Kentucky - 43 (Head Coach: Adolph Rupp) - [Ranked 1st by AP]

Player	FG	FGA	FT	FTA	PF	Ast	Pts
Walter Hirsch	1	9	0	1	3	3	2
Shelby Linville	4	10	4	5	2	0	12
Bill Spivey	6	11	3	6	2	1	15
Bobby Watson	0	5	1	1	4	1	1
Lucian Whitaker	1	3	0	1	2	1	2
Frank Ramsey	4	15	3	4	4	4	11
Totals	16	53	11	18	17	10	43

St. Johns - 37 (Head Coach: Frank McGuire) - [Ranked 13th by AP]

Player	FG	FGA	FT	FTA	PF	Ast	Pts
Ray Dombrosky	4	10	1	2	1	1	9
Jack McMahon	4	15	4	8	1	2	12
Bob Zawoluk	2	11	2	2	5	2	6
Tom O'Shea	0	1	0	0	2	0	0
Don Dunn	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Al McGuire (*)	0	4	3	6	5	2	3
John McAndrews	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Ronnie MacGilvray	2	7	1	1	3	0	5
Frank Mulzoff	1	3	0	1	3	0	2
Totals	13	51	11	20	20	7	37

Kentucky Wildcats Outpoint St. John's, 43-37

Linville Sparks Rally That Provides Margin For Cats' Sixth Win

NEW YORK, Dec. 23 - Shelby Linville scored six clutch points midway of the second half here tonight to give Kentucky's basketeers the working margin they needed and the Wildcats went on to whip St. John's, 43-36, before a crowd of 18,332 fans in Madison Square Garden.

It was the sixth straight win of the young season for the No. 1-ranked Kentuckians, who broke a three-game Garden losing streak with the victory. The setback was the second in eight starts for the Redmen, who handed Kentucky a 69-58 lacing on this same court last year.

In contrast to the opener of tonight's twin bill, which New York University's Violets took from Vanderbilt, 89-56, the Kentucky-St. John's affair was a dog-eat-dog battle from the first whistle to the final gun.

Score Tied at Half, 16-16

The Redmen, in attempting to slow down Kentucky's attack, played possession ball during most of the game, and as a result of these tactics the teams left the court at the end of the first half with the score tied at 16-16 - one of the lowest-scoring periods in the history of basketball at the Garden.

St. John's managed pretty well to keep the ball away from Kentucky's seven-foot center, Bill Spivey, double-teaming the Georgia Pine and keeping him well out on the court on defense. But despite all their efforts, the Redmen weren't able to keep Spivey in check and he wound up as the game's high scorer with 15 points.

Bob (Zeke) Bob Zawoluk, St. John's big center, for the second straight year found Spivey a tough customer, both on offense and defense. Zawoluk scored only six points - on two fielders and two free throws - and fouled out with two minutes left in the game.

Coach Adolph Rupp unveiled another outstanding star in the Garden tonight in the person of Sophomore Frank Ramsey, who was all over the court and turned in a sensational performance in his Garden debut.

Ramsey Hogs Rebounds

Ramsey not only scored 11 points, but his rebounding and ball-handling left nothing to be desired. The youngster from Madisonville grabbed 13 of the 43 rebounds captured by Kentucky and served as the playmaker on offensive drives.

St. John's was able to snatch only 27 rebounds and of these Zawoluk got but two, as compared with 11 captured by Spivey.

In shooting, the Cats again held the edge with 16 baskets out of 53 shots. St. John's hit 13 of 51. Each team hit 11 free throws, Kentucky missing seven and St. John's nine.

In the first half the score was tied three times and St. John's held the lead by one point on a trio of occasions. The Redmen were on top only once in the second half, at 19-15 after a minute of play.

Kentucky knotted the score at 19-19 and with six minutes gone a rebounder by Spivey broke a 21-21 deadlock and the Wildcats never trailed thereafter.

With Zawoluk the hatchet man on one side and Al McGuire on the other, the Redmen chopped the Georgia Pine down to size for a while, but they couldn't hold him.

After Ronnie MacGilvray hit a free throw to make it 23-22, Ramsey dropped in a gratis toss and Spivey followed with another rebounder to make it 26-22, matching the biggest lead the Cats had held during the first half.

Redmen Come Back

St. John's came back strong with Jack McMahon hitting a long one and MacGilvray making good on one shot out of two free throw and it was 26-25 with 10:15 to go.

Ramsey dropped in a long one, McMahon tabbed a free throw and Ramsey followed with a pretty tip-in to make it 30-26.

Then Linville swung into action. He scored on a rebounder, added two free throws when fouled by Tom O'Shea and then swept under the basket for a crip to make it 36-26, and from that point on the Cats were in.

St. John's fought back hard and reduced the Kentuckians' margin to four points at 41-37 with 1:20 to go. The Ruppmen then started freezing tactics, waiving three free throws in the final minute to retain possession, and with about a half minute left, got the ball to Spivey for a crip shot that ended the scoring.

Rupp used only six men in the game. Bobby Watson started at guard but was replaced by Skippy Whitaker after 10 minutes. Whitaker stayed in until the 11:50 mark of the second half when Watson returned to finish up.

Linville Scores 12 Points

Linville scored 12 points to tie McMahon, St. John's leading scorer. Capt. Walt Hirsch had a hard time locating the basket, getting only two points, but he confined most of his efforts to feeding the others and did a good job. Whitaker had two points and Watson one.

Linville broke the scoring ice with a rebound shot after 1:35 and Spivey dunked in a crip to make it 4-0, the biggest lead either team held during the first half.

McMahon's free throw at the 3:40 mark gave the Redmen their first point. Spivey retaliated with a free throw, but at the 5:20 mark, MacGilvray tabbed a crip for the first St. John's field goal Ray Dombrosky hit a foul to cut the Cat lead to 5-4, but Ramsey upped it to three points with a one-hander.

MacGilvray's rebound shot and a free throw by McMahon tied it at 7-7. Linville gave the lead back to the Cats with a free throw, but Zawoluk entered the scoring for the first time, batting in a rebound, and St. John's led 9-8.

Whitaker's one-hander and a free throw by Spivey made it 11-9 for Kentucky. Dombrosky connected from the corner to knot the count again and the Redmen went ahead on Al McGuire's free throw.

Ramsey Returns Lead

Ramsey returned the lead to the Cats with a one-hander, but a long-shot by Dombrosky put St. John's ahead again, 14-13.

A one-hander by Hirsch and a free throw by Spivey gave Kentucky a 16-144 edge. McMahon then sank a long one to deadlock matters at the intermission.

Zawoluk, who had averaged 22.1 points a game this season, now has scored only nine points in two games against Spivey. Last year Bob got but three points to 17 for Big Bill.

Kentucky's team will fly home Sunday to disband for the Christmas holidays. The Cats' chartered airliner is due to arrive at Blue Grass Field between 12 and 12:30 p.m. (Lexington time). The squad will reassemble after Christmas for the trip to the Sugar Bowl. Two players - Lou Tsioropoulos and C.M. Newton, are flying direct to their homes from New York and will not return with the team. Tsioropoulos lives in Massachusetts, Newton in Florida.

In the opener, Vanderbilt gave NYU a tight battle for 10 minutes, but from that point on the game had a distinct Violet hue. The Commodores jumped into a 4-0 lead at the start but NYU tied at 4-4. The score was knotted four more times and the lead changed hands five times before the Violets went ahead to stay.

NYU Breaks Deadlock

The last deadlock was at 16-16, NYU shot ahead, 21-16, before Vandy scored again, and at halftime the Violets had built up a 43-26 lead.

After a brief flurry in the opening minutes of the second half, the Commodores tired badly and during a five-minute period near the middle of the half went scoreless while NYU was tallying 15 points.

Poor rebounding and even poorer shooting on Vanderbilt's part led to the top-heavy NYU victory. The Commodores, who had held Holy Cross to a two-point win at Boston two nights earlier, were far off on their marksmanship and the Violets grabbed a big percentage of the rebounds.

Bill Spivey (#77) defends the goal

Frank Ramsey is fouled while shooting by St. Johns' Al McGuire (#18)

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