Friday, March 17, 2000
Prince has role in his clutches
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
CLEVELAND — He had owned the reddest eyes last year, inconsolable when the finest game of his freshman year happened to be Kentucky's last. He wasn't about to allow the same script for his sophomore season.
And so Tayshaun Prince scored 11 points in the last 4:08 of regulation Thursday, including the game-tying 3-pointer with seven seconds left, then six points in the extra periods to beat St.Bonaventure. Those looking for a hero can stop shopping.
“He's as big a clutch player as there is in the country, in my opinion,” UK coach Tubby Smith said.
Prince scored a career-high 28 points Thursday, adding seven rebounds, three assists, three blocked shots and a steal. He played 48 minutes, the most in a game by any Wildcat in at least 19 years. He never left the court after halftime.
“People can consider me (the go-to player) if they want,” Prince said. “But people on this team can play well on different nights. We all step up. Every day, it's someone different.”
In March, it seems to be Prince. This output followed successive games of 16, 19 and 15 points. Last year, he also played his best at tournament time, leading UK with 12 points in the season-ending loss to Michigan State.
His scoring average had dropped from 14.5 points in mid-January to 12.5 late last month, and he had a well-publicized clash with Smith that resulted in a one-game suspension. But he has regained his aggressiveness and scoring touch this month.
Prince's development was exemplified in the 3-pointer that forced OT. In the same situation in an early-season game against Dayton, he missed the shot and UK lost by three.
He made clutch shots, though, in the final minute of three consecutive road victories: the go-ahead score at Miami (Fla.), a clinching basket at Georgia and a clinching 3-pointer at Vanderbilt.
Teammate Saul Smith sees the same confidence in Prince that Jeff Sheppard showed late in the 1998 season and Scott Padgett did last year.
“Tayshaun has matured to where he can take the big shot,” he said. “It's like a succession, from Shep to Scott to Tay. They all grew and matured into that role.”
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