Saturday, December 04, 1999
UK seek to extend streak vs. Indiana
The Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS — Few schools and coaches can boast of having winning records against Indiana's Bob Knight. Kentucky and Tubby Smith are among the exceptions.
Smith and his 13th-ranked Wildcats go for a sixth consecutive victory over No.23 Indiana today. At the same time, the Wildcats will be seeking to avoid a third straight loss for the first time since the 1989-90 season.
The Wildcats (3-2) have been uncharacteristically cold from the field, hitting 39.3 percent of their shots this season.
Indiana has opened with consecutive victories over Texas Tech, No.10 Temple and Notre Dame, using a man-to-man defense to hold its opponents to 64 or fewer points in each game and to 34 percent shooting.
“It should be interesting to see how we respond,” Smith said Friday.
The Wildcats lost to No.4 Arizona 63-51 in the championship game of the Preseason NIT and then were upset by Dayton 68-66.
“We had a few good days of practice. I've been impressed with Indiana and the way their motion offense operates,” said Smith, who's 2-0 against Knight.
The Wildcats are coming in without their top four scorers from last season, and Smith has seven freshmen or sophomores on his 11-man roster. His only senior starter is 6-foot-10 center Jamaal Magloire, who needs eight blocked shots to break the school career record of 226 set by Melvin Turpin.
Indiana counters with a veteran squad featuring three starters from a team that finished 23-11 last season. Heading the list is guard A.J. Guyton, who is averaging 21.3 points and is ninth in Indiana career scoring with 1,594 points. Kirk Haston tops the Hoosiers in rebounds with an 11.7 average.
“They push the ball up the court,” Smith said. “They're always a very stable, mental team, so you've really got to execute, be patient on offense, set good screens and then be very conscious as far as the shots you take. They're a good rebounding team and they don't make many mistakes.”
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