March 7, 1999
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
ATLANTA (AP) – After losing to Tennessee to the final regular-season game,Kentucky hardly looked like a team capable of defending its nationalchampionship.
A week later, the Wildcats have changed that perception.
No. 14 Kentucky, atoning for what had been considered a disappointingseason, used a 16-0 spurt at the end of the first half and beginning of thesecond to beat No. 22 Arkansas 76-63 Sunday and win the Southeastern Conferencetournament.
“We lost a lot of guys from last year and had a lot of new faces,” saidScott Padgett, who scored 20 points and was honored as tournament MVP. “We allwish we could have jelled quicker, but we’re starting to jell now.”
Kentucky (25-8) had its most regular-season losses since the 1989-90 season,including four defeats in the final seven games. The Wildcats lost the EasternDivision title to Tennessee with a 68-61 loss on Feb. 28.
But the SEC tournament always brings out the best in Kentucky, which upsetNo. 4 Auburn in the semifinals before wearing down Arkansas in the final.
“We sat down after the Tennessee game and looked at some film,” Padgettsaid. “We realized there weren’t a lot of major things we needed to work on,just some minor things. We made a goal to be 9-0 in the postseason. We’re 3-0right now.”
The Wildcats can turn their attention to the NCAA tournament needing fourvictories to return to the Final Four, which is being held in St. Petersburg,Fla.
“We want to repeat in St. Pete,” Heshimu Evans said.
The Razorbacks simply ran out of energy after playing past midnight in aquarterfinal game Friday and going to overtime to beat Mississippi State inSaturday’s semifinals.
“We didn’t quit,” coach Nolan Richardson said. “There’s a differencebetween giving up and giving out.”
The Wildcats, who receive an automatic NCAA bid, won their third straightSEC tournament title and seventh in eight years – a remarkable streak that hasincluded only one loss in 24 games. That came in the 1996 final againstMississippi State.
At the buzzer, freshman Tayshaun Prince jumped into Wayne Turner’s arms andthe pro-Kentucky crowd of 25,521 at the Georgia Dome serenaded coach TubbySmith with chants of “Tubby! Tubby! Tubby!”
Arkansas, which joined SEC for the 1991-92 season, has never won thetournament, losing twice to Kentucky in the finals.
“They’ve got the best team, and the best team usually wins,” Richardsonsaid. “You have to have size, shooting and rebounding. Kentucky has all theingredients.”
The Razorbacks (22-10) jumped to a 19-6 lead less than five minutes into thegame, only to see the Wildcats bounce back as they always seem to do at thistime of year.
Kentucky closed the first half with an 8-0 run to slice Arkansas’ lead to40-39. Padgett hit a 3-pointer and Evans scored the final four points,including a pair of free throws with five seconds remaining after drawing acharge from Kareem Reid.
The Wildcats went ahead for good by scoring the first eight points of thesecond half. Padgett missed two shots under the basket but kept working theboards, finally putting in his third attempt to put Kentucky ahead for thefirst time, 41-40.
Evans, Turner and Michael Bradley followed with three straight fastbreakbaskets, giving the Wildcats a 47-40 lead and forcing Arkansas to call a20-second timeout.
It didn’t help – the Razorbacks got as close as four points only once andKentucky won going away, holding Arkansas to 24 percent shooting in the secondhalf with an aggressive zone defense that included the 6-foot-6 Evans or 6-8freshman Tayshaun Prince roaming at the top of the key.
“Prince and Heshimu contested a lot of shots up there,” Smith said.
The Razorbacks came out firing from beyond the 3-point arc, hitting five oftheir first six attempts for the 13-point lead. Chris Jefferies scored thefirst seven points and Reid capped the spurt with his second 3-pointer.
But then Kentucky’s bench asserted itself, outscoring the Arkansas reserves17-8 in the first half. Saul Smith hit a 3-pointer and Ryan Hogan connected ontwo straight from long range to make it 21-17.
The Wildcats didn’t shoot particularly well, either from the field or theline, but put their size advantage to good use by crashing the boards foroffensive rebounds. Arkansas, with no starter taller than 6-8, was furtherhampered when one of those players, Derek Hood, picked up his second foul lessthan four minutes into the game.
Hood, who had 10 points and 12 rebounds, fouled out with 3:57 remaining.
“We have to play twice as hard as any other team,” Richardson said. “Wecan’t play half-court basketball with a team that big. … When trapping,double-teaming and running the floor, it’s just so hard.”
