Saturday, March 06, 1999
UK NOTEBOOK
Tubby orders some 3-balls
BY NEIL SCHMIDT
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ATLANTA — Most of this decade, Kentucky has owned the nation's pre-eminent perimeter offense. Gradually, that run-and-shoot attack has slowed to a crawl.
The Wildcats entered play Friday night shooting .312 from three-point range, worst in the Southeastern Conference, but coach Tubby Smith is adamant about reversing that trend. Hoping quantity increases quality, he ordered an increased long-range attack, and his team answered with a 10-for-19 (.526) night from behind the arc in Friday's victory.
“Mu (Heshimu Evans) was saying, "The more you take, the more you make,'” senior point guard Wayne Turner said. “If we take 11 threes and make two, it doesn't help to stop shooting.
“If guys keep shooting, they can find their rhythm. If it's open, you've gotta keep shooting.”
Three-pointers have been the biggest variable in winning and losing this season. In its 23 victories, UK has shot .359 from behind the arc; in its eight losses, .196.
“We have some good three-point shooters,” Smith said. “Scott (Padgett) started off the year pretty tough on three-point shooting, and Wayne didn't shoot it as well as he did last year. But overall, we shoot it well in practice and in individual workouts.”
UK has made only 182 three-pointers, compared to a similarly meager 185 after the same number of games last seasons. But last year, UK shot .367 from behind the arc. It shot .397 on threes just three years ago, and it made an SEC record 340 threes six years ago.
Saul Smith is UK's top outside threat at .356 — which would be the lowest to lead UK since the advent of the three-point shot in 1986 — and Padgett has made a team-high 44 threes. Last year, Jeff Sheppard led UK with 71 three-pointers.
Turner had made just five three-pointers all season, but he made four more Friday night to raise his season percentage from .250 to .300. He made 21 last year (.368).
UK's overall field-goal percentage is .476, tied with Florida for tops in the league. Inside the arc, UK shoots an SEC-best .548.
FREE THROW WOES: Another thing Smith had stressed was for Evans to earn more trips to the free-throw line. Evans did so Friday, taking 20 foul shots. The next lesson will be making them.
Evans' 11-for-20 night from the line lowered his season free-throw percentage to .741. That's still tops among Wildcats who have attempted more than 25 free throws, but down from .784 entering Friday.
“Coach had been concerned that I wasn't being aggressive enough, that I wasn't getting to the line,” Evans said. “I've gotta make sure I get there more often. And make them.”
'CAT TALES: UK improved to 11-0 in the Georgia Dome, including 7-0 the past two seasons.
• Turner played in his 145th career game Friday. He needs four more to break the NCAA record of 148 held by Duke's Christian Laettner.
• UK is 94-15 (.862) in this tournament, including 21-1 in the 1990s. Its 21 SEC tourney titles are more than all the other schools combined.
Sports Stories
UNC CHARLOTTE 55, UC 52
UC NOTEBOOK
U of L whips UAB; enough for NCAA?
TEMPLE 76, XAVIER 64
Odom, Rhode Island storm into final
XAVIER NOTEBOOK
Lewis aims for elusive stardom
REDS NOTEBOOK
Reds 5, Rangers 4 (10); Twins 6, Reds 2
Blake, Coslet make up; Bengals still eye QBSs
