December 20, 1998

WICHITA, Kan. – Senior Jaye Barnes scored 15 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead Kentucky over Wichita State, 58-51, in the championship game of the 18th Annual Pizza Hut Shocker Shootout on Sunday. Barnes, who scored a total of 31 points and 13 rebounds in the two-day tournament, was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.

The Shockers (6-2) came out on fire in the first half, climbing to a 9-0 lead before Kentucky post players made five unanswered layups to pull the Cats (9-2, 1-0) within three. UK then took the lead with nine minutes remaining in the first half after Wichita State Coach Darryl Smith was whistled for back-to-back technical fouls and ejected from the game. UK’s Tiffany Wait netted four straight foul shots to put UK up by three, 18-15.

The Shockers, however, battled back with the help of leading scorer Keomi Johnson. She netted 10 of her 21 points in the first half. WSU went on to take a 28-24 halftime lead.

The Wildcats, who turned the ball over 13 times in the first half, came out in the second half with more patience and ball control, to commit only seven turnovers.

“We weren’t very patient with our offense in the first half,” UK Coach Bernadette Mattox said. “We are a transition team and we love to run and press. We just needed to take care of the basketball in the second half.”

UK outscored WSU 34-23 in the second half and hit 13-of-22 shots from the floor for 59.1 percent. Leading scorer for Kentucky was Barnes with 15 points. Wait, who was named to the All Tournament team, added 14 points and three assists while freshman LaTonya McDole scored 10 points and pulled down a game-high eight rebounds.

Kentucky will return to Memorial Coliseum on Monday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. versus Cincinnati.