xt7c2f7jqk39 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7c2f7jqk39/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1988 Volume 12 -- Number 28 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1987-1988) coaches Sutton, Eddie SEC Men's Basketball Touranment (1988) players Manuel, Eric NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (1951) NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament (1988) statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  March 19, 1988 text The Cats' Pause,  March 19, 1988 1988 2012 true xt7c2f7jqk39 section xt7c2f7jqk39 ' ......- .....'.......... -^-^-------~~^-f^^.---_
 77ie (Dais' (&ui&&
March 19, /y<96>
PUBLICATION NO. USPS 707340 Published By WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY P.O.Box 7297 Lexington. Kentucky 40522 Second Class Postage paid at Lexington. Kentucky 40511 and additional mailing offices
Editor and Publisher
OSCAR L. COMBS Associate Editor
NICK NICHOLAS Associate Editor MIKE ESTEP Staff Writer JIM EASTERWOOD National Recruiting Columnist BOB GIBBONS
Columnist LARRY VAUGHT State Columnist BOB WATKINS
Columnist RUSSELL RICE National Basketball Columnist LARRY DONALD
Columnist
TODD HALLUM
SEC Columnist STAN TORGERSON SEC Columnist ELMORE "SCOOP" HUDGINS Kentucky Basketball Recruiting RICK BOLUS Contributing Columnist JAMIE VAUGHT Columnist DAN BRANDENBURG Contributing Columnist BERNIE VONDERHEIDE Business Manager DONNA COMBS Staff Photographer GARY CROMWELL Staff Photographer DAVID STERLING Circulation Coordinator
WANDA HOOKER Crossword Puzzle Editor DAN KRUECKEBERG
Published Weekly: Sept. I3-April 11 Monthly: May. June. July. August
Advertising Representative WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY 2627 REGENCY ROAD LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY 40503
Subscription Price $25.00 per year in USA $35.00 per year in Canada Phone: (606) 278-3474 Postmaster: Send Address Changes to THE CATS' PAUSE. P.O. BOX 7297. LEXINGTON. KENTUCKY 40522
FIRST ROUND March 16-17
Covington Holmes
QUARTERFINALS March 18
SEMIFINALS March 19
FINALS March 19
March lb, 1 p.m.
Buckhorn
Louisville Ballard
March 18, 1 p.m.
March 16, 2:30 p.m.
Laurel County ___
Owensboro Apollo
March 19, 9 a.m.
March 16, 7:30 p.m.
Madisonville____
Oldham County
March 18, 2:30 p.m.
March 16, 9 p.m.
Warren East
March 19, 8 p.m.
Rowan County
March 17, 1 p.m.
Clay County_
LaRue Countv
March 18, 7:30 p.m.
March 17, 2:30 p.m.
Maysville_
Phel
EL
March 19, 10:30 a.m.
March 17, 7:30 p.m.
Lexington Henry Clay
Marshall County
March 18, 9 p.m.
March 17, 9 p.m.
Louisville PRP
Cats' Pause c hart
Sweet 16 Returns To Freedom Hall; Clay County Hopes To Make It Two In A Row
Defending champ Clay County, along with six other high school (cams, are hack in this year's Sweet 16. A new twist In the tournament this season is the return of Kentucky's 'Greatest Show on Earth' to Freedom Hall. Not since 1980 has the event been held in Louisville, as for (he past seven seasons it's been in Lexington's Rupp Arena.
The move marks the first time the tournament will be held in Freedom Hall since it was given a face lift.
Clay County, losers only once this season in 33 tries, is led by senior Richie Farmer, the leading candidate for the slate's Mr. Basketball honors in the
Blucgrass. Other teams which should make a strong bid for the championship are Louisville Ballard. Madisonville. Marshall County. Louisville PRP and Lexington Henry Clay.
Ballard is led by all-stater Allan Houston, a 6-foot-6 junior guard. The Bruins aren't a one-man show, meanwhile, as guard Mark Bell (5-8. 154) and Kenneth Martin (6-3. 178) proved last season their tourney-tested.
Last year Ballard made it all the way to the championship game before being edged by Clay County 76-73. The two are in opposite brackets, thus a championship rematch is possible.
Other learns which were in last year's
Sweet 16 arc as follows: LaRue County. Madisonville. Oldham County. Rowan County and Marshall County.
Owensboro Apollo knocked off traditional Sweet 16 participant Owensboro in the regional finals. The last time the Eagles were in the final 16 was when a fellow by the name Rex Chapman played for them (1985).
Not only will Farmer and Houston's talents be on display, but Russ Chadwell (Clay County). Chris Bowles and Travis Ford of Madisonville. Scott Boley of LaRue County, Mitch Colhran (Marshall County). Greg Johnson (Warren East), and John Hartlage (Oldham County) arc worth the price of admission.
\ Mindly, /p6\?
OSCAR L. COMBS
CATS' PAUSE EDITOR/PUBLISHER
Cincy's Not Home, But It's The Next Best Thing
Notre Dame may be in Chapel Hill, N.C.; Xavier may be in Lincoln, Neb.; North Carolina may be in Salt Lake City, Utah; Utah State may be in Lincoln. Neb., and Georgia Tech may be in Hartford, Conn., but the Kentucky Wildcats are in Cincinnati and Purdue is in South Bend.
Sure, the 'Cats won't be playing in their home state as the NCAA tournament gets underway this week, but you'd better believe they will enjoy the next best thing to a homecourt advantage.
Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum will become Rupp Arena-North, and you can count on that.
? For a complete look at the the bracket for the 1988 NCAA tournament, please turn to pages 14 and 15.
And just how were the Wildcats afforded such luck, especially in light of some doomsaycrs who predicted the NCAA would send Kentucky somewhere near
China after the Wildcat program was declared not gulity of allegations brought forth during a two-year probe a few weeks ago?
When you consider the NCAA's decision to ship so many other teams away from home, even the most ardent UK fan has to ponder the selection committee's decision.
Perhaps it was to reward Kentucky for its play down the stretch, winning its last seven games in a row, including four during the regular season and three in the Southeastern Conference tourney.
Perhaps it was to show the nation that the NCAA committee would make its own decision and not the media or other critics around the country.
The committee's decision probably can be attributed more to UK's win streak and sudden charge up the poll standings than any finger-pointing or "getting back" at anyone.
Most likely, several other schools would have been afforded the opportunity to stay near home had they performed well down the stretch and played a decent schedule.
A couple points:
Let's take North Carolina. The Tar Heels fell from grace near the end of the season and took a nosedive. The committee chairman even said the group decided early Sunday morning that the winner of the ACC Tournament title game would be allowed to stay home at Chapel Hill and the loser would go west. Duke downed Carolina and the Tar Heels hit the road.
Notre Dame sports a pretty decent record, but the wins came against a bunch of bunnies, save the early season victory over Louisville. In all fairness, there were some teams left on the sidelines which were more deserving than the Irish, so Digger Phelps cannot complain too much.
Utah State and Georgia Tech would have preferred to stay near home at Salt Lake City and Atlanta respectively, but neither deserve the reward, based on their
play late in the season.
Kentucky, however, wasn't the only team rewarded for outstanding play. Purdue and Gene Keady were finally given a little justice and allowed to stay in South Bend.
Purdue, if you recall, is the team which has been shafted more than any other school in the country over the past few years. Not this time. The Boilermakers have earned their No. 2 national ranking and there would have been a public outcry if the committee had sent Purdue anywhere but South Bend.
In fact, Purdue has a better shot at making the trip to the Final Four than any other team in America. Part of that, I believe, is because Keady's team is the best team in the country right now. But there is yet another factorthe Midwest field.
The NCAA not only put Purdue in the Midwest, but the remainder of the Midwest field is extremely weak compared to the other regionals. Only Pittsburgh, seeded No. 2 in the Midwest, stands in Purdue's path to the Final Four.
In the Southeast where Kentucky is the No. 2 seed behind Oklahoma, there figure to be some outstanding matchups along the way to the Final Four.
Kentucky should handle Southern at 9:37 p.m. Friday and then meet the winner of the Maryland-UCSB (Santa Barbara) on Sunday afternoon.
The four other teams at the Cincinnati sub-regional are Villanova taking on Arkansas and Illinois meeting Texas-San Antonio. So if Kentucky survives its first two games, the 'Cats are most likely to meet either Villanova or Illinois. The most interesting matchup, though, could be Eddie Sutton facing his old Arkansas team, which has three seniors recruited by Sutton before he left Razorback Country for Lexington three years ago. But that would only happen in Birmingham.
Should the Wildcats make it to the finals of the Southeast Regional, there are all kinds of neat possibilities. How about Kentucky running and gunning with Oklahoma, or the 'Cats meeting Sonny Smith and his Auburn Tigers? There could be a rematch with Jeff Mullins and UNCC (remember the controversial ending of the UKIT championship?).
But the real one would be Kentucky and Louisville hooking up for a spot in the Final Four. Louisville opens against Oregon State at Atlanta and then would meet the winner of the BYU-UNCC game. The Cards, on a roll after winning the Metro Conference tournament in Memphis, look to be a good choice to meet Oklahoma in a semifinal match at Birmingham next week.
And to the West Regional. This is the one with a lot of darkhorses. Arizona is the early favorite, but don't overlook the likes of UTEP, UNLV, Michigan, Wyoming and North Carolina. Florida, if Norm Sloan can treat a few egos, could make some waves, and Iowa will not be a pushover.
The strongest region has to be the East. First you have Temple. Then add in
Duke, Syracuse, Rhode Island, Indiana, Georgia Tech, Missouri and SMU. And no one is safe around the likes of Georgetown, LSU and Iowa State. Notre Dame looks good in name, but the Irish will head home about halftime of their opening game.
? ? ?
Our Final Four picks? How about Purdue from the Midwest? There's no match for the Boilemakers, save one run from the Pitt Panthers.
Duke will survive in the East where the Blue Devils will defeat Temple in one of the tourney's finest games.
It'll be Michigan from the West. The Wolverines will take care of North Carolina in Seattle (if Wyoming doesn't pull off the upset earlier) and then Michigan will beat UTEP for the Final Four spot after UTEP upsets Arizona in the second round.
So you've been waiting for the Southeast, have you? This will be a dandy. Coach Eddie Sutton's 'Cats have been playing well lately and they should be primed by the time they get to Birmingham next week after solid, but closer-than-expected wins over Southern and UC-Santa Barbara this weekend.
Also emerging from the Cincinnati sub-regional with Kentucky will be Illinois which will defeat Villanova on Sunday after Villanova eliminates Arkansas on Friday.
Meeting with Kentucky and Illinois in Birmingham will be Oklahoma or Auburn (I'm not real sure about the Tigers holding off Bradley as this could be the finest of the first-round games in the country. They'll run and gun all night), and Louisville or BYU.
I like Oklahoma and Louisville. Auburn cannot keep pace with two run-and-gun clubs back-to-back, and there's no way BYU can stay on the same floor with Louisville.
That gives us Oklahoma versus Louisville in one game and Kentucky going against Illinois in the other. Prime-time, as Dick Vitale says.
It says here it'll be Oklahoma and Kentucky for the big ticket and Eddie Sutton will make his first trip to the Final Four since his old Arkansas team met Kentucky back in 1978.
? ? ?
NCAA TOURNEY TIDBITS. . Kentucky had better make the most of this run at the NCAA title. First of all, the 'Cats will be without stars Ed Davender, Winston Bennett, Rob Lock and Cedric Jenkins next season and you just don't replace that kind of experience. Oh, I know LeRon Ellis andEric Manuel will be better, but just think about that early non-conference schedule next season which includes the likes of Louisville, Syracuse, The Hall of Fame Classic, The Great Alaska Shootout and the Big Four Classicall away from Lexington.
There will be some losses to say the least and when you have eight or nine losses over the season you won't get a very good seed in the tourney (ask North Carolina). Plus. Rupp Arena is hosting the NCAA Southeast Regional next March and you know that means Kentucky will be shipped half-way around the world . . . The Georgia Bulldogs had to be disappointed with being left out of the NCAA field after playing so well in the Southeastern Conference tourney. Had the Dogs held on against Kentucky, it would have been interesting to see if the NCAA would have taken six SEC teams, or said no to LSU . . . Five schools will be playing in the NCAA for the first time. They are Santa Barbara, Eastern Michigan, North Texas State, Seton Hall and Texas-San Antonio . . . Arizona enters the big event with most wins31. On the other end, LSU has most losses13. The Tigers are 16-13 while Arizona is 31-2.
? ? ?
When Kentucky won the Southeastern Conference Tourney in Baton Rouge Sunday, it marked the third straight year a team won both the regular-season championship and the postseason tourney.
Kentucky turned the trick two years ago during Eddie Sutton's first campaign in Big Blue Country. Last season, Alabama won both titles and the Wildcats duplicated their feat of two years ago last week.
Kentucky's sudden dominance caused syndicated sports columnist Stan Torger-son to speculate that the SEC will return to the days of old when the Wildcats thoroughly dominated league play.
"It's going to be Kentucky and the nine dwarfs again," said the newspaper columnist. "Kentucky is on the verge of dominating just like it used to 30 years ago. Eddie Sutton is the best coach in the land, they have the greatest players in the country and Kentucky has the greatest facilities. They have it all." Hummmm!
? ? ?
Kentucky's first-round game against Southern University will tip off at 9:37 p.m. Friday at Cincinnati's Riverfront Coliseum.
The game is expected to be televised live in Kentucky, but the station list had not been announced by NCAA Productions by press time Monday.
ESPN is carrying several first-round games on Thursday and Friday, but will not carry any beyond the first round. All other games will be carried by CBS-TV on either a regional or national basis according to officials of the NCAA.
CBS-TV will carry live two first-round games, the first being on Thursday night at 11:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) from Salt Lake City and the second on Friday night at 11:30 p.m. (Eastern Time) from Los Angeles. Fans should check their local TV [Continued On Page 22] e 4
fT/te Gate ' SjQumt
(/arc// /(?, /pc?c?
Mirror Image?
'Cats, Rebs Play Similar Style, But Kentucky Just Had Too Many Athletes In 82-64 Win In Second Round Of Southeastern Conference Tournament
By TCP Columnist Mike Estep
BATON ROUGE, La.  When you look at Ole Miss and Kentucky as they take the hardwood, you see a pair similar teams, but in different stages of development. Kentucky of course, a contender for this season's Final Four and the NCAA's all-time leader in victories, has been in the business of winning games and championships forever it seems. Ole Miss, on the other hand, under the direction of Ed Murphy, is just getting its feat wet.
At least that's how the Ole Miss coach sees it.
"We've gained a lot of ground in our program the last two years," Murphy said following Kentucky's 82-64 win over his Rebels, the third this season and the second in a six-day period. "Rod Barnes is the only player that played one minute for the previous coach (Lee Hunt). So we've changed out every player in our program and avoided a disastrous season. I was afraid that we would lose all of the momentum that we built up last year.
"But it is obvious that even though we've made up some ground and made those changes, we have not caught up to Kentucky. The difference simply is athletic: They run a motion offense and we run one. I though we played pretty tough when we got after them. But we can't shoot the ball with 'em because we don't have the athletes they have. The difference in the shooting percentage? When they get an offensive rebound, they stick it back in. When we get an offensive rebound, we're not strong enough to score with it."
It's almost as simple as that. Kentucky just had two many horses for the undermanned Rebels to handle in the second round of the SEC tournament.
'Cats Have Too Much Firepower For Rebels...
With Winston Bennett and Rex Chapman leading the way, scoring 15 and 10 points respectively in the first half, the Wildcats, who shot 69.6 percent from the field for the first 20 minutes, raced out to a 42-29 halftime edge. Barnes, the Rebels' all-conference performer, scored the first two buckets after intermission to bring Ole Miss to within nine at 42-33 with 18:12 left to be played. But Ken-lucky went on a 12-point run. holding Ole Miss scoreless for the next six minutes, to take a 54-33 advantage at the 12:08 mark. For all intents and purposes, the game was over.
It was the defense that forced the long Ole Miss dry spelland held Barnes, who errupted for 31 points in UK's 78-71 victory over Ole Miss in Oxford in the SEC regular-season finale, to 18, 13 of those coming after the game had been decidedthat UK coach Eddie Sutton was most proud of.
"I thought defensively we played pretty well," Sutton said. "There in the second half, when we broke the ballgame and got up 20 points, I thought it was the defense more than anything else."
UK's Sticky Defense Was Too Much For Rebs
But even though the Wildcats shot 55 percent from the floor for the contest and placed four players in double figuresChapman and Bennett had 19, Rob Lock 13 and LeRon Ellis 11Sutton said he still sees room for improvement.
"Any time you shoot the basketball as well as we did tonight, shoot over 50 percent, then that covers up a lot of other mistakes," he said. "One of the mistakes we've been having a lot of trouble with lately, and we did again tonight, is board play. We're giving up way too many offensive rebounds (17). especially to a team that is considerable shorter than we are. We turned the ball over too many times tonight (17) and our free throw shooting (six of 15 for 56 percent) is not what it has been."
UK-Ole Miss Notes & Quotes
Ole Miss coach Ed Murphy had this to say about Kentucky's chances of winning the tournament title: "I think that the key with them is shooting the ball. When they hit those jumpshots, I don't think there's anybody in the league that can beat 'em, they're the best team. They play great defense, they're beautifully coached and they're great athletes. And they have excellent depth. By changing the lineup around a couple of times this year, what he's done is developed two players that come off the bench that are as good as the starters, just about." . . .On of those reserves is LeRon Ellis. And the Friday night contest was a coming-out party of sorts for the 6-11 freshman. Ellis lost his starting position to fellow freshman Eric Manuel late in the season and had been having trouble producing away from the friendly confines of Rupp Arena. But against the Rebels, Ellis hit five of 10 attempts from the field and added a free throw for 11 points, and also pulled down six rebounds in 20 minutes of action. . .Ed Davender took just six shots for the game, hitting three of them for six points, but handed out a game-high seven assists. . .Eddie Sutton was able to play 12 players during the game, giving his starters needed rest for a run at the tourney title. In addition to Ellis, Cedric Jenkins, Richard Madison, Mike Scott, Sean Sutton, Derrick Miller and Reggie Hanson came off the bench for the 'Cats. "One thing, we were happy to play everyone," Sutton said. "We have to get our squad right back to the hotel, get 'em something to eat, get 'em back to bed and be right back here in less than 24 hours. I though it was important for us to be able to win the game and not play our starters for 35 or 40 minutes. So we were able to rest 'em a little bit."
juFPiCiAL SiCAA 3A3iCET3Al!
. 30< SCCSc
, i-i I-an     St. tail Aaajtilv Centui:
* | TQiaix) s  w
2.3)0 in 21 IUIQ\30-, I I 2 IP! I '33 ' 1312 iOIOiW
Ql 2 ,0\0\ll O ! O I O! a I Z I 6 i O1 Q34i O; 2 IQi I iifi
oil ioiojg!
oooo	9
1 1 ]	
\ 1 i	
1   1 1	
noi ir, i \ 4 jaa>!
CCSJ
, 1	TO	BLK1	si	u
51	r...................
_JJL2SZ.
tlia.issippl    1 2^ I 35	1	0-
toitucky       \ 42 140	1	?z
UK-Ole Miss Play-By-Play		
Time Kentucky	Store	Ole Miss
19:00 Davender lr> ft.	2-0 i	lumpei Iayup
17:42 j lock FT, 11	4-2	
17:25 1 in k (Junk	6-2 |	
id: ih Bennett Iayup	6-2 !	
15:15 Bunnell  ft.	10-2 ;	
15:0.!	10-4	lumpei 12 ft.
14:1(1	10-6,	Paul 7 ft, hook
1 ): 1)!	10-8 '	lumper FT. Fl
1 \:>7 1 Mis Iayup	12-8	
1 ):11	12-10i	Murphy 1 1. FT
12:11   (Hi- I" II	14 10	
11:37  fills 6 ft.	16-10	J
11:11   Chapman 20 ft.	1940	
10 21	19-12'	Ward 11 > 11
b:57   Lock FT, FT	21-12	
JB: )4	20-14.	Barnes 14 ft.
7:57   Bunnell FT. FTA	21-14	
7:25 :	21-16	Barnes 10 ft.
6:54 , Bennett iayup	23-16>	
6:22  Chapman 8 ft.	'25-16	
6:03	25-18	lumper Iayup
5:43   Chapman 20 II.	28-18	
5:20	28-21'	Prater 20 II
5:01   Bennett 18 II.	10-21	
4:34   Chapman dunk	32-21	
4:08   Bennell Iayup	34-21'	
4:03	14-24	Pr.ilei 22 ft.
3:08	34-26	lumper 10 ft.
2:07   Bennetl FT, FT	36-26	
;l;43    Ellis (, ft.	(8-26	
1:28	38-27	Barnes FTA. FT
1:00   Bennetl FT, FT	'40-27 40-29	Prater 12 ft
:01     Lock Iayup	42-29-	
HALF	42-29	
19:08	42-31	Barnes 16 ft.
.18:50	42-33.	B.I UK's 14 ft
18:12 Chapman 16 ft.	44-33	
17:21  Davender 12 It.	46-ti	
16:59: Chapman Iayup	.48-33	
15:11 ' Ellis ft ft.	50-33'	
13:14 ' Bennell 16 ft.	52-33	
12:20 Bennetl 17 ft.	54-33	
12:08'	'54-35	Barnes FT, FT
11:19	54-37	Barnes 12 ft.
11:25  Chapman 18 It.	56-37	
10:58 Jenkins Iayup	58-37	
	58-40	|uni|K'r 22 ft.
10:14	.58-42	lumper 12 It.
'9:07 ' lenkins Iayup	'60-42	
8:33   Lock Iayup	62-42	
l8:0B  Chapman FTA, FT	63-42	
7:57	i64-45	Barnes 20 II.
7:33   Chapman FT, FT	[66-45	
7:00   Lock follow dunk	67-45	
6:52	167-47	Prater FT, FT
6:40 . Ellis FTA, FT	i 68-47	
6:16	168-49	Murphy Iayup
5:46 I Hanson FT. FT	170-49	
5:35	70-51	     jumper 18 ft.
5:24 j Lock dunk	72-51	
5:06 :	172-53	Murphy 8 ft. hook
4:33 i Davender Iayup	174-53	
!;30	[74-55	Murphy tip in
(.03   I lanson 6 ft.	! 76-55	
2:44   Sutton Iayup	78-55	
2:02 ; Scott tip in	[80-55	
l:48	[80-5/	lumper 6 ft.
1:23	[80-59	Barnes Iayup
1:04    1 lanson 1H ft.	82-5r	-
:38	J82-&;	              Allen 21 It.
:10	182-6':	i             lones, 12 ft.
FINAL	82-64	
Cafs' Pause chart		
 March /ptfc?
 -
97u> Gate' &
au&e
Tiger By Vie Tail
Eric Manuel, Rebounding From A Poor Performance Against Ole Put Together A Strong Second Half To Help Key Kentucky Past LSU
Miss, 86-80
By TCP Columnist Mike Estep
BATON ROUGE, La.  Eric Manuel saw Kentucky's game with LSU in the semifinals of the SEC tournament as a way to atone for his earlier performance against Ole Miss. In 16 minutes in the Wildcats' 82-64 win over the Rebels, the only positive mark next to Manuel's name was for his one steal. He was held scoreless, missing his only field goal attempt, and had no rebounds or assists.
So, the super freshman from Macon, Ga., who had saved Kentucky's hide on numerous occasions down the stretch run of the regular season, went back to his hotel room Friday night and did some thinking.
"I went back and thought about it, I thought a lot about last night's game because I played real bad," Manuel said. "So today, it was a big game and I knew I had to come out and play well."
He did.
After getting off to a relatively slow start once again in UK's 86-80 win over the Tigershe had seven points and five rebounds in the first halfManuel took charge in the second half. With Kentucky coming out of the locker room on the short end of a 40-35 score at the break, Manuel almost single-handedly put the 'Cats back in the game. He hit two medium-range jumpers to pull UK to within three at 42-39 with 19:16 to play, and then got back-to-back two-hand dunks to cut the LSU advantage to 44-43.
Manuel Keys Kentucky Into Final Game. . .
The game see-sawed back and forth for much of the next 17 minutes, and then Manuel helped drive the nail in the Tiger coffin.
With the game tied at 77 with two and a half minutes remaining, Eddie Sutton signaled for his troops to take the air out of the ball and work the shot clock. Manuel took the ball from guard Ed Davender at the top of the key, and with the shot clock winding down under 10 seconds, fired in a three-pointer, only his second in three attempts for the year, to give UK some breathing room at 80-77 at the 1:59 mark.
"After Ed had penetrated, he looked to me and there was like seven seconds left (on the shot clock)," Manuel said. "I knew I had to put up the shot. It felt good, it went through and I was happy I hit it. I didn't even really know it was a three-pointer until I saw the ref put his arms up in the air."
Following Manuel's clutch three-pointer, Kentucky came down and set up in a zone. LSU's Bernard Woodside answered with three of his own on a 21-footer from the right corner at the 1:23 mark.
Rob Lock hit a turnaround five-footer over Jose Vargas on UK's next possession, and then Manuel hit a pair of free throws with :33 left to widen the lead to four at 84-80. Davender added a pair of free throws with :11 left to account for the final score.
For the game, Manuel had a game-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field, three-for-three from the line. He also had seven rebounds, five assists and only one turnover in 36 minutes.
"Last night I was kinda in a slump," Manuel said, "so I had to come out tonight and establish myself. I got off to a great start in the second half. It came down to where they were sagging off on Rex (Chapman) and Ed, so I knew I had to put up the shot, and the shots were falling for me."
"He turned 'em around," LSU coach Dale Brown said of Manuel. "When Eric started to come on weeks ago, that made them the team they are. He's probably been their key to success. I think they were on the brink of maybe crumbling had Eric not come along."
. . .But The Freshman Had Plenty Of Help
It wasn't a one-man show, however. Against a variety of Tiger zones, Kentucky stationed senior forward Winston Bennett on the high post and Manuel and Chapman on the wings. Bennett was able to penetrate the teeth of the zone for 23 points, hitting 10 of 17 field goal attempts. Chapman threw in 20 points from the outside, including five three pointers.
"Winston was really doing the job inside," Chapman said, "so we were definitely trying to look to him. And then Coach told Eric at halftime that he needed to shoot the ball, and Eric really responded well."
Kentucky's explosion in the second half overshadowed a brilliant display from LSU guard Darryl Joe. Joe, who finished with 23 points, had 18 at halftime, 10 of them coming in a row when LSU went from a three-point deficit to a seven-point lead.
With LSU trailing 25-22 midway through the half, Joe hit back-to-back 20 footers on consecutive trips down the floor to move the Tigers out in front 28-25. He then converted a pair of UK turnovers into layups, and at the 7:24 mark, LSU opened up a 32-25 advantage.
"I wasn't totally dominating the game," a modest Joe said afterwards. "They were double-teaming Jose down low and he was feeding back and I was able to hit the shots."
Neither team was able to gain much of an edge for the rest of half, and LSU went into the locker room at intermission with a 40-35 lead.
Sutton's 'Do-Better' Talk Works Wonders Again
That's when Sutton, who's been known to work an oratory miracle or twohe likes to call them "do-better" talkswent to work.
"At halftime, I got after our players pretty good," Sutton said. "Our guards were 5-18 in the first half, and we played very much like we had played at times during the middle of the year. We did not allow the offense to come to us. We didn't attack the zone. We didn't get the ball inside nearly enough."
So he let the team know that, in no uncertain terms, and it worked to perfection.
"In the past, Coach might have gotten on us pretty hard and we'd draw up in our shell," Chapman said. "And we wanted to win this game so bad, we knew that we were gonna have to go out and listen to what he said, go out there and put it to use. We just want to win, and we're willing to do what ever it takes to win."
UK-LSU Note & Quotes
LSU's Dale Brown said in his postgame press conference that he believes Kentucky what in takes to win the national title. . .on one condition: That the Wildcats don't meet the Tigers in the NCAA tournament. "I think Kentucky can be the national champions," Brown said, "unless they play us in a tournament. We might have a chance to knock 'em off if we do get a bid, which I'm hoping we do." . . .LSU did sneak by, of course, and did receive a bid to the NCAAs. And Brown says that although his club played its best against the 'Cats and came up short, don't count them out. "We played as well as we could today, but we haven't peaked yet," Brown said with a hearty laugh, although he quickly added that he wasn't kidding. "I'm serious. I think they're getting more confidence. These last two games (against Vandy and UK) we've played really great ball.". . .If you can stand it, just one more word from Brown, this time on Eddie Sutton's club: "He's not only got by far the best talent in the league, and no one's even close, his second team is as good as any team in the league. And that's a compliment to their recruiting and also a compliment to him." . . .For the second consecutive night, Kentucky shot better than 50 percent from the field. The hot-shooting 'Cats converted 33 of 61 attempts for 54.1 percent. . .In contrast to the Ole Miss game, when Eddie Sutton was able to use 12 players, the UK coach was only able to get seven players into action. Guards Rex Chapman and Ed Davender each played the full 40 minutes, while Winston Bennett and Eric Manuel played 38 and 36 minutes, respectively. . .Kentucky didn't exactly set the world on fire in three-point shooting in the first half, hitting just three of 11 bonus babies for 27.3 percent, but in the second half, when it counted, UK made all four of its attempts. Manuel's was perhaps the biggest, and Chapman also made three from long range in the second half.
OFFICIAL NCAA aASKETSA-i.
L5C Asssrfcly Cer.tgr
O , O O 'O  2 ;
TIT Q3 3?
	IIO	O' st i
	0  2 0	I'd!
1	 1	O 31
	3\0 O	O 0	0\30\
		1 <
1	i	| I
J	' i	' 1
|i7- iz 2 jt ai
H0U6  ill pi 2IW
TOTAL FOVtHNlN - - r
Wt FO. V 1 M(I _- V*
FfV ltWt.-t.frfr? ,HJ
oon Burma* Poxi shea
TtcnmcM F(ki;_
35 51
6