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In Eddie Sutton's philosophy  defense scores points. The Wildcats followed their mentors instructions by putting the 'D' on the Cincinnati Bearcats in the second half to win going away 84-54 last Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
After a 12-2 run pulled the visitors to within three 38-35 starting the second half, Kentucky then proceeded to go to work against Cincinnati's tough 2-1-2 zone.
Kenneth Henry and Myron Hughes helped the Bearcats draw within three by scoring four points apiece during the spurt.
"I don't think I'll ever repeat what I said to the team at hfllftime," Sutton said. "I've never seen a team come out as flat as we did in the second half."
"That's been the second time that we've done that." said James Blackmon about the bad start in the second half. "We've just got to come out in the second half in the first five minutes and play hard. In the past couple of games we've been letting up in the start of the second half. We've just got to come out and continue to play hard"
Sutton called a timeout to get his troops off the mat with 16:57 remaining (UK ahead 36-33).
Getting back on the right track is exactly what UK did. Leading 40-35. Roger Harden led the break following a Kenny Walker steal and in traffic flicked the ball behind his back to Ed Davender. Davender then went in for the easy two giving UK a 42-35 advantage.
Turnovers were a big factor in UC being outscored 48-21 in the final 16 minutes. Included in that run was a 21-2 run by the Wildcats. Cincinnati committed 25 turnovers for the contest, 15 of which were steals by Wildcat players.
Blackmon's ball-hawking defense resulted in six steals for the Marion, Ind., native. He also led UK in rebounding, grabbing seven.
"Again, defense played a key role in the ballgame," commented Sutton. "I'm very pleased with the way our defense has come along. We forced 25 turnovers. If you play any kind of offense at all with defensive play like that, you have a chance to beat anybody."
Kentucky used a sticky full-court zone press (diamond-and-one) throughout the night, which disturbed UC into turnover, after turnover, after turnover.
By the time the 10:50 mark clicked on the Rupp Arena scoreboard, the home team led by a comfortable 61-39.
"They kicked our rear ends good tonight," noted Bearcats' coach Tony Yates. "They outplayed us in every phase of the game. The defense was excellent. They outrebounded us and had a big edge in shooting percentages. Kentucky was a very effective team tonight."
For the game UC fired 40.7 percent from the field (22 of 54), while the Wildcats canned 29 of 57 attempts for 50.9 percent.
Kentucky now stands at 4-0 and the Bearcats fall to 1-2.
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WALKER NETS 26, FINDS THE OUTSIDE TO HIS LIKING
Walker was having trouble inside early in the contest. But likeanAll-American Walker found his shot.
Smothered by a 2-1-2 Bearcat blanket for most of the evening the 6-8 senior drilled in eight of 18 from the field, and 10 of 13 from the charity stripe to total 26 points.
Early on it looked like UC's defense would hold Walker under his 22.7 ppg average. In fact Walker didn't take his first shot until the 14:12 mark of the first half.
While not getting anything accomplished underneath, Walker took his offensive show to the perimeter. Trailing 11-7, Walker helped offset UC's defense with two long-range jumpers, mixed in with a Robert Lock short banker.
With Walker's 17-footer from the right corner Kentucky pushed ahead for good 15-13 with 11:11 remaining.
The fuse was set. All it needed was someone to light it. Enter starter Harden. Coming into the contest Harden had dished out 25 assists in three contests. But the best was yet to come.
Harden, who seems to be having more fun than in his previous three Wildcat years, fired up the 23,330 partisan UK crowd with some good ole fashioned defense.
He alertly stole the ball from a UC player at midcourt. Sitting on his knees while facing the opponent's basket, Harden heaved the ball over his shoulder, which mysteriously arrived to Walker driving for a wide-open dunk. With a deafening Wildcat roar, Kentucky was now ready to roll, leading 17-13. Harden finished the night with a game-high five assists to his credit. Davender picked up the offensive slack early in (he period, The 6-2 sophomore scored Kentucky's first four points and dished off a nifty crow-courl assist to Harden for the jumper.
Junior Winston Bennett added 10 points. The forward wiis nearly (lawless from the field (three of four), while hitting four of tour free throw* In 29 minutes of work.