xt75dv1ck625 https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt75dv1ck625/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1985 Volume 10 -- Number 14 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 (1985-1986) coaches Sutton, Eddie players UK vs. University of Kansas (December 14, 1985) UK vs. University of Cincinnati (December 3, 1985) UK vs. Indiana University (December 7, 1985) Mobley, Terry Sale, Forest (Aggie) Claiborne, Jerry University of Kentucky Football (1985) WHAS statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "December 14, 1985" text The Cats' Pause,  "December 14, 1985" 1985 2012 true xt75dv1ck625 section xt75dv1ck625 'Cats And Jayhawks Hook Up In Top 10 Action
SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS PER COPY fy;,,.
25590
L The Cats' Pause
"SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE'
VOLUME 10 - NUMBER 14
SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 1985
LEXINGTON,
 9*
H77i (jots' (ause
nJ
PUBLICATION NO. USPS 707340 Published By WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY .P.O.Box 7297 Lcxingion. Kentucky 40522 Second Class Postage Paid at Lexington, Kentucky 40511 and additional Mailing offices
Editor and Publisher
OSCAR L. COMBS Staff Writer
NICK NICHOLAS Staff Writer
TODD HALLUM National Recruiting Columnist BOB GIBBONS
Columnist LARRY VAUGHT
Columnist BOB WATKINS
Columnist JIM GRIESCH Columnist MEL HOLBROOK
Columnist STAN TORGERSON Columnist DICKY BEAL Kentucky Basketball Recruiting RICK BOLUS Contributing Columnist
JAMIE VAUGHT Sport Hobby Columnist JACK MAIDEN Business Manager DONNA COMBS Composition Coordinator DON COFFEY Staff Photographer GARY CROMWELL Circulation Coordinator
WANDA HOOKER Crossword Puzzle Editor DAN KRUECKEBERG
Published Weekly: Sept. I4-April 12 Monthly: May. June. July. August
Advertising Representative WILDCAT NEWS COMPANY 2625 Regeney Road Lexington. Kentucky 40503
Subscription Price S25.00 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
Former UK Great Aggie Sale Passes Away
Forest "Aggie" Sale, an ail-American for the University of Kentucky basketball teams in 1932 and 1933. died last week.
A native of Harrodsburg, Sale was coached by the late Adolph Rupp. He captained the '33 squad and helped the Wildcats become Southeastern Conferece Champions.
"The best player I ever played against or watched was John Wooden," said Sale in a recent interview with Louisville Courier Journal columnist. Earl Cox.
Jenkins Meets The Press
Kentucky Hoop Schedule
Date		Record	U0FK Opp		Opponent	Margin	Top Scorer		Top Rebounder		At tendance
Nov.	22	1- 0	77	58	NORTHWESTERN	STATE 19	18 BENNETT	WINSTON	7	BENNETT WINSTON	23,127 (H)
Nov.	26	2- 0	89	57	CHAMINADE	32	22 WALKER,	KENNY	5	WALKER, KENNY	1 ,508 (A)
Nov.	27	3- 0	98	65	HAWAII	33	33 WALKER,	KENNY	10	WALKER, KENNY	6,342 (A)
Dec .	03	4- 0	84	54	CINCINNATI	30	26 WALKER,	KENNY	7	BLACKM0N, JAMES	23,330 (H)
Dec.	07	5- 0	63	58	INDIANA	5	22 DAVENDER, ED		5	BLACKM0N, JAMES	24,203 (H)
Upcoming
Dec.
Dec . Dec.
Dec .
Jan. Jan.
14
20
21
28
04 06
KANSAS
UKIT
UKIT
LOUISVILLE
(A) (H)
(H) (H)
VANDERB1LT (A) AUBURN (A)
WILDCATS
	Kentucky Basketball Statistics									
i; cs	Mlh	Av>;	EG	University of Kentucky Wildcats PGA      Pet      FT    FTA      Pet    Rch Avk		PF 1)	Ast      in    lllk Stl	Pts	A\	a.
WALKER. KENNY					32     40   80.0     27 5.4		7      11        4 11	1 10	22	0
5 5	151	30.2	39	65 60.0		12 -				
DAVENDF.R, ED					23     27   85.2     12 2.4		16      11        - 13	89	17	8
5 5	153	30.6	33	56 58.9		6				
BENNETT. WINSTON					12      13    92.3      20 4.0	15 -		50	10	0
5 . 5	143	28.6	19	31 61.3			6    v 7        3 1			
BLACKMON, JAMES					6       8    75.0     23 4.6		11.     6       - 11	40	8	0
5 5	1 16	23.2	17	46 37.0		9 -				
JENKINS, CEDRIC					10     12   33.3     17 3.4			24		Q
5                     : - 1	65	13.0	7	21 33.3		9 -	-        4        - : -		4	o
MAD I SON, RTCHARD					2       4    50.0      14 2.8			24		Q
5	72	14.4	11	16 68.8		8 -	6       6 11		4	t>
HARDEN, ROGER					13 2.6		41      13       - 10	20	4	0
5 5	140	28.0	10	20 50.0		7 -				
LOCK, ROBERT					5     15    33.3     11 2.2		1       5       3 2	19		8
5	48	9.6	7	13 53.8		9 -			3	
ANDREWS, PAUL					4       4 100.0       7 1.8		1       -       - 3	12		
4	30	7.5	4	11 36.4		4			3	0
ZIECLER, TODD					4       4 100.0     10 2.5			12		
4	22	5.5	4	7   57.1		5 -	1112		3	0
BYRD, 1.ER0Y 4	34	8.5	3	6 50.0	4       6   66.7       5 1-3	3 -	5      3 5	10	2	5
THOMAS, IRVING							3      6 -	1		
4	26	6.5	-	4	1       1 100.0       5 1.3	3 -				3
Team 5 -	-		_	- .   ' -	_       -        -       2 .4			-		-
Wildcats 5 -	1000	200.	154	296 52.0	103    134    76.9    166 33.2	90 5	98     73     12 59	41 1	82	2
Opponents 5	1000	200.	119	270 44.1	54     85   63.5    145 29.0	108 5	67    110       9 20	292	58	.4
 Not A Pleasant Night For Knight
Off to a fine 5-0 start. Eddie Sutton will find out just how far along his 1985-86 Wildcats are this Saturday when the Big Blue travels to Lawrence, Kansas to face a team which has all the makings of becoming a Final Four participant.
Kentucky reeled off its fifth straight victory with a hard-fought 63-58 decision over Bobby Knight and the Indiana Hoosiers Saturday in what has become a typical blood-letting, physical knock-down, drag-out affair.
Knight, himself, becomes as much an attraction as his players. Bobby's comments on the pre-game radio show with Cawood Ledford clearly illustrates his feelings about a lot of things. He took a couple swipes at the Kentucky program, said he doesn't think much of the UK-1U rivalry anymore because of things which have happened around the UK program (use your own judgement to decide what he was talking about) and then refused to talk with other reporters here prior to the game.
Then there was the Steve Alford affair. He was handed a one-game suspension by the NCAA for illegally (against NCAA rules) allowing his picture to be used in a charity calendar. Although Alford accepted no money, the NCAA said the penalty would be to miss the next game, which just happened to be the Kentucky contest.
Indiana could have appealed the decision, but one Indiana official said IU was afraid that if the appeal wasn't upheld later on, it could cost Alford one or two games in the middle of the Big Ten Conference schedule.
Still, one has to wonder why Knight took the penalty so easily. The rule is one of those plain, silly NCAA rules. Several similiar cases involving other athletes have been reversed when appealed and the athletes missed "zero" games. Two Ohio State players immediately come to mind who appealed a decision like that a few years ago. And we're pretty sure the NCAA would not have penalized Alford had his case, too. been appealed.
No question about it, the absence of Alford put the game in a different light, for the IU players and fans, for UK players and fans and just the average college fan. After all. there was UK-IU showdown time.
There are those who said prior to the game that IU would "suck it up" and play just as well without Alford. The game's final score certainly gives some justification to that theory. It's doubtful IU could have played any harder, but forever more, fans will wonder just what the outcome would have been with Alford in the lineup, just like fans will always wonder if UK would have beaten Indiana in Bloomington during the 1982-83 season when IU won by 62-59. We'll never know.
It'll be interesting to see if Mr. Knight, sometime in the future, brings up the Alford affair to comment on the UK situation and its ongoing situation with the NCAA.
Welcome, Eddie, to the Kentucky-Indiana series!
Welcome, Eddie, to the new Bobby Knight, the one you had not been introduced to before last Saturday's showdown at Rupp Arena.
Sutton and Knight have been friends over the years, close buddies according to some people, but Sutton discovered what kind of a fellow Knight can be during his first on-court confrontation. He also found out what kind of a fellow Knight can be off-the-court.
That happened thirty minutes or so after the Hoosiers fell victim to Sutton's Cats. At the game's end. the two coaches exchanged handshakes in record time, then Knight made an Olympic-style dash to catch the three officials who had worked the game, two from the Southeastern Conference and one from the Big Ten Conference.
The officials managed to find shelter and safety in their private locker room, but Knight departed the vicinity only after giving the trio a stern lecture on what he perceived to be some ole-fashioned home cookin".
About thirty minutes later, he became embroiled in a heated exchange of words with Sutton about using SEC and Big Ten officials rather than going to a group of officials representing neither conference. Sutton offered an apology, saying he did not have control of such decisions, but Knight refused to accept either Sutton's explanation or his apology.
Oh, well. Bobby would never accept anyone's apology anyway, would he?
Bobby was a piece of cake in the post-game interview room where he answered questions
from reporters, and explained why his team was unable to overcome a couple of Kentucky spurts which put UK in the driver's seat.
Concerning Alford. he refused to comment about the NCAA's decision, except to say that Alford had broken an NCAA rule and that the NCAA penalty was a one-game suspension. He did say he thought the NCAA would taken into consideration IU's previous record of running a clean program.
Remembering Knight's pre-game remarks about UK's current problems. Alford's one-game suspension against Kentucky and Knight's inability to own a winning record against UK (Kentucky is the only school which Bobby doesn't own a winning record against which he has played three or more times. He is 9-9 against UK), you can rest assured we haven't heard the last from Sir Bobby.
As it always seems, UK's performance was overshadowed by the appearance of Sir Bobby Knight. But who can forget the excellent play of the Wildcats?
Perhaps it was only fitting that a Hoosier nailed the coffin shut on Knight & Company like senior guard Roger Harden did in the game's final minute.
Harden took a charge with 1:02 left and UK nursing a 59-56 advantage. It nullified what could have been a three-point play and a tie game. Then seconds later, he spotted an open path to the basket on the other end and sealed the Hoosiers' fate with a driving layup.
Nevertheless, it wasa sticky defense which hustled for forty minutes and brought Sutton his first victory over Bobby Knight and the Hoosiers. But it won't be Sutton's last over IU as head coach of Kentucky.
Another guard, Ed Davender. picked up the scoring slack with 22 points with jumpers and driving shots inside as the Hoosiers used guerilla warfare on AIl-American Kenny Walker. As he's become accustomed to. the IU defense played the Roberta, Georgia, native just like most SEC schools did a year ago.
Still, he managed 16 points on 6 of 11 from the field and four of six from the free throw line.
Junior Winston Bennett enjoyed one of his finest outing with 10 points and some rugged defensive play. Ironically, two guards and a reserve forward tied for game rebounding honors for the Cats. Harden, guard James Blackmon and forward Richard Madison had five rebounds each.
"I thought we were going to have a wrestling match out there," said an obviously relieved Eddie Sutton after the game. Hey, Eddie, let's just hope it doesn't get any worse than a wrestling match when Bobby is around.
Now. it's off to Lawrence, Kansas a homecoming of sorts for Eddie Sutton.
Eddie knows the tradition of Kansas basketball as well as anyone and this game will probably be given treatment as the "Game of the Year" in Jayhawk Country for a couple reasons.
First, Kansas has always been a traditional rivalry because the legendary Adolph Rupp was born in Kansas and played for the Jayhawks himself.
Secondly, Kansas and Kentucky have been known as college basketball over the years. Both have great traditions and are worshipped by legions of fans in their respective states.
Thirdly, and most important to Jayhawk fans is the school's best chance of reversing the unbelievable jinx the Wildcats hold over Kansas.
How else can one explain Kentucky's dominance over Kansas? In 17 previous meetings, Kentucky has won all but one. that lone loss being a 71-63 decision in Lawrence. Dec. 3, 1973. Other than that one game, the other sixteen contests have produced wins for UK.
This could be the year for that to change. Kansas is loadedwith a club which is expected to have very little opposition via the Big Eight Conference route. Coach Larry Brown has his team off to a fast 6-1 start, a high national ranking and believing it can be a great team.
It already is.
Super soph Danny Manning will make any club a very good one. Add Ron Kellogg who averaged 18.1 ppg last season along with potential Ail-American Greg Dreiling (13.6 ppg and 6.9 rpg) in the middle with Calvin Thompson (13.5 ppg) and Cedric Hunter (6.7 ppg) in the backcourt, you have a team which will make anyone's top five.
When Kentucky walks into Allen Field House Saturday night, it won't face a more hostile crowd all season long, not even at Tennessee or LSU. It'll be gut-checking time, as the basketball jargon goes. It'll be a great, growing-up experience for those Wildcats who have not played at Kansas before.
And it'll probably be the first loss to Kansas in 12 years and the first of Eddie Sutton's Kentucky era. But then again, don't count on it. Kentucky usually finds a way to handle the Jayhawks. And less we forget. Eddie Sutton was also born in Kansas.
A couple weeks ago, a veteran broadcast observer predicted that UK would be shocked with astronomical figures in the bids for a new three-year radio contract.
Right on target!
When the proposals bids were opened last Thursday, the high bid was almost doubled from those of three years ago. The apparent high bidder is again the Kentucky Network which offered over $600,000 per year for three years.
providing almost S2 million for the overall package.
The only other bidder was Host Communications of Lexington which offered a whopping bid of over S575.000 itself. A University spokesman said the UK Athletics Association would meet in early January to award a contract.
Unlike the previous two biddings which resulted in considerable debate over the language of the bids and which firms which really offered the best and highest bids, UK this time streamlined the bidding process and emphasized that only the final cash bid would be considered.
The bidding was expected to be a spirited one. Kentucky Network had held the rights for the last six years, but Host Communications owned the rights prior to 1981. It's no secret the Host company wanted to win the rights back. It's also no great secret the success of Kentucky Network's total operation hinges almost entirely on its ability to retain the UK footbalLand basketball broadcasts.
That's the reason for the mind-boggling bids. When the contract was awarded three years ago, practically every media expert around assured the UKAA officials that the windfall would be the last of the big-time bids because television had been (and still is) taking a big bite out of the radio audience. So much for the audience angle.
As one observer noted, as long as the commercial sponsors will continue picking up the expensive tab, the bidding will continue to go up. up and up. And UKAA officials will smile all the way to the bank.
Well, we're back, back with a weekly sports call-in show we promised you several weeks ago. Our premier show aired this past Monday night with our guest being Sean Sutton, one of the state's top players who opened his Kentucky career with a 25-point exhibition against Lexington Catholic last week.
Sean just happens to be the son of UK basketball coach Eddie Sutton. The younger Sutton is a junior guard for Al Prewitt's Henry Clay Blue Devils.
Our new show, called Cats' Pause Sports Hot Line, can be heard every Monday evening from 7-8 p.m. in Lexington over Radio Station WVLK. Other stations throughout the state will be added later and if you know of a station in your area which would like to carry the program, tell them to contact us at (606) 278-3474.
Future programs will include such people as LSU's Dale Brown, Georgia's Hugh Durham, top SEC officials, recruiting experts and even some well-known blue-chip athletes. We'll keep you posted.
Next Monday night, we'll have a special guest you won't want to miss.
Elsewhere in this issue of TCP. you will read Radio Station WHAS' official response to the ongoing controversy about WHAS' decision to make Louisville top priority on its station with UK becoming No. 2 if the Wildcats remain on the 50.000-watt station after this year.
When this controvsery broke out last spring and continued throughout the summer, we of-
[Continued On Page 26] &age<4	&7i& (oats' &aaAs	<3)ecem/>er- /4, /p&S
		
In Eddie Sutton's philosophy  defense scores points. The Wildcats followed their mentors instructions by putting the 'D' on the Cincinnati Bearcats in the second half to win going away 84-54 last Tuesday night at Rupp Arena.
After a 12-2 run pulled the visitors to within three 38-35 starting the second half, Kentucky then proceeded to go to work against Cincinnati's tough 2-1-2 zone.
Kenneth Henry and Myron Hughes helped the Bearcats draw within three by scoring four points apiece during the spurt.
"I don't think I'll ever repeat what I said to the team at hfllftime," Sutton said. "I've never seen a team come out as flat as we did in the second half."
"That's been the second time that we've done that." said James Blackmon about the bad start in the second half. "We've just got to come out in the second half in the first five minutes and play hard. In the past couple of games we've been letting up in the start of the second half. We've just got to come out and continue to play hard"
Sutton called a timeout to get his troops off the mat with 16:57 remaining (UK ahead 36-33).
Getting back on the right track is exactly what UK did. Leading 40-35. Roger Harden led the break following a Kenny Walker steal and in traffic flicked the ball behind his back to Ed Davender. Davender then went in for the easy two giving UK a 42-35 advantage.
Turnovers were a big factor in UC being outscored 48-21 in the final 16 minutes. Included in that run was a 21-2 run by the Wildcats. Cincinnati committed 25 turnovers for the contest, 15 of which were steals by Wildcat players.
Blackmon's ball-hawking defense resulted in six steals for the Marion, Ind., native. He also led UK in rebounding, grabbing seven.
"Again, defense played a key role in the ballgame," commented Sutton. "I'm very pleased with the way our defense has come along. We forced 25 turnovers. If you play any kind of offense at all with defensive play like that, you have a chance to beat anybody."
Kentucky used a sticky full-court zone press (diamond-and-one) throughout the night, which disturbed UC into turnover, after turnover, after turnover.
By the time the 10:50 mark clicked on the Rupp Arena scoreboard, the home team led by a comfortable 61-39.
"They kicked our rear ends good tonight," noted Bearcats' coach Tony Yates. "They outplayed us in every phase of the game. The defense was excellent. They outrebounded us and had a big edge in shooting percentages. Kentucky was a very effective team tonight."
For the game UC fired 40.7 percent from the field (22 of 54), while the Wildcats canned 29 of 57 attempts for 50.9 percent.
Kentucky now stands at 4-0 and the Bearcats fall to 1-2.
^ildcats Blast Bearcats 0;A<2A'^Vena 84-
Wildcats Blast P/ *
WALKER NETS 26, FINDS THE OUTSIDE TO HIS LIKING
Walker was having trouble inside early in the contest. But likeanAll-American Walker found his shot.
Smothered by a 2-1-2 Bearcat blanket for most of the evening the 6-8 senior drilled in eight of 18 from the field, and 10 of 13 from the charity stripe to total 26 points.
Early on it looked like UC's defense would hold Walker under his 22.7 ppg average. In fact Walker didn't take his first shot until the 14:12 mark of the first half.
While not getting anything accomplished underneath, Walker took his offensive show to the perimeter. Trailing 11-7, Walker helped offset UC's defense with two long-range jumpers, mixed in with a Robert Lock short banker.
With Walker's 17-footer from the right corner Kentucky pushed ahead for good 15-13 with 11:11 remaining.
The fuse was set. All it needed was someone to light it. Enter starter Harden. Coming into the contest Harden had dished out 25 assists in three contests. But the best was yet to come.
Harden, who seems to be having more fun than in his previous three Wildcat years, fired up the 23,330 partisan UK crowd with some good ole fashioned defense.
He alertly stole the ball from a UC player at midcourt. Sitting on his knees while facing the opponent's basket, Harden heaved the ball over his shoulder, which mysteriously arrived to Walker driving for a wide-open dunk. With a deafening Wildcat roar, Kentucky was now ready to roll, leading 17-13. Harden finished the night with a game-high five assists to his credit. Davender picked up the offensive slack early in (he period, The 6-2 sophomore scored Kentucky's first four points and dished off a nifty crow-courl assist to Harden for the jumper.
Junior Winston Bennett added 10 points. The forward wiis nearly (lawless from the field (three of four), while hitting four of tour free throw* In 29 minutes of work. Q)ecem/^ 14, /p&S
&7i& (oats' ^au&&
Like in their three previous outings all 12 Wildcats partaked in the action. And with more time under their belt everyone is starting to contribute. For instance:
Richard Madison  The Master Blaster is starting to adjust to Sutton's plans. Coming off the effects of a cold from UK's Hawaiian adventure, Madison was able to play 10 minutes. During those minutes he produced five points and played tenacious defense underneath. With the score 65-40 in UK's favor, Madison knocked the ball away from Joe Stiffend, which was picked up by Blackmon for a driving layup.
Leroy Byrd  Byrd may be the biggest surprise of the season. The 5-5 guard played sparingly in the first half (one minute), but played five minutes in the final 20 minutes. Byrd hesitated and then drove to the basket for a beautiful finger roll lay-in giving the Wildcats a 65-4-0 advantage. He also grabbed two rebounds and dished out two assists
Todd Ziegler  On the night, probably the most impressive of the reserves. After hitting the side of the glass on a 12-foot jumper, Ziegler cooly sank his next two Js and connected on two free throws for a career-high six points. He had one steal in Cincy's offensive end of the court, three rebounds, and only one turnover in six minutes of action.
BEARCAT-WILDCAT TIDBITS
The victory over Cincinnati gives Kentucky a 23-10 series lead on its northern neighbors. . .Ed Davender on helping hold Roger McCIendon to six points, "I didn't really stop him by myself. I had a lot of help from my teammates. Once I started knocking the ball out of his hands he got a little frustrated." You might remember McCIendon was only the third freshman ever to lead Cincinnati in scoring (12.4 ppg average last season). . .Only four games into the season Leroy Byrd and Todd Ziegler have more than doubled their offensive productions of last season. Byrd, who scored only two points last season and four lifetime at UK, has produced eight points this season. During second-half action Byrd had to leave the contest after a hard fall while chasing a loose ball. Even though he checked back into the lineup, Sutton said the 5-5 guard suffered some strained knee ligaments and would be out for a couple of days. . .While just scoring two points last season, Ziegler has already poured in 12 points in four games. . .Eddie Sutton continued to start the three-guard lineup, but in the second half he opened up with Robert Lock instead of James Blackmon. . .Kentucky's biggest lead came with 39 ticks remaining, 84-53. . .Roger Harden was decked out in his new pair of Converse. The blue and white shoes were of the low-cut variety. . .Guard Paul Andrews was still getting teased from his teammates about wearing a grass skirt and participating in a hula dance in Hawaii. There's nothing like a ballplayer's memory. . The Bearcats leading rebounder on the night was Kenneth Henry with a game-high eight boards. . The game between the two universities was the third on the three-game contract. . .Cincinnati returns home to play Northern Kentucky at Riverfront Coliseum (Dec. 6). After a confrontation with Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers (Rupp Arena), UK will travel to Lawrence, Kansas, to meet the Kansas Jayhawks, which is TCP's preseason selection to win it all. &7ie (oats' &au&&
Though It's Early, Wildcats Are Having Fun
Everyone's Getting In On The Act
What's the one thing that comes to mind when thinking about Kentucky basketball? How about. . .prestiege. . .a class program. . .Big Blue pride. . .or just a plain winner. What about having fun. Fun?
I know, I know. "Notre Dame had fun," recalling the quotes of Joe B. Hall after his Wildcat team captured the NCAA title in 1978, while Digger Phelps' troops lost both games in the Final Four.
Over the past couple of months you've probably read where Eddie Sutton's Wildcats have been having all kinds of fun. And to no surprise, those reports are absolutely correct. But you sort of get the impression that this feeling hasn't been around for too long.
Yes and no.
For the record  297 wins to be exact  Hall and the Wildcats had some good times during those 13 years he was in charge of THE program. That's not counting his year's as assistant mentor under the legendary Baron of Basketball. Adolph Rupp.
Nick Nicholas
Cats' Pause Columnist
Winning the national title, an NIT title, tying or outright winning 10 SEC Championships, and knocking off then-undefeated and No. 1 ranked Indiana in the Mideast Regionals (1975) were the 'fun' things that many Wildcat fans remember from the Hall tenure. Although the program was run in a strict-like manner, UK basketball was not all work and no play.
It just seemed that way.
Now, with a new coach things obviously appear different. Sutton is more a 'loosy-goosy' type fellow, but at the same time demands die most out of his players. Hall, on the other hand, is more conservative but like Sutton, required 100-plus percent from his players.
In life, when we change something we're kind of suspicious of it at first. But if we like the change then the old is sometimes mistakenly forgotten.
Not that Hall has been forgotten, but it's like all the UK fans are now in Sutton's corner. Favorable changes do that to people.
Not only to the fans but to the players as well.
Take for instance Leroy Byrd and Todd Ziegler. When those two checked into a ball game last season it usually meant the contest had been decided. Today everyone, including Byrd and Ziegler, are getting to play more and show the Kentucky faithfuls that they can contribute in game situations.
I guess that's what a change can do.
Ziegler said something the other night which was unusual for a second-year reserve to say. Against Cincinnati, Ziegler tossed up a 15-footer from near the baseline that embarrassingly hit the side of the glass. The sophomore, however, cooly sank two long jumpers following the badly missed attempt.
Wayne Breeden Confirring With Andrews
Ziegler
Madison
"Oh I knew I could shoot better than that," Ziegler said following the 84-54 triumph over Cincinnati. "I wasn't going to be afraid to shoot just because of something like that. I've been playing a little better this year and I feel more confident in my game and in my shot. If I had it again I was going to put it back up. And I did."
Last season, Ziegler, though hurt most of the campaign, only tallied two points.
Maybe Ziegler, Byrd or some of the other players have been inspired by the change in itself. The same thing might have happened if the two coaches' roles were reversed  Hall replacing Sutton. Just the change from one leader to another might be significant enough to turn around a player's ability or attitude.
One of Hall's biggest fans even realizes that there is a diffferent feeling among the Wildcats. Seeing a sub score a career-high total might have an influence.
"Everybody's contributing because everybody's playing," noted sophomore Richard Madison. "Everybody's happy to see someone come in like Todd did. You aren't used to seeing that."
The 'Master-Blaster' has nothing but respect for his former collegiate coach. Last season, if you'll remember, Madison was deeply saddened when he learned of Hall's retirement. So for now, like Madison said everyone is contributing.
"We know that when we come into a game we are expected to play real hard and just continue the way the rest of the players were playing," said reserve guard Paul Andrews. "If we do that we know we're going to get a lot more playing time."
Far from having fun, Indiana's Bobby Knight made a spectacle of himself prior and during last Saturday's confrontation with Kentucky.
In a pregame interview with Cawood Ledford, Knight answered questions in rude-like fashion.
Knight had no comment in regards to the Steve Alford incident. When asked what he thought about UK's four starters from last year's team, Knight quipped that they'll probably have a year's more experience.
Why can't he answer questions like his other coaching mates?
The controversial Hoosier mentor even had the nerve to say the IU-UK rivalry was, "less special to me than you might think."
If such a rivalry like IU-UK doesn't excite a person, then why coach?
Changing scenes to Rupp Arena, Knight's actions in the first half were ridiculous (although he was somewhat at ease in the second stanza).
Knight tried a psych job on the UK crowd by coming out of the locker room right before team introductions. Though when the controversial figure, decked out in a cherry red sweater, walked onto the court the Wildcat partisans were far from friendly hosts.
Deafening, dull sounding 'boos' could be heard throughout Rupp Arena. And when he was introduced to the record crowd, the noise became even more boisterous.
The crowd's participation probably helped push his already irate temper past the boiling point. But what is it they say, 'If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.'
Well in Bobby Knight's case his kitchen is the coaching business.    At least he should consider taking a leave of absence for a year or so.
At the 18:54 mark in the first half, Knight verbally lashed out at one of officals. One of his pupils  Andre Harris  was whistled for pushing UK's Kenny Walker underneath. Much to the disblief of Knight, the foul did happen. Time after time he was screaming at the three referees, while his counterpart  Eddie Sutton  was reluctantly calm.
This is not to say Sutton was completely at ease. In the second half he was up on occasions stressing his point to the men in striped shirts.
A Indiana-Kentucky game can have that kind of affect on a person.
Said Sutton after the game, "There were several controversial calls both ways. Anytime two teams play with the intensity that the two ball clubs played with tonight, it's going to be awfully tough to officiate the game."
On this night Eddie kept his cool for the most part, Bobby didn't.
Meanwhile, Knight must have worn himself out in the first 20 minutes as he was less 'active' on the sidelines. Early in the second half, however, Knight paced to the end of IU's bench when Winston Morgan's bucket was cancelled out due to Winston Bennett fouling him prior to the shot.
In his postgame comments, Knight did answer a couple of questions about Alford and the NCAA's action. But it got to the point where, "I don't have any other comments on the NCAA. Anybody got any comments on the game?
Following one question about an IU player, Knight rudely interrupted a reporter's question when the coach said, "Sorry, I've got to get going." Thus left Bobby Knight.
Toward the final moments of the game, Knight stalked the sidelines with a sad look on his face. More and more today it seems that Knight always has that profile  a sad profile. (77i& (ocit&<' &aus&
Defense Was Instrumental In Mobley's Success
Admired T