March 10, 1999
By TOM CASTRO
AP MegaSports Writer
Despite struggling somewhat during the regular season, defending nationalchampion Kentucky is looking like the Comeback Cats once again.
The eighth-ranked Wildcats (25-8) were swept by Tennessee for thefirst timein two decades, lost back-to-back games to Florida and Alabama in February anddoubled their loss total of last season. But in the relentless style of lastseason’s team, Kentucky battled back, tearing through the SEC tournament andbeating then-No. 4 Auburn on the way to winning the title.
With the third seed in the Midwest Region, coach Tubby Smith and theWildcats open the NCAA tournament against 14th-seeded New Mexico State onFriday at the Superdome in New Orleans.
Kentucky’s greatest asset is experience. The Wildcats have won two of thelast three national championships and lost in the national title game in 1997,so no roster in college basketball is more battle-tested. After making threestraight comebacks in their charge to the 1998 national title, there’s littlechance that Kentucky seniors Wayne Turner, Scott Padgett and Heshimu Evanswillget rattled in any situation.
“We lost a lot of guys from last year and had a lot of new faces,”Padgettsaid. “We all wish we could have jelled quicker, but we’re starting to jellnow.”
The Wildcats rely on depth, but they’ll lean heavily on the threeseniors tolead them offensively. Turner, the point guard, was dominant during the NCAAtournament last season and had 24 points against Mississippi in the openinground of this season’s SEC tournament. Forwards Padgett and Evans average 11.9and 11.6 points per game respectively.
Kentucky also needs a strong tournament from 6-foot-10 junior centerJamaalMagloire, and the Wildcats will need it right away, as Kentucky will try tocontain New Mexico State’s 6-foot-9 forward Charles Gosa.
New Mexico State (23-9) hopes its prolific 3-point shooting and theinsideplay of Gosa helps the Aggies dethrone the Wildcats in the first round. EricChanning hit 46.2 percent of his threes this season and teammate Brad Bestorhit 40.1 percent. New Mexico State hit 190 3-pointers during the season, whichopened up the paint for Gosa, who averaged team highs with 14.5 points and 7.8rebounds per game.
New Mexico State won its last seven games, including the Big Westtournament, to earn its NCAA berth.
