March 21, 2003
Box Score?|?Notes?|?Photo Gallery
By PAUL NEWBERRY
AP Sports Writer
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When Kentucky got to the locker room after another dominating performance, a message awaited them on the board: “5 More.”
The top-seeded Wildcats extended their winning streak to 24, routing tourney newcomer IUPUI 95-64 Friday in the opening round of the Midwest Regional.
Clearly, Kentucky (30-3) won’t be satisfied unless the streak lasts another five games – the amount required to win the school’s eighth national championship.
“There’s no celebrating,” said Gerald Fitch, who equaled his career high with 25 points. “It’s all business right now.”
The Wildcats haven’t lost since Dec. 28, and they weren’t about to slip against a team with an eye chart of a name. Kentucky shot a staggering 62 percent, hitting 40 of 65 attempts from the field, and will play the Utah-Oregon winner in the second round Sunday.
Memo to the next team: Don’t talk so much about beating the Wildcats.
The Jaguars (20-14) and their animated coach, Ron Hunter, went on and on about becoming the first No. 16 seed to knock off a top seed. Hunter showed his players the movie “Hoosiers,” compared the matchup to David and Goliath and called the Jaguars the best No. 16 seed in at least a decade.
“It definitely bothered us,” Fitch said. “They made it seem like we were some typical team and they were going to make history.”
Fitch, who has overcome several run-ins with coach Tubby Smith, set a new career high by going 5-of-7 from 3-point range. But there was plenty to go around; 10 players scored at least a basket.
“We were able to get some penetration,” Marquis Estill said. “Everyone was finding guys open at the basket.”
 There’s no celebrating. It’s all business right now.
Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch
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IUPUI made only 37 percent from the field. Josh Murray led the Jaguars with 15 points, but Odell Bradley’s airball on the final shot of the game was more indicative of the way things went.
“Kentucky is the truth,” Murray said. “I take my hat and headband off to them.”
IUPUI earned its first NCAA appearance by winning the Mid-Continent Conference tournament. Kentucky, which breezed through the brutal Southeastern Conference with a perfect record, was playing its 128th tournament game.
In a symbol of the teams’ very different traditions, the Wildcats already had won four national championships when IUPUI – that’s Indiana University Purdue University at Indianapolis – opened in 1969.
“My guys are the feel-good story of college basketball,” Hunter said. “When you heard all that negative stuff going on at Georgia and St. Bonaventure, along came a school no one had heard of.”
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Kentucky is the truth. I take my hat and headband off to them.
IUPUI forward Josh Murray
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The Jaguars didn’t last long. Kentucky built a 48-28 lead at halftime and was on cruise control the rest of the way, their adoring fans turning the Gaylord Entertainment Center into a sea of blue.
Chants of “Go Big Blue!” shook the place when the Wildcats dominated the final minute of the first half. Estill dunked off a pass from Fitch. Cliff Hawkins stole the ball cleanly from Josh Mullins and passed ahead to Fitch for a layup. Finally, Hawkins pulled up for a 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded, sending Kentucky to the locker room with its biggest lead of the half.
Hunter stomped up and down the sideline in a resplendent, $3,000 brown suit that was made for him after he tore his Sunday-best outfit with a belly flop to celebrate the Jaguars’ Mid-Continent championship. He had no reason to mess up his new suit.
Kentucky rarely has been tested during the nation’s longest winning streak, which began after a bitter 18-point loss to rival Louisville and former coach Rick Pitino.
Only six of those 24 victories have been decided by fewer than 10 points. Kentucky’s average margin of victory during the run is an astonishing 17.2 points.
“Early in the season, we were focused more on offense,” Keith Bogans said. “Coach went back to square one and showed what defense can do for us.”
