The Associated Press

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The game plan for Kentucky against Notre Dame today is simple: stop Chris Thomas.

"Our No. 1 focus has got to be the containment and controlling of Chris Thomas," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "He's a very talented player. The majority of their offense goes through him. When he's going well, they're playing well."

Thomas has not played well in two losses against the No. 9 Wildcats (12-2). Notre Dame's leading scorer at 19.9 points a game, Thomas has made just eight of 32 shots against Kentucky, making nine turnovers in an 88-73 loss last season.

Asked why he has struggled so much against the Wildcats, Thomas joked: "I think I was just trying to give Kentucky an advantage, so I let them take me out of the game."

Two years ago, Cliff Hawkins helped hold Thomas to 4-of-15 shooting. Last year Hawkins and Gerald Fitch teamed to hold him to 4-of-17 shooting. Thomas will see a lot of Hawkins again today.

"Cliff is as good an on-the-ball defender as you're going to find," Smith said. "That's going to create a problem for a guy who has the ball a lot."

Despite his success at guarding Thomas, Hawkins said he respects his talent.

"He's a great player and makes everything happen for them," he said. "I have my hands full trying to contain him. I'm going to play him tough and make him work for everything he gets."

Thomas said part of his problem against Kentucky and other teams that have played him tough defensively has been his shot selection.

"I think the last couple of years, whenever I wasn't able to get easy shots, I'd tend to force it," he said.

That's something Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said the Irish are willing to live with - at times.

"Because he's always going to be a guy who has to go out and do things for us," Brey said. "There are times he has to be (Allen) Iverson-like."

But Brey said he thinks Thomas is doing a better job of managing the game. So does Thomas.

"The last couple of games we've played well in, I've given it up and let the game come to me," Thomas said. "I'm going to do that on Sunday and just use my teammates as weapons. If they want to take me out of the game, I'll surprise them."

The Irish (9-5), who are 0-3 against ranked teams and 0-4 in nationally televised games, are in need of a win over a team like Kentucky to improve their Ratings Percentage Index.

"We have some good wins, but I don't think we can say we've had a great one," Brey said. "You have a number of them on the schedule that would do wonders for a potential resume in six weeks. Certainly Sunday is one of them."

The trouble is, the Irish haven't played that well at home. They are 6-3 at the Joyce Center, including an embarrassing loss to Central Michigan, which is in last place in the Mid-American Conference.

No. 9 Kentucky at Notre Dame

Tipoff: 4 p.m. today, Joyce Center (11,418), South Bend, Ind.

Records: UK 12-2, ND 9-5.

Radio: WSAI-AM (1530).

TV: Ch. 12, 7.

Series: UK leads 40-17.

Line: UK by 4.

KENTUCKY

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Kelenna Azubuike	So.	6-5	9.7
Chuck Hayes	Jr.	6-6	11.8
Erik Daniels	Sr.	6-8	15.3
Gerald Fitch	Sr.	6-3	16.6
Cliff Hawkins	Sr.	6-1	10.0

Coach: Tubby Smith (176-49, seventh season; 300-111 overall).

NOTRE DAME

Player	Yr.	Ht.	PPG
Torrian Jones	Sr.	6-4	8.4
Torin Francis	So.	6-10	16.1
Tom Timmermans	Sr.	6-11	3.9
Chris Quinn	So.	6-1	14.1
Chris Thomas	Jr.	6-1	19.5

Coach: Mike Brey (75-36, fourth season; 174-88 overall).