By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Marquette's Robert Jackson played against UK's Cliff Hawkins (on the floor) several times while in the SEC. (Gary Landers photo) | ZOOM |

MINNEAPOLIS - Kentucky's Marquis Estill said Friday he didn't remember playing against Robert Jackson in the Southeastern Conference.

"I'm quite sure he knows me now," Jackson said Saturday night.

The Marquette senior center, who had faced Estill three times while playing his first three seasons at Mississippi State, handily won the battle in the low post Saturday against UK's senior center.

Jackson totaled 24 points and a season-high 15 rebounds, adding two assists and a blocked shot. Estill had 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks.

"I just took it as motivation," Jackson said of Estill's quote. "I tried to establish myself early and play with a lot of emotion tonight."

Estill wasn't ready to call Jackson a star. He figured the result was just his own poor performance.

"It wasn't difficult (defense) at all," he said. "I just wasn't making shots."

Of Jackson's scoring, Estill said: "He was just in the right spots at the right time. He was hitting layups."

HAYES STRUGGLES: The Wildcat with the longest night was Chuck Hayes. The sophomore forward went scoreless, missing three shots, and fouled out with 6:17 left to play. He played just 17 minutes because of the foul trouble. "That was the biggest key" to his struggles, he said.

FIRSTS AND WORSTS: This marked the first time in Marquette's history it had beaten the nation's No. 1 team. It was UK's largest margin of defeat in the NCAAs since an 86-70 loss to St. John's on March 22, 1985.

TOURNEY TEAM: The Midwest Regional all-tournament team consisted of Jackson, Dwyane Wade and Steve Novak of Marquette, and Estill and Keith Bogans of UK.

FINAL FIGURES: Estill is the school record-holder for field goal percentage at 60.1 percent (365-of-607). If he doesn't return for a fifth season, he will finish No. 1 and also finish No. 6 in the SEC in career field goal shooting.

AWAY GAME: Marquette was greatly benefited by a crowd advantage, as 80 percent or greater of the 28,383 fans were cheering for it.

CAT TALES: UK is 4-5 in regional final games since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1985 and 12-16 in regional finals since the Wildcats' first NCAA appearance in 1942.

GRADUATION RATES: A study released last week stated that UK had a 33 percent graduation rate in men's basketball. The study used averages of the four classes that entered the school between 1992 through '95, giving players six years to graduate.

In UK's case, that represented four of 12 players - Jeff Sheppard, Walter McCarty, Tony Delk and Scott Padgett - graduating. Of those who didn't, three left school early for the NBA (Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Nazr Mohammed) and three transferred (Michael Bradley, Ryan Hogan and Myron Anthony). Another, Allen Edwards, is on pace to receive his sociology degree in May. The last player, Cameron Mills, is six hours short of his degree.

Students who transfer to UK and graduate, as did Heshimu Evans, don't count in the study.

"The study doesn't give an accurate picture of the education your student-athletes are receiving when you're talking about a high-profile basketball program that produces NBA talent," UK sports information director Brooks Downing said.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com