Nov 28, 2001
Box Score?|?Quotes?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
By STEVE BAILEY
AP Sports Writer
CINCINNATI – Kentucky coach Tubby Smith spent the last week harping to his players about toughness and defensive intensity.
Although he saw improvement during the 13th-ranked Wildcats’ 82-68 victory Wednesday night over Kent State, he still wasn’t completely satisfied.
He wants his players to be more aggressive and play with more emotion, diving on the floor for loose balls and taking charges when those opportunities present themselves.
“Those are areas we’ve been concerned about ever since our loss to Western Kentucky,” Smith said. “We did much better with that tonight, but that’s the type of effort we need every night.”
Marquis Estill and Keith Bogans each scored 19 points and grabbed six rebounds as Kentucky (3-1) won its third straight after a season-opening loss to the 17th-ranked Hilltoppers.
Tayshaun Prince had 17 points, and Cliff Hawkins finished with a career-high 12 points and six assists as the Wildcats shot 46 percent and scored 20 points on 16 Kent State turnovers.
“This game is a step in the right direction for us,” said Prince, who added five rebounds and a blocked shot. “With every game, I see us getting better.”
Antonio Gates had 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead Kent State (3-2), the defending Mid-American Conference champion. Trevor Huffman added 18 points, and Demetric Shaw had 16 for the Golden Flashes.
The Wildcats held a huge advantage on the boards for the second straight game, outrebounding the smaller Golden Flashes 43-26.
The lopsided effort on the glass, which included a 20-8 margin at the offensive end, led to 25 second-chance points to Kent State’s five. Kentucky’s reserves also outscored Kent State’s 21-5.
“They really hurt us inside in the second half,” Kent State coach Stan Heath said. “When they missed shots, they got easy putbacks.
“And turnovers are very uncharacteristic of our team. We didn’t make plays and, consequently, that hurt us.”
The Wildcats led by only two at halftime but used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take a 56-43 lead with 12:17 remaining.
Estill scored six points during the run and drew a hard charge on Huffman that ignited the crowd at Firstar Center, where the Wildcats play a home game each year for their northern Kentucky fans.
“That definitely got the team pumped up,” Estill said. “I don’t think they’re used to me taking charges.”
Estill made 7-of-11 shots, most from within five feet of the basket, and 5-of-6 from the foul line with two assists and four blocked shots in only his second career start.
“I think I can overpower a lot of guys,” Estill said. “That’s why we try to get the ball under the basket.”
Behind Huffman, who scored 14 of his 18 points in the second half, the Golden Flashes pulled within eight on several occasions down the stretch but would get no closer.
“Our defense just broke down in the second half,” Huffman said. “We gave them three and four shots on some possessions, and there’s no way you can beat a team like Kentucky giving that many shots.”
Huffman and Gates each scored four points during an 8-0 run as Kent State jumped out to a 15-7 lead with 12:50 to play in the first half.
Bogans’ long 3-pointer keyed a 9-0 run over the next two minutes to put Kentucky back on top 16-15. But an 8-0 Kent State burst gave the Golden Flashes a 23-16 lead with 7:54 to play.
Kent State led 28-22 with 5:40 to play, but Kentucky outscored the Golden Flashes 15-7 the rest of the way to take a 37-35 halftime lead.
