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March 2004 WildcatZone.Com News Archive
(03-31-04)
Football
- Football Spring Practice Photo Gallery - March 31 The Kentucky Wildcats suited up for their first practice of the spring on
Wednesday afternoon in chilly, rainy conditions in Lexington. Browse through this photo gallery from the practice.
- Cats seeking answers at quarterback, offensive line The day before the start of spring football practice, University of Kentucky coach Rich Brooks appeared to be
in good spirits.
- UK players know what to expect University of Kentucky football coach Rich Brooks has his eye on developing a workable offensive line rotation and determining the status of the
quarterback position as spring practice starts today.
- Football Cats improve fitness across the board It's much, much too early to speculate if the Kentucky football team will be any better next fall than
it was a year ago, but Coach Rich Brooks knows one thing for sure: the players definitely look better.
- Optimism Reigns Supreme Head Coach Rich Brooks On the opening of spring practice on
Wednesday... “I’m excited to get back on the field tomorrow with this group of players that have worked very hard in the off season. We have made tremendous gains with the returning players in their lifting ability, strength, speed and vertical jumps. All of those things, basically
across the board on our returning players, are much more impressive than they were at this time a year ago. We’re in much better condition, as a football team, overall than we were last year. I’m excited about it. We have a lot of questions, some of which will be answered this spring, but we have
some that won’t be answered until we get into the season next year.”
Basketball
- Some UC, UK players going to Final Four Two University of Kentucky basketball players, two from the University of
Cincinnati and one from Xavier University will be competing at the Final Four in San Antonio.
Baseball
- Cats Outscore Colonels 18-2 In Doubleheader The Kentucky softball team exploded for 18 runs on 25 hits to
sweep the Eastern Kentucky Colonels 9-0 and 9-2 Wednesday in Richmond, Ky. UK had 12 players register base hits during the doubleheader while the Cats’ pitching staff held EKU to a mere seven combined hits.
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(03-30-04)
Football
- Spring brings defensive hope NINE RETURNERS EXPECTED 'TO GO OUT AND STOP SOMEBODY' Here are 10 key
questions surrounding the University of Kentucky football team as Rich Brooks and his staff prepare to open their second spring practice Wednesday:
Basketball
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(03-29-04)
Basketball
Football
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(03-28-04)
Baseball
- ncaa should adopt 'other' arc For the second straight year, an ill-timed charging call ushered Kentucky toward the NCAA Tournament exit. Antwain Barbour's charge
blunted a UK rally against Marquette last season. Last weekend, a charge by Kelenna Azubuike radically changed the final two minutes against Alabama-Birmingham.
Football
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(03-27-04)
Baseball
Mirror image on display at UK
John Cohen has learned baseball strategy
and philosophy from Pat McMahon. But Cohen learned something almost as valuable while playing under McMahon at Mississippi State and working under him at Florida. Kentucky Drops Series Opener to No. 14 Florida, 8-4 Florida’s Matt LaPorta launched a three-run home run as part
of a four-run seventh inning to lead the Gators to an 8-4 win over Kentucky on Friday night at Cliff Hagan Stadium. The game was the first of a three-game Southeastern Conference series between the two schools. The Wildcats were unable to figure out Florida starting pitcher Justin Hoyman, who limited UK
to four runs, two earned, on six hits over 8 2/3 innings.
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(03-26-04)
Basketball
- Hawkins' SEC ring not for sale Cliff Hawkins' 2003 Southeastern Conference championship ring isn't for sale, as it turns out.
- Guard takes SEC ring off eBay After briefly attempting to cash in on the spoils of Kentucky basketball victories, former point guard Cliff Hawkins decided he'd rather
remain in The Fellowship of the Ring.
- Kentucky hoops, the big picture SOME FANS PREFER NEGATIVE VIEW What I know: My Tuesday column -- which
pointed out Kentucky and Tubby Smith need to return to the Final Four soon -- didn't exactly bring out the best in the fans who responded.
- Alabama earns first Elite Eight showdown
TIDE'S 19-5 RUN DOWN STRETCH DETHRONES SYRACUSE Sit down, Syracuse. Join top-seeded Stanford on the sidelines. The Tide is on some kind of roll. Alabama, a No. 8 seed, beat the defending national champions 80-71 in the Phoenix Regional semifinals
last night, five days after stunning No. 1-ranked Stanford.
Baseball
- Kentucky's new coach seeks maximum passion It's five minutes before the first pitch of the University of Kentucky's baseball game Wednesday night, and first-year coach John
Cohen stands in front of a television camera doing a live interview with a local station.
Football
- Archer's goal is for UK's defense to dominate If Mike Archer is right, Kentucky's offense should have
a stressful spring practice.
- 2004 Spring Lookahead What needs working on ... Everything. Kentucky football used to be above-average at best as an SEC program, but at least it was exciting with a high-octane offense. The
defense still doesn't work and now the offense has become stagnant as well. Rich Brooks and his staff must get the team to be better in tight games and needs to have something to hang its hat on. There isn't any one thing the team does better than anyone else.
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(03-25-04)
Basketball
- Richardson: There was no anti-Cat conspiracy EX-HOG COACH ROOTED FOR UAB
The first two letters of UAB are UA. Just a coincidence? Some people may not think so. Former University of Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson acknowledged rooting for Alabama-Birmingham to beat Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. One of his former players and long-time assistant, Mike
Anderson, coaches UAB.
Baseball
- Kentucky Bats Go Quiet in 6-2 Loss to Marshall
No. 16 Kentucky
earned its fifth-consecutive victory Wednesday with a 7-0 shutout of Butler at UK’s Boone Tennis Complex. The Cats chalk up their seventh shutout of the season and improve to 11-4.
- Herd's big inning dooms Bat Cats Kentucky could not find its offense yesterday, and the Wildcats fell to visiting Marshall 6-2. Marshall took a 2-1 lead into the
eighth inning, when it blew open the game. The Herd started the inning with three singles wrapped around a line out for a 3-1 lead. After an error loaded the bases, Joe Glevenyak doubled to the gap in left center for a 6-1 lead.
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(03-24-04)
Basketball
- Cats will 'find a way to be good' University of Kentucky forward Chuck Hayes had just finished answering a series of questions about the team's
departing seniors on Sunday when he finally said, "But life goes on."
- UK at a glance
- UAB making life 'Hell' in NCAAs The biggest upset of the NCAA Tournament was in the bag. Brackets were in tatters nationwide. In the stricken commonwealth
of Kentucky, much bourbon was being poured.
- Defense let down Kentucky They didn't want to cut down the nets after winning their 25th Southeastern Conference Tournament championship in
Atlanta's Georgia Dome. That nylon had become too pedestrian for the University of Kentucky basketball players. This team entered the NCAA Tournament on a nine-game winning streak and planned to break out the scissors in San Antonio, site of this year's Final Four.
- Kentucky tradition- Blame the coach
- UK seniors will go on farewell tour The five seniors on the University of Kentucky basketball team will embark on a barnstorming tour
starting April 12 with a 7 p.m. game at Harrodsburg High School. The tour will stop in Northern Kentucky on April 13 with a 7:30 p.m. game at Ryle High School.
- LOSSES LIKE SUNDAY'S MAKE NCAA MAGICAL The fun of the NCAA Tournament is the upsets, until it is your team that gets upset. The nice lady who runs the car line
at my youngest child's school was bummed out. She said she doesn't even care now who wins.
- Smith says 'sky is limit' for UK future
EXPECT BETTER DEPTH, SIZE, SHOOTING IN '04-05 Players come. Players go. But as Led Zeppelin once noted, the song remains the same. Despite the loss of five seniors, four of whom were among the top six players this season, Kentucky will enter 2004-05
expecting to keep on keeping on.
- CATS' FIVE SENIORS TIP OFF BARNSTORMING TOUR APRIL 2
Kentucky basketball seniors Antwain Barbour, Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Cliff Hawkins and Matt Heissenbuttel will begin the annual Barnstorming Tour on Friday, April 2, with an autograph session at Man O' War Ford in Lexington. The group will play at least 14 games and hold additional autograph sessions
throughout the tri-state area the next two months.
Football
- Kentucky Spring Football Notebook Mabry Signs With Kentucky: Mikhail Mabry, an all-state linebacker from
Mililani, Hawaii, has signed to play football at Kentucky, Coach Rich Brooks has announced.
Mabry was described as a "6-foot-2, 225-pound mentally focused tank"by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin and was a first-team all-state pick as a senior at Mililani HS. He is the 28th signee of Kentucky's 2004 recruiting class.
- Kentucky dismisses linebacker Holts The University of Kentucky football program suffered a blow heading into the start of spring practice next week when the school
announced yesterday that linebacker Deion Holts has been dismissed from the team for a violation of team rules.
- Holts kicked off Wildcats for violating team rules Linebacker Deion Holts, a former walk-on who worked his way into the starting lineup, has been dismissed from the
University of Kentucky football team for violation of team rules, the school announced yesterday.
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(03-23-04)
Basketball
- No panic yet for Cat fans
Either the Big Blue Nation has learned to accept losing in the NCAA Tournament or Kentucky fans really did understand how many things had to go right for this year's Wildcats to win 27 games.
- Sweet 16 has some feeling a little sour So, let's do a quick count as to how many of us had Nevada, Alabama-Birmingham, Xavier and Vanderbilt as part of our Sweet 16 field a
week ago ...
- Hey, this is supposed to be fun The NCAA Tournament becomes more humorless as the event becomes more important.
- Pools no day at the beach At least the Kentucky Wildcats and Stanford Cardinal basketball players didn't have to go to work Monday morning and face being knocked out of
the March Madness office pool so early.
- Cats Look Forward To Next Year In Wake Of Disappointing Loss UK players, coaches and fans Monday are dealing with heartbreak. The dream season turned into a nightmare Sunday in Columbus,
Ohio
- Wildcats Find A Lot Of Positives Despite Early NCAA Exit Without knowing it, Kentucky basketball coach Tubby Smith was prophetic last week.
- Dancing days are over After four years of clutch shots for the Cats, Gerald Fitch stood poised to deliver a March miracle for UK.
- Parity left area teams behind this season Two Sweet 16 teams from Alabama. Two more from Pennsylvania. One from Georgia, another from Tennessee, another from Texas.
- UK needs to find new core of leaders Kentucky's Chuck Hayes on Sunday described the pain of another wasted No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed as "a dark cloud hanging over this
locker room, this team."
- Kentucky Seniors Release Barnstorming Schedule
Kentucky basketball seniors Antwain
Barbour, Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch, Cliff Hawkins and Matt Heissenbuttel will begin the annual Barnstorming Tour next Friday, April 2 with an autograph session at Man O’ War Ford in Lexington
- Margin of error too thin for Cats There were reasons for those nail-biters
When UAB's Mo Finley made the go-ahead shot with 12.2 seconds left, Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch could be heard offering words of encouragement to his teammates.
- Quick exit stuns Wildcats Nobody saw this coming, not even the green-clad Alabama Birmingham players, whose own shock and surprise was written all
over their faces.
- Cats need Final Four return soon TUBBY'S TEAMS TOO GOOD TO BE PERENNIAL DOWNERS In the college basketball capital of America -- Alabama
-- giddiness reigns. Jim Rome and CNN Headline News were on the phone for Alabama-Birmingham Coach Mike Anderson yesterday, one day after the formerly anonymous Anderson saw his team break Kentucky's massive heart.
- Smith to add walk-ons and form JV team
Smith to add walk-ons and form JV team Depth doesn't figure to be a problem for Kentucky next season. Coach Tubby Smith plans to revive UK's junior varsity team.
Baseball
- Kentucky to Host Marshall On Wednesday
The Kentucky baseball team is set to welcome the Thundering Herd from Marshall University to Lexington on Wednesday. The Wildcats most recently took two-of-three games at Auburn this past weekend and
stand in a four-way tie for first place in the Southeastern Conference Eastern Division with a 2-1 record. Overall on the season UK holds a 14-6 record.
- Kentucky’s Kalen Gibson Named Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week
Kentucky sophomore pitcher Kalen Gibson has been named the Southeastern Conference Pitcher of the Week, the conference announced on Monday. The Slaughters, Ky., native earned the honor after throwing 8
2/3 shutout innings, allowing just one hit, in an 8-0 victory at Auburn on Friday, March 19.
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(03-22-04)
Basketball
- Any Given Sunday On any given Sunday, 8 teams were sent tickets to the Regional finals and 8 more teams
were sent back to their respective campus.
- Alabama spits out top seeds Blazers follow Tides' ouster of Stanford with
shocking upset of Wildcats, NCAA's overall No. 1 team
- Hawkins plays through pain of injured back University of Kentucky point guard Cliff Hawkins' rapid
movements belied the pain in his back.
- History repeats itself for Blazers First, Mo Finley brought the baddest basketball team in the
bracket, the loudest, proudest basketball program in the land, to its knees. All with a sweet whisper of a jump shot with 12 seconds left
- Missed opportunities Ladies and gentlemen, your two SEC Sweet 16 participants are ... Alabama and
Vanderbilt?
- Shot through the heart Blazers guard hits game-winner to end Cats' season, 76-75
- Turnovers down the stretch cost the Cats This will not be a game that the Kentucky Wildcats forget anytime soon.
- Blazers scorch Wildcats The University of Alabama at Birmingham's brand of basketball is called "forty
minutes of hell."
- Surprise ending for UK Champions live charmed lives, and so one comes to expect Kentucky's last-second shots to fall.
- Finley changes the brackets Alabama-Birmingham guard Mo Finley knew he would make it onto the 11 p.m. SportsCenter. And it
would be replayed over and over.
- Cinderfellas are busting NCAA brackets Anybody out there have a Nevada-Vanderbilt championship game in their Final Four? How about
Alabama-Birmingham and Xavier?
- Jayhawks not thrilled over date with UAB Kansas University isn't going to have to face a No. 1 seed after all on the road
to the Final Four.
- (9) UAB 76, (1) Kentucky 75 Some players stared in disbelief while others blinked back tears in Kentucky's somber locker room.
- UAB deals 'mighty blow' Set aside education or jobs for the moment. The state of Alabama apparently has made turning
your NCAA brackets into kindling its current top priority.
- Tubby calls on walk-on Moss to give Cats a lift With Kentucky's season on the brink of collapse, coach
Tubby Smith turned to an unexpected source to revive his team.
- Cats out of NCAA Tournament
Morris Finley's jumper with 12.2 seconds left provided the winning points in UAB's 76-75 upset over the Wildcats, who came into the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed.
- Cats stung by misses at buzzer The basketball left Gerald Fitch's
fingertips and spun through the tension-drenched air in Nationwide Arena, seemingly in a slow-motion arc toward the basket.
- No. 1 Kentucky sent to sideline
Forty minutes
of hell boiled down to a 12-second possession for the University of Kentucky. With their NCAA Tournament and national championship hopes hanging in the balance, the top-seeded Wildcats turned to their Mr. Clutch, senior
guard Gerald Fitch. If you had to pick one of UK's platoon of five players averaging in double figures to take the final shot, Fitch would easily be the best bet.
- Void is big for Kentucky seniors without Final Four berth
What drew Cliff Hawkins, Erik Daniels, Gerald Fitch and Antwain Barbour to Kentucky was the tradition.
- Hawkins' bad back becomes a pain to UK's cause The
timing was horrible.
- Beating UK 'like a dream' for Blazers Mo Finley cried tears of joy. Nolan
Richardson cheered like a proud papa. Mike Anderson beamed in the thrill of victory. And Chris Giles turned out to be right.
- Blazing end to No. 1 Kentucky's run
Pressure beat pedigree. And so it was that the mighty Kentucky Wildcats, seeded No. 1 overall in the NCAA Tournament, suddenly find themselves out of the running and languishing in their own little version of hell — even
worse than the so-called "40 minutes of hell" applied by the end-to-end defenders of Alabama-Birmingham on Sunday.
- 40 MINUTES OF &@%!! A heavenly season ended in 40 minutes of hell. Or maybe
it was four seconds, or whatever heartbreaking time it took for Gerald Fitch's open three-point shot for the win to instead bounce off the rim. Or for Kentucky's futile attempts at a desperation tip-in to come up empty,
before the clock struck triple zeroes on a terrific season.
- 'AFTERTHOUGHTS' AS GRITTY AS CATS COME Gerald Fitch sat on the scorer's
table, his face registering disbelief. Antwain Barbour slowly walked off the Nationwide Arena court, looking only at the floor.
- Big Blue out in two UAB makes plays at
crunch time Kentucky had been synonymous with close-game victories this season. So imagine the surprise when a nail-biter left UK on the sidelines in this year's NCAA Tournament.
- Moss crucial to Cats' rally Though Alabama-Birmingham won the game 76-75
last night, walk-on Ravi Moss continued the Kentucky tradition of stepping up to fill a need.
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(03-21-04)
Basketball
- UAB Upsets Kentucky, 76-75
Gerald Fitch's jumper with time winding down hit the back of the rim and Kentucky's run in the NCAA Tournament was halted by the No. 9 seed UAB Sunday at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio.
- This might be a case of déjà vu Kentucky (27-4) takes the
next step in what it hopes will be a title run this afternoon against Alabama Birmingham in a second-round NCAA Tournament game.
- Cats can exorcise C-USA demon You go 54-6 over your last 60 games, and you simply
don't have many scores to settle. But the University of Kentucky has another opportunity today to advance its spring cleaning.
- Blazers assistant also sees history repeating Don't tell Alabama Birmingham
assistant men's basketball coach Chris Giles that the Blazers can't beat the University of Kentucky today.
- Fitch, Hawkins give Kentucky solid point play At the time,
it was just a player losing playing time when he didn't take his academics serious enough.
- Kentucky promises to not let UAB hit the 100-point mark again
As entertaining basketball goes, it might be hard to match the first half of Friday's clash between Florida A&M and Kentucky.
- Barbour doesn't have to score to contribute for Kentucky
Antwain Barbour arrived at the University of Kentucky as someone who had no problem scoring points.
- Hayes in pursuit of rare triple-double at Kentucky
It has happened just once in University of Kentucky basketball history.
- Notebook- Hawkins offended by Rattler's mouth University of Kentucky guard Cliff
Hawkins declined to shake hands with Florida A&M's players after their NCAA Tournament first-round game Friday night, but Hawkins said he had a good reason.
- '40 minutes of hell' Part II UK has to contend
with UAB, coached by Richardson protege Teacher and pupil agree to disagree about what to call UAB's style. "I call it Part II," former Arkansas Coach Nolan Richardson said. "He calls it the 'Fastest
40 in town.' "
- Cats helped put UAB on map BLAZERS WON NATIONAL
ACCLAIM WITH 1981 NCAA UPSET OF KENTUCKY It was a different world in 1981. Tubby Smith was in Richmond, Va., an assistant basketball coach at Virginia Commonwealth. Mike Anderson was in Oklahoma,
playing for Nolan Richardson at Tulsa. UAB was in way over its head.
- Hawkins must cool competitive zeal
WILDCATS SUFFER WHEN POINT GUARD ALLOWS STRENGTH TO BECOME WEAKNESS The engine in Cliff Hawkins burns on competitive zeal. It runs molten hot -- and that is good.
That revved-up motor helps make Hawkins as relentless an on-the-ball defender as has ever worn Kentucky blue.
- The bench connection Kentucky-UAB will pit friend against friend and mentor
against protege. Twenty years ago, former Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson was a mentor to up-and-coming young black coaches like Tubby Smith and Mike Anderson. Now Smith and Anderson match wits in the NCAA Tournament second
round as coaches of Kentucky and UAB, respectively.
- Riley finds good in 'great nightmare' All-American. One of the most successful
coaches in NBA history. A kid who couldn't talk his parents into buying him a hot rod and now collects them.
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(03-20-04)
Basketball
- Kentucky 96, Florida A & M 76
Staying in the luxury hotel was an unexpected perk, and getting a police escort to the arena was another surprise for Florida A&M.
- Florida A&M hangs tough but withers at the end against Kentucky The
Florida A&M Rattlers lost a game Friday night but won the respect of the No. 1 team in the country.
- Kentucky ends Florida & M's dream with a thud Florida A&M's basketball players, skinny and
youthful, resembled water boys compared to Kentucky's Wildcats, whose chiseled, muscular frames should have been as intimidating as their fluid shooting.
- Cats Advance; Defeat Gritty Florida A&M Top-seed Kentucky moved into the
second-round of the NCAA tournament with a 96-76 win over 16 seed Florida A&M.
- DEFENSES RESTED IN WILD 1ST HALF
We went to the first-round game of the NCAA Tournament last night and and an NBA All-Star game broke out. Talk about Showtime. There were three-pointers, and dunks, and more three-pointers, and nifty passes, and more
three-pointers, and fast breaks and even more three-pointers.
- CATS SURVIVE RATTLER ATTACK UK finally subdues
FAMU in 2nd half After one of the highest-scoring first halves in Kentucky basketball history came one of the Cats' lowest feelings of this season.
- RATTLERS' SHOCK FALLS SHORT Who knew middle Ohio was the location of a modern day
... ... Fantasy Island? Last night, for an improbable 22:26 of NCAA Tournament play, it had everything but a vertically-challenged man shouting at a plane.
- Hayes nearly a triple threat Until Chuck Hayes plays again, it's still safe to say
there's only been one Kentucky player to record a triple-double. One of Hayes' buddies, walk-on Ravi Moss, attributed the triple-double rarity to an over-abundance of stellar players. Not a scarcity.
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(03-19-04)
Basketball
- Kentucky Advances - Defeat Rattlers 96-76
Five Kentucky players scored in double figures, led by Gerald Fitch's 26 points, as the Wildcats defeated the Florida A&M Rattlers in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 96-76 Friday night at Nationwide Arena in
Columbus, Ohio.
- NCAA Game Summary - Florida A&M vs. Kentucky Gerald Fitch scored 26 points and Erik Daniels added 18,
as Kentucky needed a big second-half run to pull away for a 96-76 victory over a pesky Florida A&M squad in the first round of the NCAA Tournament at Nationwide Arena.
- Rattlers rattle No. 1 Kentucky before Wildcats pull away Kentucky may have
never felt so blue after a win in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky 96 Florida A&M 76 Florida A&M showed it had more than a famous band before Kentucky finally
showed its Bluegrass pedigree.
- Cats ready for Rattlers' confidence Confidence could be the key word going into
tonight's NCAA Tournament game between Kentucky and Florida A&M.
- Bilas liked UK's chances early, and he likes them now Long before most other
college basketball analysts were on the University of Kentucky bandwagon, Jay Bilas was touting the Wildcats as one of the nation's best teams.
- It will be haves vs. have-nots Today's matchup between the
University of Kentucky, the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, and Florida A&M, which had to win a play-in game just to participate in the first round, highlights the differences between the haves and have-nots of the
college basketball landscape.
- Former coaches amplify their thoughts on radio The Joe B. and Denny Show
took to the airwaves this week on radio stations in Louisville, Lexington and Somerset, Ky.
- Kentucky goes its own way The starting lineup of Kentucky's basketball team is definitely not the kind
that would be expected for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament field.
- Getting a high seed in tournament is nothing new for Wildcats; it's expected Quick, name the two schools in the
NCAA tournament who have won the most games the past two years?
- Kentucky starting off at top Kentucky is not only a No. 1 seed but the
No. 1 seed. And the Wildcats begin their antithesis-of-Cinderella journey Friday against the NCAA tournament's only losing team, Florida A&M (15-16).
The Wildcats are the first team to officially be deemed by the NCAA selection committee as the top overall seed, a move largely the result of last season's bracket controversy. However, working out Thursday in Columbus,
Ohio, was a team clearly at ease with itself.
- Cats Ready To Begin Quest For NCAA Title Although the calendar changes, Kentucky's mission is the
same each March: Win or else.
- Transfers are key to A&M's hopes Two things give Florida A & M hope of a historic upset
tonight against Kentucky.
- Rattlers not of the doubting mindset After Thursday's games, there are 48 teams still playing
for basketball's national championship. That Florida A&M is one of them will not scare the other 47.
- UK Nation keeps March circled in red Kentucky has won 58 games the past two seasons, the most in the
nation, and secured consecutive No. 1 NCAA Tournament seeds. Which logically leads to this recent letter to the editor in UK's fan weekly, The Cats' Pause:
"I am fed up with the direction the program has taken under Tubby Smith. The team has fallen from grace over the last five years. ... I had been hoping the team was just going through a slump, but I don't think this
downward spiral will end until Tubby is gone." Welcome to the lunatic fringe.
- Experts' views on Wildcats are mixed The University of Kentucky might have been
granted the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA Tournament, but national media predictions of how the Wildcats will fare have been widely divergent.
- UK primed for a long tourney run
Before the question was
completed, University of Kentucky freshman Bobby Perry responded with certainty. Any chance the Wildcats will look past Florida A&M? "There's no chance at all," Perry said. "We treat them the same as every other team." It's
UK's ability to focus that has the Wildcats primed for a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.
- Florida A&M not intimidated by Kentucky No 16th seed has
ever beaten a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
- Kentucky passing the unselfish test this season The
center looks more like a forward and at one time was a rail thin point guard.
- Pressure won't get to Kentucky, coach says Tubby
Smith says Kentucky basketball is not for everyone.
- Chiles said he made 'bad decisions' during stint at Kentucky
He was part of Kentucky basketball for one season.
- Rattlers try to join parity party But Cats don't
expect history to be made today
Not that Kentucky takes tonight's victory for granted, but forward Chuck Hayes only watched a snippet of Florida A&M's victory over Lehigh earlier this week.
- Azubuike's jam session Cat picks up his game
just in time That poor net. Don't you feel sorry for the net? Hanging there, all silky and smooth, a nice piece of nylon, bothering no one. Only to be ripped.
- Accommodations awe A&M players
Kentucky against Florida A&M fits the NCAA Tournament first-round profile: All-powerful traditional steamroller versus lovable peanut.
- FAMU stalks giants Florida A&M men's
basketball coach Mike Gillespie saw something Thursday he hasn't seen much of the past two weeks - his entire team practicing.
- No respect from ESPN pundits ESPN college
basket analyst Digger Phelps' breakdown of tonight's NCAA Tournament first round game between the No. 16 seed Florida A&M Rattlers and the No.1 seed Kentucky Wildcats may have been short, but it didn't go unnoticed.
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(03-18-04)
Basketball
- Fitch found his niche at UK
The party school had no
chance. Ruby Fitch didn't want her youngest son, Gerald, attending Florida State, a university known for being one of the best party schools in the country. She had worked hard to keep him from getting sucked into a gang in
their hometown of Macon, Ga., and she didn't want him to forget why he was at college: to forge a better life.
- Hayes and Daniels are double trouble for UK opponents During their first year
together at the University of Kentucky, Erik Daniels and Chuck Hayes often got to spend quality time together during games.
- Vaught's Views- Ten reasons UK could win title Ten reasons why Kentucky could
easily cut down the nets in San Antonio April 5 after winning the national championship.
- Cats' Barbour 'Mr. March' If not for postseason tournaments, the basketball
world might not know about Kentucky swingman Antwain Barbour.
- Rattlers prepare for wild night The thought of playing the Kentucky Wildcats might be intimidating for some
schools, but for Florida A&M it's a way to pay the bills.
- Wildcats certain of Final Four seat He was standing there in middle of the Blue Nation,
holding up a sign during the Southeastern Conference title game Sunday afternoon.
- Thomas smooths out the wrinkles Thanks to freshman Sheray Thomas and his improved
benchmates, Kentucky now views foul trouble as foul inconvenience. The Southeastern Conference Tournament proved UK has made marked progress in its season-long goal of developing bench strength. In the semifinals and
finals, the Cats had to play long stretches without either Chuck Hayes (semifinals) or Erik Daniels (finals).
- In Tubby they trust "That's what makes them great. Give Tubby
credit and the players credit because they trust him." South Carolina coach Dave Odom said.
- Even Smith marvels at his club's defense University of Kentucky basketball coach
Tubby Smith used to lose sleep fruitlessly comparing this season's team with last season's team.
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(03-17-04)
Basketball
- Cats' experience pays off in dealing with officiating Officiating is not
something Tubby Smith discusses with his players, but he is glad that his team has enough experience to sense how a game is being called.
- Smith upbeat about UK's chances If Tubby Smith has any major worries going into the NCAA Tournament, he's
certainly hiding them well.
- Erik Daniels is key for Kentucky The NCAA madness begins in earnest Thursday. The experts
have spoken, but predicting the road to the Final Four remains a puzzle. USA TODAY's MaryJo Sylwester and Scott Boeck analyzed statistics for the 65 teams for a glimpse at the players and teams to watch. The top players
were identified using an index that ranked each starter in four categories. The players then were ranked within their region. Team rankings were based on Jeff Sagarin's ratings
- Kentucky's Barbour a proven tournament player If not for postseason tournaments, the basketball world might not know about
Kentucky swingman Antwain Barbour.
- UK takes on win-or-else attitude in title chase When
Kentucky plays on television, the parents of junior forward Chuck Hayes pop a tape in the VCR and hit the record button.
- SEC needs to make statement
For the sixth consecutive year
the Southeastern Conference got six teams invited to the NCAA Tournament. That's 36 teams in six years that have earned their way into the Big Dance. That's something to be proud of, right?
- Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament
RECORD: 94-40
- Rattlers earn shot at No. 1 Kentucky
Moses White still
remembers the first two times he played against current teammate Terrence Woods. White, a 5-foot-11 senior point guard for Florida A&M, was a freshman at Georgia, and Woods, the Rattlers' 6-3 leading scorer, was a freshman
at Tennessee. "When we went to Tennessee, he came in and hit some big threes -- and that really stuck with me in my mind," White said Tuesday night.
- One year later, Elite Eight loss gnaws at UK It returns in the quiet moments, as they ride the bus or drift off to sleep.
It haunts. It hurts.
- Tubby Smith NCAA Press Conference Quotes On preparation for the NCAA
Tournament… “We haven’t practiced since we returned from the SEC Tournament. I gave our players a day off yesterday to take some time to enjoy the day. We’ll get started again this afternoon. They got a lift in this
morning, and for the most part they are healthy.. It’s always difficult to prepare for a game not knowing who you’re going to play. We’re excited about being in the tournament, being in this region, and our guys are focused
and ready to play.”
- Kentucky is the favorite at post time
Summer had turned into fall in Bluegrass country, where thoroughbred horses and college basketball players are king. And folks were upset.
- History made- FAMU wins play-in game Midnight will have to wait, because the Florida A&M Rattlers aren't finished dancing.
- It's not pressure now; it's pleasure If the Cats (26-4), the top seed
in the NCAA Tournament, don't make it to San Antonio for the Final Four in the next three weeks, Coach Tubby Smith won't let it tarnish what has been an otherwise stellar season.
- Tubby keeps Cats out of the heat COACH DOESN'T
APPLY MORE PRESSURE DURING TOURNAMENT Pressure? What pressure? Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith shrugged at the suggestion that he might feel pressure to validate his team's regular-season success with a
long run in the NCAA Tournament.
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