Tuesday, February 08, 2000
UK's road forecast calls for heat, high pressure
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON, Ky. — Heading into the noisy sweatbox of Florida's O'Connell Center with just nine healthy players, Kentucky's Tubby Smith knows exactly what to expect.
“They'll look to press us more, try to wear us down with the press,” the coach said Monday, as his 11th-ranked Wildcats prepared to visit 12th-ranked Florida tonight.
Kentucky (17-5, 7-1) enters with a six-game winning streak and has won 13 of 14 since starting the season 4-4. Florida (17-4, 6-2) has won three straight games since losing two out of three last month.
The Wildcats are expected to be undermanned in Gainesville, having lost reserve forward-center Jules Camara for at least two weeks to a foot injury suffered during last week's win over Tennessee.
That leaves Kentucky with only starting center Jamaal
Magloire and freshman Marvin Stone to man the middle. Six-foot-nine swingman Tayshaun Prince is the Wildcats' only other player over 6-5.
Though the Wildcats were able to beat South Carolina on Saturday without Camara, Smith foresees a tougher task for his team against the Gator press.
“Jules, he's a big target that you can throw over people (to), and he can make the outside shot on the perimeter,” Smith said. “I think once you break the press, you've got to be able to attack and finish and score. I think if you go with Marvin and Jamaal, you don't have the outside firepower you would have if you had Jules in there.”
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