Padgett said getting the ball to Bradley inside was key.
“I think teams pack it in and then run at us on the perimeter, but we gotthe ball inside early and got good open looks from the perimeter after that,”he said.
Padgett finished with four 3-pointers and team highs in points (19),rebounds (5) and assists (5), while Bradley shot 7-of-8 from the field and4-of-7 from the free throw line in scoring 18 points. Ryan Hogan had 11 pointsand Jules Camara added 10.
“Me and Scott were scoring down low and that opened up the perimeter,”Bradley said. “When we do that, we’re a hard team to beat.”
Brent Wright made all seven of his shots and had 20 points for Florida,while Mike Miller had 10 points.
“They outplayed us, outhustled us, which doesn’t happen very often,”Miller said.
The win avenged Kentucky’s 86-78 home loss last season to the Gators – oneof only three games Kentucky lost on the way to winning its seventh nationaltitle.
Florida looked overwhelmed by Kentucky’s passing and crisp ball movementaround the perimeter in the first half. And while Kentucky turned the ball overjust three times in the half, the Wildcats’ defense harassed Floridaballhandlers into 11 giveaways, leading to 11 Kentucky points and a 55-27halftime lead.
“Against Louisville and Duke, we didn’t have the defensive intensity thatwe had today,” Padgett said. “We should have that every game. To win in theSEC you have to play tough defense every night.”
Florida tightened its defense at the start of the second half, but wasunable to chip into the lead and the Wildcats gradually widened it. Kentuckytook an 84-47 lead on Saul Smith’s 3-pointer with 5:52 remaining, and Padgettadded two free throws moments later to give Kentucky its largest lead of thegame.
Kentucky finished the game shooting a season-high 56 percent (32-of-57) toFlorida’s 38 percent (21-of-55) and had 11 turnovers to Florida’s 22.
