Nov. 23, 1999

Two of the top teams in the country meet when the Maryland Terrapins andKentucky Wildcats meet in the semifinals of the Preseason NIT at Madison SquareGarden on Wednesday.

No. 11 Kentucky (2-0), which defeated Pennsylvania and Utah in the first tworounds, is one of two semifinals teams to not play a game in between the secondand third rounds of the tournament.

Notre Dame, which faces Arizona in Wednesday’s other semifinal, beat St.Francis (Pa.) 73-60 on Sunday, while Maryland defeated Fairleigh Dickinson104-45.

“Looking back on it, it’s probably something we should have done as well,”coach Tubby Smith said. “That’s to hedge in case you did lose (in the earlyrounds).”

The Wildcats may have been better off playing a game in between rounds,since they’ve been struggling with their shooting.

Through two games, Kentucky is shooting just 41.8 percent from the field,but they have been impressive on the defensive end, holding opponents to 35.3percent field goal shooting.

Smith said the strong defense is no accident. “Young, old, that’s what Iput first every day,” he said. “When we get to Oct. 16, that’s what we workon.”

The 24th-ranked Terrapins (3-0) defeated San Francisco and Tulane last weekto advance to the semifinals of the tournament.

Maryland’s win over Fairleigh Dickinson on Monday was just a tune-up for itsshowdown with Kentucky.

Coach Gary Williams admitted he was preparing for the Wildcats long beforethe Terrapins walked onto the court to face the Knights.

“We’ve got the tapes from their games, obviously. I did sneak some peeksbefore we played Fairleigh,” Williams said. “I can say that now that we’vebeaten them.”

Maryland, which starts five underclassmen, has won nine straightregular-season games. But things should be quite different against Kentucky.

“I think we know what to expect. We know it’s a big game,” center LonnyBaxter said. “We’re going to come out and everybody’s going to be firing.”

The winner plays either Notre Dame or Arizona in the finals on Friday.