By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEXINGTON - It felt like Homecoming. Specifically, My Old Kentucky Home. Kentucky staged its Senior Night on Wednesday, with Jules Camara's mother coming in from Senegal and the parents of the late John Stewart returning for a tribute to their son.

Joe B. Hall and Tayshaun Prince returned to Rupp Arena. Sports Illustrated honored UK with a cover story.

And the Wildcats shared like family with 21 assists and 52 bench points in a 106-44 rout of Vanderbilt. It was UK's largest margin of victory over a Southeastern Conference opponent since 1956.

It made for a grand celebration of UK's SEC championship, its 42nd - one more than all the other league teams combined.

"It was a perfect night," said UK freshman Kelenna Azubuike, who had a career-high 16 points. "The seniors got the sendoff they deserved."

It was a feel-good night all the way around.

Junior forward Erik Daniels, a Princeton High graduate, matched his career high with 20 points off the bench, and made his third and fourth 3-pointers of the season. Marquis Estill made his first 3-pointer. Camara, a fifth-year senior, got a spot start and had three rim-rattling dunks. Azubuike was 6-of-6 shooting, including the two most spectacular dunks of the night.

The three seniors all had their moments: Estill totaled 17 points and nine rebounds, Keith Bogans had nine points and four assists, and Camara had eight points and six rebounds.

The team returned to midcourt after the game to link arms for "My Old Kentucky Home."

"This has been a great group to be around," coach Tubby Smith said. "As we were walking off, I said, `We've got to do this.' I think it meant a lot to the fans and the team."

This marked the 19th consecutive victory for the second-ranked Wildcats (25-3), who at 15-0 are one victory from becoming just the second SEC team since 1956 to go unbeaten in league play. The first was UK's 1995-96 team.

The last step, though, could be the toughest, as UK heads Saturday to Florida. The third-ranked Gators have won 19 consecutive home games.

But those concerns were for another day. Wednesday was for celebrating.

With five minutes left, UK had begun to substitute for its second team. The crowd had chanted "Tubby, Tubby," for the man who has won four SEC titles in his six seasons at UK. And after Azubuike's stunning display, including 13 points in 51/2 minutes, the crowd gave the little-used freshman the biggest roar of the night.

"We see what Kelenna can do every day in practice," Bogans said. "... Really, the emotion of Senior Night carried over for everybody. Everybody played well."

This one was probably over before tipoff. Vanderbilt (10-16, 3-12 SEC) entered the game on a seven-game losing streak.

And Vandy has made for something of a Homecoming-type opponent for UK, acting as the Senior Day foe 23 times and winning just once. It is 0-26 in Rupp Arena.

"We were overwhelmed, physically and mentally, from the beginning," Vandy coach Kevin Stallings said.

UK shot 52.4 percent Wednesday, including 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) on 3-pointers.

After a 2-2 tie, UK scored the next 13 points and had a 19-point lead within the first 91/2 minutes.

The 6-9 Estill made his own 3-pointer in the second half, in the early stages of a mind-numbing 43-9 run.

Azubuike had the play of the night, a ferocious tip-dunk of a Hawkins miss.

Vanderbilt	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Thornton	17	1	4	0	0	3	0	2	1	2
Freije	25	3	13	1	1	1	2	4	1	9
Smith	25	4	8	0	0	3	1	1	1	8
Moore	25	0	9	0	0	5	1	0	3	0
Lakey	24	1	5	0	1	4	2	2	3	3
Holwerda	20	1	3	0	0	4	2	0	2	2
Payton	10	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0
Przybyszewski	11	2	4	1	2	2	0	0	0	6
Carter	5	0	0	0	2	2	0	2	0	0
Hundley	14	2	4	0	1	3	2	0	5	4
Terrell	15	4	9	0	0	2	0	3	3	8
Schnedlitz	9	1	3	0	1	3	0	2	2	2
Totals	200	19	62	2	9	32	11	16	22	44

Team rebounds: 2.

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Camara	19	4	7	0	0	6	2	3	1	8
Hayes	20	2	2	1	1	6	4	1	1	5
Estill	24	6	7	4	7	9	1	2	0	17
Fitch	20	5	11	3	3	5	5	0	2	15
Bogans	26	4	14	0	0	4	4	0	1	9
Hawkins	10	1	3	0	0	0	2	2	2	2
Daniels	20	9	12	0	0	2	1	0	0	20
Azubuike	11	6	6	2	2	3	0	1	1	16
Barbour	14	1	3	0	0	2	2	0	0	2
Stockton	7	1	3	0	0	2	0	0	0	3
Moss	5	1	3	0	1	2	0	1	0	2
Carrier	7	1	6	0	2	4	0	3	0	2
Cote	9	2	5	0	0	4	0	2	1	5
Heissenbuttel	4	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0
LeMaster	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	43	82	10	16	51	21	15	9	106

Team rebounds: 5.

Vanderbilt	29	15	-44
Kentucky	48	58	-106

3-point goals-Vanderbilt 4-16 (Freije 2-7, Smith 0-1, Moore 0-2, Lakey 1-3, Przybyszewski 1-3); Kentucky 10-21 (Estill 1-2, Fitch 2-4, Bogans 1-4, Daniels 2-3, Azubuike 2-2, Stockton 1-1, Carrier 0-3, Cote 1-2). Technical fouls-UK: Carrier.