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Kentucky Turns Back Ole Miss Rebels In Oxford
The "Phantom of the Wildcats' has risen. . .at least he did against Mississippi.
Richard Madison, who earlier this season was dubbed The Phantom  for inconsistent play  poured in a season-high 13 points to help Kentucky hold back Mississippi last Saturday 62-58 in Oxford.
For Madison it was a performance he and UK needed on a night where the Rebels fought till the bitter end.
In four previous games the Memphis native scored only one point. A chat with Eddie Sutton and Herbert Madison, Richard's uncle, may have put the UK forward/guard in the right frame of mind.
"I had visited with Richard on about what I felt he needed to do, and one of the other staff members did (too)," Sutton said. "His uncle, who lives in Memphis, had a pow-wow with him this afternoon.
"He just played a lot harder and smarter than what he had in our last four games.
Madison hit on 5 of 6 shots from the field (3 of 5 free throws), dished out three assists, and blocked two shots in 20 minutes of action.
Said Kenny Walker of Madison's performance, "Richard was probably the difference. He came in and gave us a good, solid 20 minutes. He made some great plays. We need Richard to play that way all the time."
The win gives Sutton and the Wildcats their 20th 'W' of the season with only three setbacks. More importantly, the victory over Ole Miss raised their SEC record to a league-leading 11I mark. Mississippi falls to 3-10 in the conference, 10-12 overall.
For Lee Hunt's crew the free throw line marked the scene of the crime.
"It all boils down to the same problems we've had for the past two years  free throw shooting." Hunt stressed in his postgame conference. "In a game like tonight, where you're playing a top ballclub like Kentucky, it's so important to give yourself a chance to win the game that you have to convert your free throws."
"We had one player, (Curtis Ritchwood) if he had been hitting them could have put us in a great position maybe to move on and win the ballgame."
Both the Wildcats and Rebels hit only 63.2 percent (12 of 19) from the charity stripe. Ritchwood, however, missed six free throws in the final 20 minutes to subdue any chances the home team had of upsetting Kentucky.
Mississippi was led in scoring by Ritchwood with a game-high 16 points followed Roderic Barnes with 14.
First Half Run Paves Way For Wildcat Victory
With the boost of an 8-0 run midway in the first half, Mississippi grabbed a 22-16 lead on the Wildcats. Though Kentucky, which had previously led 12-8 before the Johnny Rebs made their charge, had a suprise attack of its own. It was also an attack which was rudely greeted by the UM student section.
Roger Harden ignited the rally as his jumper between Ole Miss' two-man front reduced the margin to four (22-18) with 7:16 left to play. UK was now in a two-guard lineup with Madison and Cedric Jenkins having checked in.
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Walker And Sims Clash At Peak Form
It was Madison who pulled the visitors within one. The substitute took UM's Derek Home underneath and laid the ball in as the defender committed his second foul of the night. Madison completed the three-point play by connecting on the free throw.
The sequence of the night was about ready to take place, however.
Following a Madison miss at UK's end of the court, Eric Smith took an outlet pass and appeared headed for a slam. Though the shot was blocked from behind by Madison and Harden then initiated a Wildcat fastbreak. With the Ole Miss' student section in an uproar, the UK guard spotted Walker open underneath for the dunk. In getting the two points Walker was fouled by Ronnie Sims.
The fans were upset that Kentucky got the call (Sim's foul on Walker) and Smith didn't. For more than five minutes the game was stopped because ice and cups, which were now resting on the hardwood, had been tossed by the Mississippi students.
When the mess had cleared the 'Cats controlled the lead 24-22 following Walker's free throw.
Kentucky completed its 13-0 run with: a Bennett put-back of a Walker miss, a Madison free throw, and a downtown jumper (23 feet to be exact) from Walker. The spurt enabled the favorites from Lexington to grab a 29-22 advantage.
Ole Miss stayed within seven at the end of the half by matching its opponent point for point in the final 3:16. Ritchwood's rainbow from the baseline cut the lead to five (33-28), but the senior forward fouled Winston Bennett with only four ticks remaining until halftime. Bennett sank both attempts as UK regained it seven-point margin.
Issue Not Settled Until Final Seconds
The issue wasn't decided until Harden cashed in on two free throws giving the Wildcats a 60-54 lead with only 18 seconds remaining. Prior to that the Ole Miss partisans, highly enthusiastic thoughout the evening, hoped they would leave Tad Smith in celebration of a win. However, they left the coliseum knowing that the Rebels gave it their best shot.
Led by four players with six or more points, UK went in the dressing room with a 35-28 lead. Following a steal turned into a dunk by Walker, Kentucky raced out to its largest lead of the game (39-30) with 18:08 left.
For the night Walker led the UK attack with 15 tallies. He needs only five points against Alabama Thursday night to become the Wildcats' No. 3 all-time scorer. Walker also snared down a game-high 13 rebounds. Ed Davender and Harden contributed heavily to the UK win with 12 points apiece.
With an 18-11 run of their own, the Rebels pulled within two, 50-48. During the spurt UM kept clawing into the 'Cats' lead, but could never catch up.
Roderick Barnes cut the margin to four, when the sophomore guard hit a 14-foot jumper over Harden. The Phantom (Madison) struck for two easy baskets, though, to push the margin to eight with 10:26 remaining.
JC transfer Eric Smith, who scored 13 points and was credited for a team-high 10 rebounds, connected from the top of the key helping Ole Miss get close again, this time 4845. And Derrick Home's three-point play made things even more interesting (50-48).
UK had one more run left in its bag of tricks (6-0). For starters, Ed Davender connected from 21 feet. Madison saved his cliff-hanger baseline jumper for a needed situation
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