Tuesday, December 07, 1999
Smith says defense lapses the reason for UK's woes
Opponents hitting at 41 percent clip
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — When Kentucky coach Tubby Smith looks at his team's stat sheet for the season, he sees something new.
“People are shooting 41 percent against us now, and that's the highest that it's been in three years” in Lexington, Smith said Monday. “Actually, it's the highest it's been since I've been coaching, or close to it.”
Six games into the season, opponents have made 137 of 329 shots (41.6 percent) from the field against the Wildcats. That's a thorn in the side of Smith, who prides himself on team defense.
“I'm tired and not getting much sleep. I'm trying to find a remedy. I'm in the laboratory, baby, trying to figure things out,” Smith said with a laugh.
Though Kentucky (3-3) also has struggled offensively and has lost three straight for the first time in nearly 10 years, “My concern is getting us back to playing Kentucky-type defense where we're shutting people down,” the coach said.
After delivering strong defensive efforts in the season's first four games, Kentucky allowed Dayton to shoot 46.3 percent in a 68-66 Flyers win on Nov. 29. On Saturday, No.15 Indiana shot 54.7 percent in beating Kentucky 83-75.
“We went up against a very good Indiana team that really took us apart and really capitalized on the defensive mistakes that we made,” Smith said.
Last week's losses to Dayton and Indiana caused the Wildcats (3-3) to tumble from No. 13 to No. 23 in the AP college basketball poll Monday. It was Kentucky's lowest ranking since entering the poll at No. 25 in early December 1990. The Wildcats have been ranked in every poll since — 165 — and that streak is the second-longest current one, two weeks behind North Carolina.
The good news for Kentucky is that tonight's home game is against UNC-Asheville, off to the worst start in school history at 0-7.
RECKER TO IOWA? Luke Recker, whose transfer from Indiana to Arizona was marked by an automobile accident last summer, will leave the Wildcats to play for Iowa.
Recker will leave at the end of the fall semester to be closer to his fiancee, Kelly Craig, who is hospitalized in Chicago.
“I have been contemplating this decision since my arrival in Tucson,” Recker said. “This decision is based solely on personal reasons.”
Craig was partially paralyzed by a spinal cord injury when a truck crossed the center line of a highway near Durango, Colo., on July 10 and rammed the car in which she and Recker were riding. A Georgia man in the vehicle was killed.
Recker is out for this season because of his first transfer, and under NCAA rules would have to sit out the first semester at Iowa. But the 6-foot-6 swingman would be able to play for the Hawkeyes in January 2001, plus a full senior season in 2001-2002.
UC STILL NO. 1: Cincinnati was No. 1 in the AP college basketball poll for the fourth straight week.
The Bearcats (5-0), who beat Gonzaga in their only game last week, received 55 first-place votes and 1,747 points.
Arizona (6-0), which won at Texas on Saturday, jumped from fourth to No. 2, receiving six No. 1 votes and 1,647 points.
Stanford (5-0), which didn't play last week, held third. Michigan State, which used its impressive win at North Carolina, jumped from eighth to fourth in the rankings.
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