PAGE 26   THE CATS'  PAUSE,  DECEMBER 24, 1977
Jack Givens Explodes For 26
Williams Scores 39, But Cats Win Easily, 114 - 88, In UKIT
Kentucky allowed Freeman Williams his 39 points, but the Wildcats put five men in double figures and waltzed to an easy 114-88 win over Portland State in the opening round of the UKIT Saturday.
Williams, heralded as the finest shooter in the UKIT beforehand, lived up to his advance billing as he tickled the nets with missiles from as far away as his home state of California.
Although his shooting percentage was not that good, 17 of 40 from the field, Williams' play was something else when you consider Jack Givens' hand in his face all night.
While Williams was having his night, Kentucky was getting some kind of a persormance from several unheralded heros like freshman Chuck Aleksinas and reserves James Lee and Tim Stephens.
Of course, that's not to mention the play of Givens and Mike Phillips. Givens hit 11 of 19 from the field and scored 26 points in only 26 minutes of action while Phillips scored 11 points and hauled down 8 rebounds in 23 minutes of action.
Rick Robey scored 9 points and 10 rebounds in 16 minutes of play, still suffering from an unknown illness.
Lee had a super night with 16 points on seven of ten from the field and the young Stephens hit double figures in only 14 minutes of playing time.
' 'It was really good,'' said Stephens. "It'll really help my confidence. I felt all along my shooting touch was there."
But the man of the hour was Aleksinas, who scored 17 points and 7 rebounds in just 17 minutes.
' 'It really felt good,'' said Aleksinas. "I was going to the basket more tonight. I learned that from Robey and Phillips. This game should help my confidence."
Kentucky went on top early and after the first ten minutes, the outcome of the game was never in doubt, only the score.
Wildcat coach Joe B. Hall substituted freely, as he has done so much this year, but some fans wonder why both Freddie Cowans and Chris Gettel-finger didn't see action against Portland State.
The UKIT has a rule which limits each team to only twelve participants. And although Kentucky is the host team and may dress out as many as it wishes, it can only play twelve, the team currently has fourteen members.
Kentucky had a lot of praise for WUliams, especially his hooting.
Jack Givens said, "Williams is the best shooter from far out that I've ever guarded. You think about containing him, but he's going to get his points.
Williams wasn't particularly pleased with his game, suggesting he thought he was fouled a few times and that he missed a lot of easy shots.
Williams wasn't particularly pleased with his game, suggesting he thought he was fouled a few times and that he missed a lot of easy shots.
POBTLAND STATE-88
PLAYER	FG	FT	REB	PF	TPS	A	TO	MIN
F. Williams	17-40	5-8	2	2	39	0	1	37
B. Sisul	6-9	2-2	9	2	14	1	2	30
J. Cunningham	0-3	3-6	4	5	3	0	4	21
T. Adolph	0-7	o-o	4	5	0	6	3	23
C. Smith	2-6	3-6	1	2	7	6	2	24
G. Slider	1-2	1-1	4	4	3	3	0	30
C. Smith	9-13	4-7	2	2	22	0	0	23
T. Trume	0-1	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	2
B. Mathis	0-1	o-i	2	0	0	1	0	6
M. Owens	0-2	0-0	3	1	0	0	0	4
Team Rebounds			3					
TOTALS	35-84	18-31	34	24	88	17	12	200
KENTUCKY-114
PLAYER	FG	FT	REB	PF	TPS	A	TO	MIN
J. Givens	11-19	4-4	6	3	26	5	3	26
R. Robey	3-5	3-4	10	1 I	9	2	1	16
M. Phi 11ips	3-5	5-6	8	3	11	1	2	23
K. Macy	2-5	0-0	5	3	4	6	3	25
T. Claytor	3-8	0-0	1	3	6	3	2	22
D. Casey	1-1	0-1	2	1	2	2	1	10
J. Shidler	2-4	1-2	. 0	2	5	2	2	9
T. Stephens	4-7	4-4	2	3	12	1	0	14
J. Lee	7-10	2-2	5	4	16	3	5	21
S. Courts	2-2	0-0	5	2	4	0	3	8
C. Aleksinas	7-10	3-6	7	1	17	0	0	17
L. Willi ams	1-6	o-o	6	2	2	1	2	9
Team Rebounds			5					
TOTALS	46-82	22-29	62	28	114	26	24	200
PORTLAND STATE	UNIVERSITY		39		49		--	88
UNIVERSITY OF	KENTUCKY		53		61		 	114
Officials: Bi	11 Bennett	and	Ben Dunn					
Attendance:    23,472 (Rupp Arena Capacity)
"You can't take anything away from the way Givens played," said Williams, "but I felt he was holding me on a lot of my shots -- I could've used a tear-away jersey at half."
After the intermission, Kentucky ran just like the teams of old, race-horse style, at both ends as a capacity crowd of 23,472 looked on with delight.
Hall was particularly pleased with some parts of his team's play, but not others.
"He's the one bright spot right now on our whole squad," said Hall of Aleksinas. "Chuck was sharp out there tonight."
Hall said he was especially pleased with Aleksinas' defense and the way several of the other Wildcats came off the bench.
Comments On The
Wildcats
St. John's coach Lou Carnesecca on what it would take to beat Kentucky: "The Holy Ghost ... To beat Kentucky in Lexington you need the Holy Ghost, The Father and The Son and the fire and everything else."
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Carnesecca on Kentucky Basketball -- "Kentucky is the Cadillac today, no, make that the Mercedes Benz.
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Just how good is Kentucky, Lou Carnesecca?
"The potential is there if they stay healthy. We've played the top three teams the last three years. We've played Indiana and then San Francisco last year and now Kentucky this year. They're all rather different. However, the results are the same. This club is like a big, roaring mountain doming down and SUFFOCATING you. I don't mean that to be funny because I don't think the Kentucky team is funny at all. I think they're a great, great team, and with the right break, they could be knocking at the door . . . They were unbelievable. They were hitting us with the bombs from the outside and with the tanks underneath. So they had the ground force and the air force going.