LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) — Joe Crawford had 17 points and Preston LeMaster added a career-high 12 as Kentucky solidified its NCAA tournament chances with an 80-40 victory over Mississippi Wednesday night.
The blowout guarantees the Wildcats at least an 8-8 Southeastern Conference record in a rocky season that has included two three-game losing streaks.
Despite the impressive win, Kentucky (18-9, 8-5) will know soon exactly where is stacks up among conference elites. It concludes the season with games against the SEC’s only three ranked teams – No. 24 Louisiana State, No. 10 Tennessee and No. 12 Florida.
It was a game in which coach Tubby Smith emptied his bench, playing 14 different Wildcats, and 13 of them scored.
Many of Crawford’s points came from Rajon Rondo’s dazzling assists – including two alley-oop passes that Crawford dunked home. Rondo finished with a career-high 12 assists, three short of Travis Ford’s team record of 15 set Dec. 8, 1993, against Eastern Kentucky.
Rondo and Crawford, as well as center Randolph Morris, were held out of the starting lineup for the third straight game as part of Smith’s new system of rewarding the players who score best in practice with starting jobs.
Reserve guard Ramel Bradley missed the game and will likely be out for two weeks after he broke his hand punching a basketball support during practice this week. With Bradley wearing a suit, LeMaster – normally one of the last players on Kentucky’s bench – was one of the first to come off it.
He rewarded Smith’s confidence with two quick 3-pointers to give the Wildcats an 11- point lead, immediately surpassing his career-high of five points set in 2003. LeMaster would add two more 3s in the second half.
LeMaster’s 3-pointers helped ignite an early 17-2 run for the Wildcats, who led 40-17 at halftime. LeMaster also got his first rebound in almost three months, then promptly traveled.
The Rebels (14-12, 4-9) were playing without their best player, center Dwayne Curtis, who left for Chicago earlier this week to attend his brother’s funeral. Jarrod Curtis was in a car accident in January and died Friday from the injuries.
Curtis leads the team with 13.4 points and 7.5 rebounds per game, and his 57 percent field goal percentage is second in the SEC.
With Curtis away, there was more pressure on the Rebels’ other starting big man – 6-foot-9 sophomore Jermey Parnell. But Parnell picked up his fourth foul in the opening minute of the second half before he recorded a single point or rebound.
No Mississippi player reached double figures. Londrick Nolen and Clarence Sanders had nine points each.
Free-throw attempts – both getting them and making them – have plagued the Wildcats most of the year. But Wednesday, the Wildcats made their first 14 attempts and finished 17-for-22 from the line.
Brian Smith, the Kentucky coach’s youngest son, faced his father and scored one point for the Rebels. It was his first visit to Rupp Arena since his high school team competed in the 2003 basketball championship tournament, losing in the semifinals.
