LEXINGTON, Ky. - Jamaal Magloire saw Maryland's game plan coming right at him. And he knew why.
Magloire's pregame dismissal of Maryland made easy bulletin-board fodder for the Terrapins. But Kentucky's junior center backed up his words and helped his team secure the win he had guaranteed.
"I stepped up to the challenge," he said. "But no more predictions from me, OK? Not 'til later on."
Asked Friday if the Terps could beat UK, he said, "They're an all-right team, but they're not the University of Kentucky. There's no program in the nation that works as hard as us."
Magloire backed that up with a devilish 6-6-6 line Saturday: six points, six rebounds and six blocks in 22 minutes.
"I was happy to see Jamaal play with such tenacity," UK coach Tubby Smith said. Asked about Magloire's comments, he said, "He has a very positive disposition. That's just Jamaal."
Said UK senior Scott Padgett: "If you'd ask him before every game, he'd say we'll win by 30 points."
Magloire was asked if UK will win the national championship. He wouldn't bite.
"I wouldn't say we're a great team yet," he said. "But the key word is yet."
Three cheers
UK tied a season-high with nine three-pointers, making half its attempts. It made seven threes in the first half to help take a 54-41 lead at intermission.
UK had suffered a two-game stretch in the Puerto Rico Invitational where it totaled just three three-pointers in two games.
Padgett, who had suffered an 0-for-18 slump from three-point range earlier this season, made all four threes he attempted Saturday.
'Cat tales
UK has beaten 11 consecutive ranked teams . . . Maryland was the highest-ranked team to play UK in Lexington since Dec. 15, 1979, when UK beat No. 1 Indiana 69-58 . . . The crowd of 24,321 was the ninth-largest in Rupp Arena history.
Up next
UK has final exams this week. It faces Georgia Tech at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Delta Airlines Classic at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.
UK leads its series with Georgia Tech 54-14 and has won the past four meetings.
