March 22, 1999
By OWEN CANFIELD
AP Sports Writer
ST. LOUIS (AP) – The future looks bright at Kentucky, although Wildcatfanswill have to wait until next season – not next week – to see just how bright.
The third-seeded Wildcats got off to a great start in the MidwestRegionaltitle game against No. 1 seed Michigan State, but didn’t withstand amethodicalcomeback that resulted in a 73-66 Spartan victory Sunday.
Coach Tubby Smith was left to talk about opportunities that slipped away,and about freshmen Tayshaun Prince, Desmond Allison and Jules Camara, who hadto play well to offset subpar showings by the veterans.
Smith felt there were several times where a made basket or a defensivestopwould get Kentucky going. “But they (the Spartans) made all the rightdecisions with the ball, they kept attacking offensively,” he said.
Kentucky (28-9) did the attacking early on, running out to leads of17-4 and19-6. Heshimu Evans scored nine of the Wildcats’ first 13 points, but had justthree in the final 36 minutes.
Scott Padgett, who had played so well in the first three games, had justfour points at halftime and finished with 11. Six of those came on a pair of3-pointers in the final minute.
Prince, who had scored nine points in the previous three tournamentgames,had 11 at halftime and finished with 12. Allison had seven points and twoassists, Camara four points.
“They are our future and they’re the backbone of our program,” Smithsaid.”It shows a lot of maturity when they’re able to step up and carry us.”
The Wildcats rebounded well and scored effectively inside and outsidein theearly going. But Michigan State didn’t get rattled, and instead got back intothe game by hitting 3-pointers, playing good defense and rebounding better.
The Spartans closed the half with three straight 3-pointers to get within36-36. The last one, just before the buzzer, was made by Mateen Cleaves,who tothat point was 1-of-5 from the floor.
“When you get a big lead like that and guys are pumped up, you don’t wantto get too emotionally high,” Smith said. “I was trying to tell them there’sa long way to go, because you know you’re playing against a great team that’sgoing to come back. That’s easier said than done, but that was a big, big liftfor them at halftime.”
That emotion carried over into the second half. The Spartans outreboundedKentucky 22-10 in the final 20 minutes. They also held the Wildcats, who hadshot 52 percent in the first half, to 37 percent in the second half.
During one stretch, Evans committed a turnover, Padgett missed a3-pointerand the front end of a one-and-one. With the Spartans leading 58-54, pointguard Wayne Turner missed on an open drive to the basket and Allison’s tipdidn’t fall.
“I don’t know how big it was at the time,” Padgett said. “But I thinkwhen you play top-notch teams like the Michigan States, the Dukes, the teamsthat are in the Final Four, those are the type of shots any team has tomake ifyou want to beat those teams.”
His two late 3-pointers cut a seven-point deficit to three with 19secondsremaining, but Michigan State kept the Wildcats at arm’s length by beingperfect at the foul line down the stretch.
The loss ended Kentucky’s hopes of defending its national championshipandgoing to the Final Four for the fourth straight year. The Wildcats are now20-2in the NCAA tournament the past four seasons.
“We’re in one of winningest stretches in four years in college basketballhistory,” Padgett said. “When I look back, I’ll know I was part of a greatrun. But right now I’m not really thinking about that.”
