Wednesday, January 09, 2002
No. 8 Wildcats look to rebound vs. Georgia
Bulldogs pose challenge inside
The Associated Press
LEXINGTON — Kentucky forward Keith Bogans winced Tuesday when asked about watching the film of Saturday's loss to Mississippi State.
“Man, it was like watching a horror movie,” Bogans said Tuesday. “That's the worst thing I've seen in a long time.”
The eighth-ranked Wildcats (9-3, 0-1 Southeastern Conference) took a 21-2 lead early in the first half and led by as many as 16 with 12 minutes to play before wilting down the stretch and falling 74-69 in overtime.
“It's hard to even think about that game,” said senior Tayshaun Prince, who scored 14 first-half points but was limited to only four in the second half.
“We had to watch the film to see what we did wrong so it won't happen again the next time out,” said Prince, who scored 14 first-half points but was limited to only four in the second half.
Kentucky won't have to wait long to try to purge that loss from its memory as a young but talented Georgia squad (12-2) comes to Rupp Arena tonight. The Bulldogs have won seven of their last eight games.
“They've got great athletes at every position and are playing extremely well right now,” said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, the head coach at Georgia for two seasons before taking over for Rick Pitino at Kentucky in 1997. “So I'm not so sure it will be easy for us to bounce back.
“It becomes challenging, because now everybody's coming in saying, "There's some things we can really take advantage of.' There's some things we did poorly. If we do them again, we're going to get burned again.”
Among the problems against Mississippi State were interior defense and rebounding, two areas where Kentucky has manhandled most of its previous opponents.
Mississippi State outrebounded Kentucky 43-35, becoming only the second team to outmuscle the Wildcats on the glass all season.
Sophomore Mario Austin, a 6-foot-9, 259-pound forward, also dominated UK inside, scoring 25 of his 32 points in the second half and overtime.
“We kind of backed down a little bit as far as toughness and being physical, and that's something we have to concentrate on,” Smith said. “We have to go after people and be more aggressive in attacking the basket. We can't be hesitant.”
Georgia has three players, including two post players, averaging in double figures: sophomore guard Ezra Williams (17.4 points) and sophomore forwards Jarvis Hayes (15.8) and Chris Daniels (12.9).
Daniels, Hayes and sophomore forward Steve Thomas also are grabbing more than six rebounds a game.
Smith said he expects most of Kentucky's future opponents, including Georgia, to adopt Mississippi State's strategy of pounding the ball inside against the Wildcats.
Georgia coach Jim Harrick, however, said his squad might have to take a somewhat different approach: “We don't have a guy like Mario Austin. He's a horse. We don't have anybody like that.”
STONE UPDATE:
Louisville coach Rick Pitino said Tuesday he was unaware of any policy when he was at Kentucky that limited where a player could transfer.
Pitino said last week he would be interested in talking to Marvin Stone, who was dismissed from the current Kentucky squad when he didn't return to school from Christmas break.
Stone said he wanted to transfer to Louisville, but Kentucky athletics director Larry Ivy said an unwritten school policy prevents him from accepting a scholarship from any team the Wildcats play regularly.
Pitino coached Kentucky from 1989-97 but worked for athletics director C.M. Newton, whom Ivy replaced in 2000.
Pitino said he had the final say in where players transfered.
Pitino said Kentucky may have had such a policy, but that he was never aware of it.
Kentucky sports information director Brooks Downing said Tuesday the school has had the “guideline” for more than 10 years.
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No. 8 Wildcats look to rebound vs. Georgia
