Saturday, March 06, 1999
KENTUCKY 83, MISSISSIPPI 73
Party on, Wayne! Turner's threes lift Wildcats
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ATLANTA — Wayne Turner is a man of many monickers. Wayno. Wizz. 'Lil Man. Burner Turner.
The most appropriate may be Mr. March. Kentucky's senior point guard annually raises his production in the postseason, so his career-high 24 points Friday night in an 83-73 Southeastern Conference quarterfinal victory over Mississippi shouldn't surprise.
“You know what time it is,” UK senior forward Scott Padgett said. “It's March. It's Wayne Turner time. It's the Wayne Turner Invitational.”
Turner, MVP in this tournament last year, was held to three points in 10 first-half minutes because of foul trouble. The game was tied 31-31.
Turner then merely bested his previous career high (20 points) in the second half alone, when he scored 21. The man who was shooting .250 from three-point range, having made just five threes all season, made four in a row to will the 14th-ranked Wildcats to victory.
UK (23-8) advanced to play fourth-ranked Auburn (27-2) in a 1 p.m. semifinal today at the Georgia Dome. UK beat the Tigers 72-62 on Jan. 20 in their only meeting of the season, handing them their first loss after a 16-0 start.
They will need more of the same from Turner, who made 7-of-9 from the field Friday and had five rebounds and three assists. After a week in which UK seniors Turner, Padgett and Heshimu Evans were all candidates to be benched, all three delivered. Evans scored 16 points, and Padgett had 10 points and eight rebounds.
“I can't explain it,” Turner said with a sheepish smile. “I had a lot of confidence running through me.
“I don't know what happens when March comes. It's tournament time. The only good-luck thing I can think of is my birthday is this month (on the 22nd). Maybe that's it.”
Though Friday's game was aired in prime time, it wasn't G-rated TV. Sixty-five fouls were called. There were 81 free throws, second-most in SEC history to the 84 shot in a UK-Vanderbilt overtime game in 1980.
Ole Miss starting shooting guard Michael White drew four fouls in the first 10 minutes. Evans shot 20 free throws. The game lasted 21/2 hours.
“It was hard to keep our focus with whistles blowing every time down the court,” Padgett said.
The Rebels (19-12) took their first and only lead at 33-31 in the first minute of the second half. Then Turner got the Wildcats going.
He grabbed an offensive rebound and banked in an eight-foot jumper to tie the game. On the next possession, he sank a three-pointer. Soon UK led 41-33.
Ole Miss kept rallying, and Turner threes kept stemming the tide. When the Rebels made their last push to close within 47-46 with 10:53 left, a Turner three-pointer started the clinching 15-0 run.
Turner made his first four three-pointers and was 6-of-6 from the field in the half before finally missing a three.
“He was getting some good open looks,” UK coach Tubby Smith said. “When he's making threes, that adds a whole dimension to his game and our offense.”
Now comes a tall test. Beating Auburn might pave the way to a tourney title this weekend, and might spell the difference between, say, a No. 2 or No. 4 seed in the NCAAs.
Auburn will be at top strength. In the earlier meeting in Rupp Arena, Tigers point guard Doc Robinson was slowed by the flu and scored just three points.
“We know we're going to get their best shot now,” Turner said. “We think we're ready for big games like this.”
MISSISSIPPI (73)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Smith 32 3-10 5-10 3-8 2 5 11
Hicks 27 1-7 3-4 0-2 1 4 5
Flanigan 18 0-2 1-4 1-2 2 3 1
White 6 0-0 0-1 0-1 0 5 0
Carter 39 9-19 2-4 0-5 2 4 23
Harrison 27 2-8 4-5 0-1 3 4 10
Lockhart 22 2-5 0-2 5-10 1 3 4
Brown 17 1-5 0-0 0-1 1 2 3
Carpenter 9 2-3 4-5 0-0 1 4 10
Williams 3 2-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 6
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-61 19-35 9-30 13 34 73
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.361, FT-.543. 3-Point Goals:
10-22, .455 (Carter 3-10, Harrison 2-3, Brown
1-4, Carpenter 2-3, Williams 2-2). Team rebounds:
4. Blocked shots: 2 (Hicks 2). Turnovers: 12
(Flanigan 3, Smith 3, Harrison 2, Lockhart 2,
Carpenter, White). Steals: 7 (Harrison 3,
Flanigan 2, Carpenter, Smith).
KENTUCKY (83)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Padgett 30 2-7 5-6 3-8 3 4 10
Evans 37 2-8 11-20 2-5 6 2 16
Bradley 20 2-3 0-1 0-6 2 4 4
Turner 30 7-9 6-9 1-5 3 3 24
Allison 10 2-2 0-0 0-0 2 3 5
Prince 30 2-5 3-4 0-8 2 4 8
Magloire 23 3-6 1-2 0-3 1 4 7
Smith 10 2-4 1-2 0-0 0 3 7
Camara 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Hogan 5 0-0 2-2 0-1 0 1 2
Tackett 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 22-45 29-46 6-36 19 30 83
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.489, FT-.630. 3-Point Goals:
10-19, .526 (Padgett 1-3, Evans 1-4, Turner 4-5,
Allison 1-1, Prince 1-3, Smith 2-3). Team
rebounds: 5. Blocked shots: 9 (Prince 3, Magloire
3, Allison, Padgett, Bradley). Turnovers: 21
(Turner 4, Bradley 3, Magloire 3, Padgett 3,
Evans 2, Prince 2, Smith 2, Allison, Hogan).
Steals: 5 (Padgett 3, Bradley, Smith).
__________________________________
Mississippi 31 42 - 73
Kentucky 31 52 - 83
__________________________________
Technical fouls: Mississippi 1 (White). Kentucky
1 (Bench). Officials: John Clougherty, Tom Lopes,
David Day.
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