Nov 15, 2001
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By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) – Western Kentucky coach Dennis Felton had no doubt hissquad could beat a team as talented and as deep as No. 4 Kentucky.
The trick was convincing his players it was possible.
“We knew it was going to be a big challenge to beat a great team on theirhome court,” said Felton, whose Hilltoppers (1-0) stunned the Wildcats 64-52Thursday night in the first round of the NABC Classic. “I told our playersthat people across the country are suspect as to how good we really are.
“We have to prove to everyone that we’re not suspect. With as good asKentucky is, maybe everyone will see just how good Western Kentucky is.”
David Boyden scored 15 points, and Chris Marcus added 13 points and 10rebounds as the Hilltoppers beat their intrastate rivals for the first timesince a 107-83 victory that knocked the Wildcats (0-1) out of the 1971 NCAAtournament.
“We didn’t come here without being confident in our team,” said Marcus, a7-foot-2, 290-pounder who is considered one of the country’s best big men.”From the first jump, we knew (we had a chance).
“We weren’t nervous. We showed that it doesn’t matter what type of playersyou have or if you’re ranked. We worked as a team and showed how talented wereally are.”
Western Kentucky (1-0) advanced to face George Washington, a 69-64 winnerover Marshall, in Friday’s championship game.
Tayshaun Prince and Marvin Stone each scored 12 points to lead Kentucky,which will play the Thundering Herd in Friday’s consolation game.
“We didn’t have any flow – any cohesiveness in our offense, any leadershipin our attacking,” a disappointed Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. “This wasa tough loss. We certainly have a lot of work to do.”
Kentucky shot 34 percent from the field, finishing only 2-of-18 from 3-pointrange (11 percent), and turned the ball over 20 times to lose their seasonopener for the second straight year.
The Wildcats had problems at the free-throw line as well, making only 12 of24 and missing several key opportunities that could have put the Wildcats backin it late in the second half.
“They outplayed us in every phase of the game,” Smith said. “Theyouttoughed us, they outhustled us, outworked us, outshot us, they were morephysical … it was just a really disappointing effort on our part.”
Prince, a preseason All-American, finished only 4-of-14 from the field asKentucky’s starters were a dismal 17-of-47, and 2-of-15 from 3-point range.
“They just outplayed us,” Prince said. “I don’t know if we had tired legsor what but as the game progressed, our shots just weren’t falling.”
The Hilltoppers attacked Kentucky from the opening tip, taking a 13-11 leadon Marcus’ two-handed dunk at the 15-minute mark.
Down 15-13, a 12-2 run put Western Kentucky on top 25-17 midway through thefirst half. The Wildcats roared back with a 13-2 run of their own to go up30-27 with 4:50 to play.
But the Hilltoppers refused to back down, outscoring Kentucky 5-0 the restof the way to take a 32-30 halftime lead.
“I got on them pretty good at halftime,” Smith said. “It wasn’t that Iwanted them to shoot more. We were just being outplayed and weren’t hitting theshots we got.”
Western Kentucky opened the second half with more energy than the Wildcats,outscoring them 17-6 over the first 10 minutes to take control.
Kentucky pulled to 58-52 on Gerald Fitch’s steal and layup with 2:19 toplay, but would get no closer as the Wildcats missed shot after shot down thestretch.
