"7e &xU' 'Pout*
Mvk^24, 19X4
Mideast Regional
Cats Blast Brigham Young
		BYU 68						
Player	FG	FT			TPS	A		MIN
Devin Durrani	11-	9 6-8	3		28	3	3	38
Brett Appiegate 1-		8 4-4	10	3	6	1	3	29
Jim Usevi ten	k-	6 2-2	7	2	10	0	4	26
Scott Si nek	2-	6 0-0	l>	4	4	2	4	23 -
Chris Nikchevi	ch 1-	5 0-0	0	4	2	2	2	15
Marty Perry	1 -	1 0-1	1	t	2	2	1	17
Brian Taylor	0-	1 1-2	0	2	1	5	3	17
Richie Webb	2-	3 0-0	0	0	k	0	0	5
Paul Oreckset	1-	2 0-0	0	1	2	1	- 0	2
Alan Astle	0-	0 0-0	0	0	0	0	0	2
Michael Smith	3-	4 1-1	2	I	7	2	0	10
Kevin Nielsen	0-	1 0-0	' 1	0	0	0	1	5
Carl Pollard	1-	4 0-0	3	3	2	0	1	11
Team								
TOTALS	27-60 14-18		34	25	88	18		200
	Kentucky 93							
PLAYER	FG	FT	REB	PF	TPS	A		min
Sam Bowie	6- 8	1,-4	6	4	16	0	s	20
Kenny Walker	6-12	7-8	8	4	19	3	1	34
Me 1v i n TurpIn	6-15	3-4	5	3	15	0	1	26
Dicky Beal	k- 8	0-0	2	1	8	It	3	33 28
Jim Master	6-11	1-2	4	1	13	1	1	
James Blackmon	2- 2	0-1	0	2	4	0	1	9
Leroy Byrd	0- 1	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Paul Andrews	0- 0	1-2	2	0	1	0	0	2
Roger Harden	1- 1	0-0	3	0	2	1	0	7
Brett Bearup	1- 2	2-2	2	2	It	1	0	13
Winston Bennett	3- 6	5-7	6	1	11	0	1	24
Tom Hei tz	0- 0	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	2
Troy McKinley	0- 0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	1
Team			0					
TOTALS	35-67	23-30	38	20	93 20		13	200
BRIGHAM YOUNG				29	39			68
KENTUCKY				I>2	51		-	93
TECHNICAL FOULS	BYU E	ench						
OFFICIALS: Dick	Paparc	, J im McDan		el.	Dan f	iks	ich	
Inside The Paint
Perhaps there's no more telling statistic in basketball than the number of field goal attempts taken outside the "paint". In other words, which team is forced to take the most low percentage shots outside the free throw lane.
That statistic quickly told the story of Brigham Young's attempt to upset third-ranked Kentucky Saturday in the Mideast Regional first round at Birmingham, Alabama.
When all the dust had cleared, BYU
had been forced to fire up 25 missies outside the paint to only 17 for Kentucky. While BYU connected on 9 of the 25, Kentucky made good on 8 of 17. Still, the timing of the shots was even more important.
In the first half when UK held command of a 42-29 score, BYU fired up only seven to UK's twelve. But when BYU tried to play catch-up, the Cougars were forced to fling up 18 attempts from the outside. Meanwhile, UK was patient and confident of its inside game and put up only five from the outside in the final twenty minutes.
With that in mind, it was no surprise that UK won going away, 93-68 and now advances to a 9:30 p.m. showdown with Louisville on Thursday evening at Rupp Arena.
Balanced Scoring
Once again, UK breezed with a balanced scoring attack, a familiar companion when the Wildcats are playing their best basketball.
In the first half, Sam Bowie V rim-rattling dunks and Jim Master's sharp outside shooting spurted the Cats out to a 27-14 lead as senior guard Dicky Beal dished out a whopping eight assists in the first twenty minutes.
By halftime, UK had built up a 42-29 lead, a lead which was never in jeopardy the final twenty minutes.
Although both Bowie and Melvin Turpin spent ten and eight minutes respectively on the pine with three
THAT KIND OF DAY...BYU's Devin Durrant goes to the floor as UK's Dicky Beal puts on the pressure. Beal was named the MVP for the game by CBS.
personal fouls each in the first half, their loss was never felt as super frosh Winston Bennett filled in with a solid performance.
Walker Breaks Loose
In the second half, sophomore Kenny Walker and Bennett went to war and those two cooled any Cougar hopes of a comeback attempt. Walker hit on four of six attempts with soft jumpers inside the paint and canned four of four from the free throw line as he finished the night with 19 points and eight rebounds, tops for UK in both departments.
Bennett came on strong to finish in double figures with 11 and had six rebounds to show for his inside game. Behind Walker in scoring were Bowie with 16, Melvin Turpin with 15 and Jim Master with 13.
Kentucky once again applied pressure defense, the man-to-man variety and then some zone to hold the Cougars below the forty percent mark in field goals for the first half and under the fifty percent mark in the final twenty minutes.
The Cats hit on 35 of 67 for 52.2 percent from the field while BYU was limited to 45.5 percent on 27 of 60, a defensive trademark which UK has become famous for this season.
After being outrebounded 21-17 in the first half, UK bounced back to take game honors at 38-34.
Durrant Compliments
BYU's silky-smooth All-American Devin Durrant said there wasn't much his club could do to stop the Wildcat Express, but he did think the Cougars showed improvement over the first meeting back in Lexington when UK won by 35.
"We didn't think we could even be on the floor with them then," recalled Durrant, "after that game we knew we could play with them because we did for a half. Sure, we still got beat by 25, but it wasn't 35. They weren't a whole lot different today, except for that dude (Winston) Bennett is tough. He did the best job that's been done on me this year. He really denied me the ball. He's going to be a good one."
And just how good is Kentucky, Devin?
Durrant answered, "well, Rupp Arena wasn't intimidating to me because we play before 22,000 fans all the time, but to someone who is used to playing before only 8,000 to 10,000, well, it could affect them. They're (UK) a sure bet to be in the Final Four. They've got as good a shot at the title as anyone. When you get that far, anyone can get hot. All you need to do then is to win two games. I'm rooting for them (UK) all the way. They're a class team. Of course, I'm from Kentucky and so it means 3, little more to me. They've got a real good shot if they work at it."
Teammate Brett Appiegate echoed Durrant's comments on UK's chances, saying, "I imagine in Kentucky they will have their crowd and will have their friends refereeing the game. They'll be awfully hard to beat in Lexington."
Beal Likes UK's Chances
Senior guard Dicky Beal believes
Winston Bennett
UK is at the top of its game, both physically and emotionally right now.
"Winning the SEC tournament was so important," said Beal on the team's charter flight back to Lexington Saturday, "it's so much fun right now. All those long hours, all those times when things weren't going right is now worthwhile. This is what we've all been working for. It's been so exciting the last few weeks, but we've still got to keep working hard. We can't let up."
Still, Beal sees room for improvement, especially a killer instinct.
"Coach has had to get on us some when we got sorta fat," explained Beal, "seems like when we get somebody down by 18 or 20, we don't put them away. I'd really like to put someone away. We still haven't done that."
Veteran Sam Bowie, the ole man of the lot now in his fifth year at UK, sees the light at the end of the tunnel, but he's crossing just one bridge at a time.
When an out-of-town reporter attempted to draw Bowie into a conversation concerning his pro future, Bowie quitely suggested it's neither the time nor place.
Bowie Doesn't Talk Pro
"Right now, we're just worried about the NCAA," said Bowie, "the pros will come later. The NCAA is what we've worked for all year long. We need to keep working hard and if we do, then good things can happen."
Concerning the Wildcats' chances at winning two games at Rupp Arena to advance to the Final Four at Seattle, Bowie commented, "we've not lost at home this season and we just hope to continue that string. Everyone will be out to get us on our home floor, we've just got to work that much harder."
Jim Master, who has found his shooting eye in recent games as well as an up-tempo in his floor game, passed along the praises to his teammate and roomie, Dicky Beal.
"Wow, 14 assists," exclaimed Master, "what a great game. He was just super. We've had a new attitude going into the tourney, but all the teams in the NCAA are good. At Rupp Arena, they'll be out to beat us at home and you have to respect them all. Sure, there will be more pressure on us playing at home, but I'd rather be going to Rupp than anywhere else."