Thursday, November 25, 1999
Kentucky 61, Maryland 58
Wildcats to play Arizona in Preseason NIT final
BY JENNIFER SCROGGINS
The Cincinnati Enquirer
NEW YORK — The Kentucky Wildcats had rolled into the Preseason NIT semifinals by defeating Pennsylvania and Utah with patience and grit.On Wednesday, the wheels came off in the second half against No.24 Maryland, but the 'Cats hung on to win a game that had degenerated into total chaos in the final minute.
Jamaal Magloire's free throw and Juan Dixon's missed 3-point attempt sealed a 61-58 victory that sent No.11 Kentucky (3-0) into a championship-game matchup with No.8 Arizona at 9 p.m. Friday in Madison Square Garden. Maryland (3-1) will meet Notre Dame in the consolation game at 6 p.m.
“What we have to do is be more consistent,” said Magloire, who finished with six points on 2-of-9 field-goal shooting. “Our consistency is not there yet. We're working hard in spurts.”
Maryland opened the second half down 40-27 to the Wildcats, to whom they will play host in a Dec.11 rematch. By the 10:53 mark, the Terps trailed just 50-45. At 8:02, Maryland menaced at 51-50 as Tay shaun Prince, UK's guiding hand in the first half, missed two free throws. At 6:33, Maryland's Terence Morris tied it 52-52 on a tip-in.
“The first five minutes of the second half, we didn't execute,” Magloire said. “They were very anxious to come back ... We weren't aggressive defensively.”
The closing minute was a testament to the game's frenetic pace. With UK ahead 59-56, the 'Cats lost control of the ball on their half of the court. What resulted was something between hot potato and rugby, and the Terps regained possession and called time out with 32.6 seconds to go. Dixon then lauched a 3-pointer
that hit off the front of the rim. Prince nabbed the rebound but was bottled up and forced to take a timeout with 15 seconds left.
Desmond Allison was fouled on the inbounds pass — ending the night for Maryland's Steven Blake — but the sophomore guard made only one of his foul shots.
The Terps ran back down, and Dixon's driving layup pulled them within 60-58 with just more than seven seconds to go. That's when Magloire scored the final point.
“I thought our kids showed a lot of courage and poise down the stretch to hold on to the lead,” UK coach Tubby Smith said. “We're a team that's still trying to find ourselves.”
The 'Cats had countered Maryland's hyperactive tempo in the first half, but after intermission, UK shot just 20 percent from the field and committed 10 turnovers.
Point guard Saul Smith, who had three points and two turnovers, said the Terrapins actually slowed the pace in the second half and forced UK out of the transition game and into an offensive scheme.
“We responded really well in the first half — they tried to press us, and we pressed back,” Smith said.
In the first half, UK's fast-paced pressure had forced Maryland into 13 turnovers and 34.4 percent shooting. Terence Morris, the Terps' big-name player, had scored 12 points but had not developed much of an offensive rhythm.
That all changed. Morris finished with 25 points, and the Terps' shooting improved to 43.3 percent.
Meanwhile, UK was stuck in a 5-of-25 field-goal shooting rut and made good on only one of seven second-half foul shouts. Prince, who led UK with 21 points and calmly directed the offense most of the first half, went 2-for-9 after halftime.
“Tayshaun stepped up for us big, with 21 points and nine rebounds,” Tubby Smith said. “He's the type of player we need to keep the ball in his hands in late-game situations.”
Running the floor while Saul Smith served a lengthy stint on the bench with two fouls, Prince sparked a first-half run that put UK up 12-4 with 15:16 to play.
His 3-pointer made the score 8-2. He hit a runner in the lane to make it 10-4, then got a dunk on transition off a Maryland turnover.
“We got off to a great start,” Prince said. “We were up by eight, 10 points. I was just trying to keep the lead up, take the ball hard to the basket. Try to just create easy things for the post players. Also, myself.”
MARYLAND (58)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Morris 37 10-16 2-2 3-8 2 2 25
Miller 24 2-6 0-0 1-1 0 4 6
Baxter 27 5-10 1-4 3-9 0 3 11
Blake 34 2-4 0-0 1-2 7 5 4
Dixon 35 3-17 2-2 6-11 2 2 8
Nicholas 21 2-7 0-0 0-2 2 4 4
Mardesich 13 0-2 0-1 1-3 0 1 0
Holden 9 0-0 0-0 0-1 1 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 24-62 5-9 15-37 14 22 58
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.387, FT-.556. 3-Point Goals:
5-18, .278 (Morris 3-4, Miller 2-2, Blake 0-2,
Dixon 0-6, Nicholas 0-4). Team rebounds: 8.
Blocked shots: 3 (Holden 2, Morris). Turnovers:
20 (Dixon 6, Blake 5, Baxter 3, Mardesich 2,
Morris 2, Nicholas). Steals: 9 (Morris 3, Blake
2, Dixon 2, Baxter, Miller).
KENTUCKY (61)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Prince 37 7-18 5-8 4-9 1 1 21
Camara 18 1-4 1-2 0-3 1 1 3
Magloire 28 2-9 2-7 4-6 1 3 6
Smith 20 1-4 0-0 0-0 3 3 3
Allison 18 1-3 1-2 0-0 3 4 3
Bogans 22 5-8 6-7 0-1 0 0 17
Stone 20 2-6 0-0 7-13 0 2 4
Knight 13 2-2 0-1 0-2 2 0 4
Blevins 20 0-4 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
Tackett 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-59 15-27 15-34 13 14 61
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.356, FT-.556. 3-Point Goals:
4-15, .267 (Prince 2-5, Smith 1-2, Allison 0-2,
Bogans 1-3, Blevins 0-3). Team rebounds: 8.
Blocked shots: 5 (Stone 2, Camara, Prince,
Allison). Turnovers: 18 (Bogans 4, Prince 3,
Stone 3, Allison 2, Camara 2, Smith 2, Magloire).
Steals: 10 (Camara 2, Prince 2, Blevins, Bogans,
Knight, Magloire, Smith, Stone).
__________________________________
Maryland 27 31 - 58
Kentucky 40 21 - 61
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 10,762. Officials: Jim
Burr, Tom Lopes, Joe Mingle.
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