March 20, 1999
By R.B. FALLSTROM
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Kentucky didn’t need to stop Wally Szczerbiak to close downWally World.
Szczerbiak scored 23 points in his final college game, but got almost zerohelp from his teammates as the defending national champion eliminated Miami ofOhio 58-43 before a record crowd of 42,440 in the Midwest Regional semifinalsFriday night.
“You’re not going to stop Wally Szczerbiak from scoring, he’s too good aplayer,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “What you want to do is make surethe other guys don’t beat you. It’s just an unbelievable performance by ourteam.”
Scott Padgett got all but three of his 17 points in the second half forKentucky (28-8), the No. 3 seed. The Wildcats also had a dominating 37-18rebounding advantage to move a game away from their fourth straight trip to theFinal Four. The Wildcats will take on No. 1 seed Michigan State, which heldOklahoma to 33.3 percent shooting in a 54-46 victory in the first semifinal.
This will be the first meeting between the teams since 1978, when Kentuckybeat Miami and Michigan State in the NCAA tournament en route to a championshipin St. Louis.
Kentucky has won 20 of its last 21 NCAA games, has played for the title thelast three years and is in a regional final for the fifth straight year.
“Our veteran players are very poised and very focused,” Smith said.
Szczerbiak was 8-for-16 and broke Ron Harper’s school record for points in aseason with 774. He concluded his wondrous three-game tourney run with 90points before leaving with 1:32 left – his only bench time.
“It’s been a fun ride,” Szczerbiak said. “I’m going to leave with my headheld high, because we accomplished something few Miami teams have.”
Everybody else was a collective 6-for-28 for an overall 31.8 percentshooting percentage to make the RedHawks’ first appearance in round of 16 since1978 a big letdown. Miami (24-8), the No. 10 seed and tournament darling afterupsets of No. 7 Washington and No. 2 Utah, tied its season low for points andset new lows for shooting percentage (31.8) and baskets (14).
Miami also scored 43 points in a loss to Kent March 3 in the Mid-Americantournament final, and shot 32.7 percent in that game with 16 baskets.
Kentucky’s zone defense made Szczerbiak work a lot harder than usual for hisshots. It turned his teammates into a non-factor since Szczerbiak is basicallyMiami’s lone 3-point threat.
“They did a great job of knowing what our weakness was,” Miami coachCharlie Coles said. “When I saw that zone, I said, Uh-oh, we’ll never solvethat.'”
Padgett hit both of his 3-pointers and had eight points in a 10-0second-half run that put Kentucky in control at 45-28 with 8:03 to go. He hadonly three points at the break.
“I was talking to myself sitting on the bench,” Padgett said. “I washappy to finally do something to contribute to the team because I hadn’t helpedit much to that point.”
Szczerbiak knew the significance of that run: “That was all she wrote.”
Heshimu Evans added 11 points and seven rebounds for Kentucky, which hasbeaten Miami 18 straight times since its last loss in 1927.
Miami, or more accurately Szczerbiak, went scoreless for nearly 8 1/2 minutesin the first half yet somehow kept it close. Szczerbiak had 15 of Miami’s 19points and the RedHawks shot only 28.6 percent (6-for-21), but 10 Kentuckyturnovers kept it close as the Wildcats led 26-19 at the break.
Szczerbiak was the only Miami player to score until Anthony Taylor made twofree throws with 6:22 to go in the first half to cut the gap to 17-10. He wasthe only Miami player with a basket until Rob Mestas hit a fast-break layupafter a Kentucky turnover with 2:49 to go, but Miami trailed by only four atthe time.
Kentucky led by as much as 17-5 during Miami’s dry stretch, which began with17:21 left and ended when Szczerbiak hit a 3-pointer at the 8:55 mark to makeit 17-8.
