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- Saturday, December 20 1997 -
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Tulsa
 -
 53
 (Head
 Coach:
 Bill
 Self)
 -
 [Unranked]
| Player | Min | FG | FGA | 3pt FG  | 3pt FGA  | FT | FTA | Off Reb  | Def Reb  | Tot Reb  | PF | Ast | St | BS | TO | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eric Coley | 35 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 
| Jonnie Gendron | 34 | 7 | 13 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 
| Rod Thompson | 35 | 1 | 14 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 
| Zac Bennett | 23 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 
| Michael Ruffin | 34 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 
| Jay Spurlock | 15 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 
| Marcus Hill | 11 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 
| Shawn Williams | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| John Cornwell | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 
| Jamie Gillen | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| Robert Bell | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 
| Team | 2 | 0 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||||||
| Totals | 201 | 18 | 55 | 6 | 18 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 30 | 18 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 21 | 53 | 
Kentucky
 -
 74
 (Head
 Coach:
 Orlando
 Smith)
 -
 [Ranked
 4th
 by
 AP]
| Player | Min | FG | FGA | 3pt FG  | 3pt FGA  | FT | FTA | Off Reb  | Def Reb  | Tot Reb  | PF | Ast | St | BS | TO | Pts | 
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Allen Edwards | 27 | 4 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 9 | 
| Scott Padgett | 23 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 8 | 
| Jamaal Magloire | 15 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 
| Wayne Turner | 27 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 
| Jeff Sheppard | 28 | 3 | 8 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 11 | 
| Saul Smith | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 
| Cameron Mills | 15 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 
| Nazr Mohammed | 19 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 17 | 
| Heshimu Evans | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 
| Myron Anthony | 6 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| Michael Bradley | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 
| Ryan Hogan | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 
| Steve Masiello | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 
| Team | 1 | 1 | 2 | |||||||||||||
| Totals | 199 | 26 | 50 | 5 | 15 | 17 | 24 | 10 | 23 | 33 | 16 | 19 | 12 | 10 | 17 | 74 | 
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| Prior Game | | | Next Game | 
| Georgia Tech 85 - 71 | | | American 75 - 52 | 
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Game Writeup - Courtesy of Dr. Jeffrey Neil Burch; Dr. J's UK Newsletter, Vol. 7 No. 16. (All Rights Reserved)
Living on Tulsa Time:
 Once
 again
 Kentucky
 got
 off
 to
 a
 slow
 start,
 yet
 once
 again
 the
 Cats
 prevailed
 with
 a
 2nd
 half
 surge
 as
 they
 defeated
 the
 Golden
 Hurricane
 of
 Tulsa
 74-53
 in
 Rupp
 Arena.
 
 UK
 was
 ranked
 #4
 by
 AP
 for
 this
 contest.
Both
 teams
 misfired
 in
 their
 initial
 FG
 attempts
 before
 Gendron
 hit
 a
 16
 footer.
 
 Turner
 made
 a
 layup
 to
 tie,
 but
 Gendron
 hit
 another
 to
 make
 it
 4-2
 Tulsa.
 
 UK
 scored
 the
 next
 7
 pts
 to
 take
 a
 9-4
 lead
 (thanks
 to
 Turner,
 Sheppard,
 and
 Magloire)
 at
 the
 initial
 TV
 timeout,
 
 but
 the
 Golden
 Hurricane
 tied
 it
 and
 went
 ahead
 13-11
 on
 the
 strength
 of
 a
 Coley
 dunk
 off
 a
 Padgett
 turnover.
 
 Following
 the
 TV
 timeout,
 Coach
 Smith
 substituted
 for
 all
 5
 Wildcats
 (as
 he
 has
 done
 a
 couple
 of
 times
 this
 year).
 
 Edwards
 tried
 to
 force
 a
 shot
 when
 he
 was
 up
 against
 3
 defenders
 by
 himself,
 and
 ended
 up
 walking.
 
 With
 Tulsa
 leading
 14-11
 at
 the
 next
 TV
 timeout,
 Smith
 returned
 all
 the
 usual
 starters.
 
 Tulsa
 held
 a
 1-3
 pt
 edge
 for
 the
 next
 several
 minutes,
 going
 up
 ultimately
 to
 18-15,
 and
 then
 the
 Hurricane
 scored
 the
 next
 5
 consecutive
 pts
 to
 lead
 23-15.
 
 Kentucky
 looked
 lethargic
 and
 listless
 (as
 they
 had
 against
 Georgia
 Tech),
 and
 Tulsa
 took
 advantage
 of
 the
 situation.
 
 An
 18
 footer
 by
 Turner,
 and
 a
 pair
 of
 Sheppard
 and
 Bradley
 FTs
 made
 it
 23-21,
 but
 Tulsa
 remained
 ahead
 25-21
 after
 a
 Ruffin
 putback
 of
 a
 Coley
 miss.
 
 UK
 had
 problems
 getting
 off
 a
 good
 shot
 before
 experiencing
 time
 trouble,
 due
 to
 solid
 and
 tenacious
 Tulsa
 defense
 (the
 Cats
 also
 seemed
 reluctant
 to
 attempt
 3
 pt
 shots,
 despite
 being
 open
 for
 many
 of
 these
 in
 the
 1st
 half).
 
 A
 Mohammed
 putback
 and
 a
 drive
 by
 Turner
 tied
 the
 score
 at
 25-25,
 but
 another
 Gendron
 15
 footer
 made
 it
 27-25
 Tulsa.
 
 Mohammed
 hit
 a
 FT
 and
 had
 a
 dunk
 to
 conclude
 1st
 half
 scoring
 for
 Kentucky,
 and
 Bennett
 got
 an
 easy
 dunk
 to
 make
 it
 29-28
 Tulsa
 at
 the
 half.
 Scott
 Padgett
 not
 only
 had
 zero
 pts
 in
 the
 opening
 period,
 he
 had
 not
 even
 attempted
 a
 shot.
 
 Gendron
 led
 the
 Golden
 Hurricane
 with
 11
 pts.
 
 ESPN
 TV
 commentators
 were
 wondering
 out
 loud
 how
 good
 Gonzaga
 was,
 considering
 that
 Tulsa
 lost
 to
 them
 by
 34
 pts
 and
 Tulsa
 now
 appeared
 primed
 to
 beat
 UK
 at
 home!
Turner made a left-handed reverse layup to put Kentucky out front 30-29 to start the 2nd half, and Magloire added a hook shot for good measure. Bennett had an easy dunk when nobody got back on defense for the Cats, and Thompson later added a pair of FTs to make it 33-32 Tulsa. This was the last lead of the day for Bill Self's team. The Wildcats truly went to war after this, scoring the next 17 pts unanswered (thanks to Evans FT tosses, Mohammed FT tosses, a Mohammed bank, a Smith coast-to-coast drive, a Mills 3 pt shot which finally bounced in, a Smith FT, and a Sheppard layup). UK's relentless defensive pressure forced numerous turnovers and miscues on the part of the Golden Hurricane, which appeared rattled (just as Georgia Tech had earlier). Coley and Padgett then traded 3s, as did Gendron and Sheppard to make it 57-41 UK. Padgett finally took and completed a shot, making a 3 with a little under 8 minutes left in the game. Hill hit an extremely long-distance 3 pt shot, and then Padgett had a shot goaltended to put the Cats up 62-45. Mohammed had a dunk, and Tulsa started shooting airballs and failed to inbound the ball in 5 seconds on its next possessions. Kentucky scored the next 7 consecutive pts, leading 73-45 (Kentucky's largest lead of the day), thanks to a Mohammed layup and 12 footer, an Edwards 3, and an Edwards layup. Bradley hit 1 of 2 FT attempts to give Kentucky a 74-47 edge. Tulsa hit a 12 footer and a 3 to close slightly, but could never make up much ground as UK cruised to its 9th victory in 10 outings, winning 74-53.
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Saul Smith (#11) drives
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Cameron Mills defends
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Smith looks to make a play while defended by Tulsa's Rod Thompson
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