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Plummer In The House?
Kentucky's Balanced Attack, Led By Winston Bennett' Much For Miami; Late 'Cat Flurry Floods Redskins 85-71
s 28 Points, Too In UKIT Opener
By TCP Staff Writer Jim Easterwood
The Kentucky Wildcats' offense is proving to be about as hard to plug as a leaky roof in a monsoon.
Plug one spot, and another hole opens up.' Fix that one and somebody else flows through a crack.
So it was Friday night when those pesky Redskins of Miami of Ohio suddenly ran out of patching tools against the Wildcats.
UK forward Winston Bennett proved to be the man who slipped up this time on the Redskins as he led the 'Cats to an 85-71 win in the opening round of the 35th University of Kentucky Invitational Tournament at Rupp Arena.
Miami coach Jerry Peirson entered Friday's game equipped with enough "junk" defenses to start a swap meet. He came out in a matchup zone, used a triangle-and-two and even a little man.
It worked. . .to a point. The "junk" held Ed Davender and Rex Chapman down from their usual norm but opened up things for Bennett.
Bennett scored a career-high 28 points and center Rob Lock added 17 as the 'Cats won their fifth game.
"If a team like Louisville can't match up for 40 minutes there's no way anybody else can," said Peirson. "We like to play man but we had to zone. I don't like to junk but felt we had to. Kentucky will see a lot of junk before the year is over." -
Balanced 'Cats Put Five In Double Figures
For sure the Wildcats will. But Kentucky provedat least for one nightthey have more guns in their arsenal than the long bombs of Chapman or the all-around firepower of Davender.
Bennett, hitting the 15 to 18 footers with consumate ease, had 17 points in the last half. These included two jumpers after Miami had pulled within one point (61-60) at the 9:54 mark on a shot by Karlton Clayborne.
Bennett's buckets got the Wildcats rolling. And rolling was something they had not been able to do all night long.
"Give Miami credit," said Bennett. "They played a heckuva game. But I wasn't really worried. When you are No. 1 you have to defend that billing. And Ed and Rex usually come through at crunch time. It's a matter of playing as a team."
Sutton wasn't surprised at Bennett's heroics. He'd seen the 6-7 senior do it before when teams sagged on All-American Kenny Walker two years ago.
"Miami was limiting the number of shots Ed and Rex put up,"said Sutton. "Winston was wide open. But that's what we have going for us. When a team slants its defense to one player, another can pick up the slack."
Friday night it was Winston, who felt as good as the Bennett of 1987-88 should. He popped in 13 of 21 from the field to go with a game-high 10 rebounds. Miami had one minor gasp after the two Bennett buckets.
Scrappy Redskins Finally Ran Out Of Gas
Jim Paul's layup cut it to 65-62 but then the Redskins ran out of gas. . .and buckets. Kentucky's use of the bench and the press had taken its toll. The 'Cats outscored Miami 12-0 over the next four minutes of play. Turnovers and blown layups hurt the tired 'Skins.
T got a cramp and so did (Todd) Staker," said point guard Eddie Schilling. "Definitely, fatigue played a role in this spurt."
It was Schilling (15 points) and Staker (14) who took it upon themselves to be more assertive offensively after spectacular scoring guard Eric Newsome took himself out of the starting lineup with a sprained shooting thumb.
Newsome had been averaging 24.2 points a game, but as so often happens, the Redskins seemed to solidify themselves with an all-around effort.
''Even though he (Newsome) didn't play they (the 'Skins) showed a lot of courage and guts to battle us like they did," said Davender.
Miami has uniforms that look like Indiana, and for 32 minutes the Redskins played a lot like the Hoosiers. They dived for loose basketballs and scrapped for every rebound. But, more importantly, they played within their talents.
Schilling set the tone for the game on the tip-off when he dove for a ball headed out of bounds and knocked it back in. From there, the Redskins took advantage of two Kentucky turnoversonly two of seven total for the nightto take a 5-0 lead in the opening 1:22 of play. Sutton signaled for a time out. The flat 'Cats then began to show signs of life.
Flat 'Cats Had Trouble Putting Miami Away
But, even then, the Redskins stuck around like a burr in the saddle of the thoroughbreds from Kentucky.
Kentucky took a 41-37 halftime lead after the lead had exchanged hands seven times with five ties. But. with Miami leading 29-28 Bennett muscled in a bucket with 5:01 left in the half and hit the foul shot to complete a three-point play. Kentucky never trailed again.
Kentucky then edged ahead by as much as eight points early in the second half (51-43 and 56-48), only to see the Redskins stay in the game on two three-point goals by Schilling and one by Staker, Many of Miami's buckets came after the 'Skins put on better picks than you will find in an eastern Kentucky coal mine.
"They did a nice job of running their patterns," said Sutton. "They ran what we call a flex."
Davender, who came on late in the game to finish with 11 points, shook his head after one of Schilling's bombs.
"Sometimes those things work in mysterious ways," said Davender. "I pushed him out to the NBA three-point line a couple of times and he still hit them. What can I say? I tried."
Kentucky played the game without star freshman forward LeRon Ellis, who was suspended for one game because he missed Thursday night's curfew. Chapman also wasn't up to par.
"I gave him time to go to the bathroom," said Sutton, smiling.
Chapman finished with 13 points while Rob Lock had 17. Freshman guard Eric Manuel came off the bench to score 10.
Lamont Hanna matched Schilling with 15 points but blew a couple of layups in the stretch where the 'Cats outscored them 12-0 to break the game open.
"We were tired the last six minutes," admitted Peirson. "We played one of the best teams in the history of Miami of Ohio basketball. We have character and I'll put my kids' heart up with anybody."
But next time the 'Skins will have to bring more patchwork.
OFFICIAL NCAA BASKET8ALL BOX SCORE
(J>, Dec.  18/87 Slt8 UningtOn, Ky 
No	MIAMI {OHIO}	<',	1-.'	-i I3	"7.T	FT	FTA		--	*,<	?i	rp
2U	Haywood, Trlmi11 1	1	6	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	<,	2
S3	Fuerst, Jeff 1	0	1	0	0	c	0	1	2	3	5	C
54	Paul, Jim C	*	?	0	0	1	2	1	i	2	5	
5	Schi11ing, Eddie g		':	!	;	0	0	0	(	k	3	15
25	Staker, Todd 5		13	2	7	0	0	7	2	*	0	14
|i.	Clayborne, Karlton	i	7	0	0	0	0	2	k	i	:	11
21	Bledsoe, Dorlon	1	1	0	0	0	0	:	0	0	I	:
42	Reeves . Chip	g	P	0	0	Q	0	0	fl	0	7.	D
43	Scott. Jeff	i	1	0	C	0	0	p	2	2	1	2
44	Hanna, Lanont		9	0	0	7	9	0	3	)	;	'5
kS	Stewart, Tim	0	C	0 I 0		0	o	;	!	1	0	;
				1					1			
				1								
	1			1								
	TEAM RESOUNDS (included m Touts							3	1	l		
	TOTALS	29	58	5	Ik	B				3:	23 |7.	
				
A | TO | BUC			s	WIN
0	3	0	1	15
1	k	0	1	22
2		Q	1	25
6	s	0	1	
0	2	0	0	ri
1		0	Q	11
1	-	n	0	fl
n	n	n	ft	1
0	1	0	f|	s
2	0	0	2	2 2
0	:	c	0	
				
				
				
15   19   0     6 200
TOTAL FG %-. 1st Hill SJ-TX   2nd Hit l*1:}*..11^'* G.m.2l-58, 50-03
up, er .,., 2-6. 25.6t       ,,,, 3-6. Scot   G,.,5;i<. n.n_
Deadbatl Rebounds.
FT X: 1st Half 5-6. 83-3* HOME (Last Name. Firs!)
9^h.h VS. feO.Oa    n.m,8-11. 72.7?
NO	KENTUCKY	w.c    1 _			CT	; -1				PF	TP
		W	tu	:    r -,			O-I 0*1				
	Bennett, Winston 1	'3	2 1	0   1 0	2	5	4	6	10	0	28
55	Jenkins, Cedric 1	0	1	0   1 0	2	2	2	2	-	3	2
	Lock, Rob e	;	6	0 1 0	: 1	12		5	:	5	17
3	Chapman, Rex g	I	1 	1 I*	0	0	o	1	1	?	O
'5	Davender, Ed g	k	6	0 1 1	3	4	0	2	2	0	1 1
	Ml 1 ler. Derrick	0	1	0 ll	0	0	0	0	0	c	0
20	Sutton, Sean	0	0	c 1 0	0	1	0 1 0		p	0	g
23	Manuel, Eric	3	"	0 1 0	'-	k	0	k	'-	1	10
y--	Hanson, Reqg i e	0	c	0 ! 0	0	0	0	0	0	0	?
'-2	Madison, Richard	0	2	0 1 0	0	0	Q	1	1	0	0
	Scott, Mike	1	?	0 10	2	2	1	0	t	0	
				1							
				1							
				1							
	TEAM REBOUNDS (included in Totals)						1	D			
|   TOTALS                          | 30 j 60 | 1   [6    p4   j 30							12	2!	53	11 1 85	
	ro	BUX	B	
3	)	0	\	li
j	0	1	c	15
	2	I	0	2?
3	:	c	2	|i
1	:	0	;	34
	0	0	0	
;	0	E	1	
t	0	0	0	21
C	c	0	p	1
1	0	0	0	7
0	0	0	Q	B
				
				
				
total FGVi.in,ii 15-31. kl.k\ ?nri Maf '5-29. 51  n r,.m.30-60. S0.0X
[17 | 7  | k \ 5 |200
Deadball Reboundi_3_
OFFICJAI & J'm HcDaniel, Larry Ware.
Gerald Boudreaux
Technical Fnulv "one Attendance:    23, 935
sccwe bv urnoos	ItlH.	JtyJH	dt		FtHAl
miami (Ohio)	37	34		n	71
KENTUCKY	41	U		U	S5
UK-Miami Piay-By-Play			
Time	Kenlucky	Score	Miami
19:12		0-2	Staker 1B ft.
18:38		0-5	Schilling 21 ft.
18:18	Lock FTA, FT	1-5	
17:57	Lock FT, FT	3-5	
17:31		3-8	Staker 22 ft.
17:08	Bennett 17 ft.	5-8	
15:40	Lock follow layup	7-8	
15:24	Chapman 20 ft.	10-8	
|M:33		10-10	Paul 6 ft. follow
14:02		10-12	Paul layup (goaltend)
13:51	Bennett 6 It.	12-12	
13:33 13:05	Scott 4 ft. follow	12-14 14-14	Staker 17 ft.
12:24	Manuel 8 ft.	16-14	
112:10	Manuel 16 ft.	18-14	
11:34		18-16	Clayborne 9 ft. follow
11:18	Chapman 14 ft.	20-16	
[10:45		20-18	Clayborne 16 ft.
Il0:29	Manuel FT, FT	22-18	
10:17		22-20         Schilling layup	
8:26		22-22	Staker layup
| 7:55	Lock FT, FT	24-22	
7:34		24-23	Hanna FTA, FT
6:49		24-25	Schilling layup
6:12 5:56	Lock follow layup	26-25 26-27	Clayborne 10 ft.
5:41	Bennett 15 ft.	28-27	
5:20		28-29	Hanna FT, FT
5:00	Bennett layup, FT	31-29!	
I 4:06	Lock FT, FT	33-29	
3:27 i 2:58	Chapman dunk	35-29 35:31 37-31 37-33	Clayborne 12 (t.
* 2:30 1:58	Bennett 15 ft.		Haywood 18 ft.
1:09		37-35	Hanna FT, FT
0:47	Lock 4 ft.	39-35	
0:15	Davender layup	41-35	
0:00		41-37	Schilling 14 ft.
HALF		41-37	
119:24	Davender 8 ft.	43-371	
19:03		43-39	Staker 17 ft.
18:43	Chapman 13 ft.	45-39	
18:31		45-40	Paul FT, FTA
17:13	Bennett 6 ft. follow	47-40	
16:55		47-43	Staker 20 ft.
16:41	Bennett 6 ft.	49-43	
16:18	Lock FT, FT	51-43	
16:01		51-45	Clayborne layup
15:22	Bennett FTA, FT	52-45	
14:39		52-48	Schilling 21 ft.
14:21	Manuel layup	54^18	
13:53	Bennett 15 ft.	56-48	
12:18		56-51	Schilling 22 ft.
12:04	Bennett 16 ft.	58-51	
11:50		58-53	Hanna layup
11:13		58-55	Paul 10 ft.
11:00	Davender FTA, FT	59-55	
10:46		59-58	Hanna 6 ft., FT
10:24	Davender FT, FT	61-58	
9:57		61-60	Clayborne 8 ft.
9:44	Bennett 12 ft., FTA	63-60	
9:13	Bennett 17 ft.	65-60	
8:58		65-62	Paul 5 ft.
8:46	Chapman 11 ft.	67-62	
8:05	lenkins FT, FT	69-62	
6:54	Davender 18 ft.	71-62	
6:20	Chapman 18 ft.	73-62	
5:41	Davender 10 ft.	75-62	
4:51	Lock FT, FT	77-62	
4:37		77-63	Hanna FT, FTA
4:23	Bennett 16 ft.	79-63	
4:01	Manuel FT, FT	81-63	
2:27		81-65	Scott layup
2:09	Bennett 16 ft.	83-65	
1:54		83-67	Hanna 15 ft.
0:27		83-69	Hanna layup
0:05	Scott FT, FT	85-69	
0:00		85-71	Bledsoe layup
FINAL		85-71	
Cats' Pause chart