Second Round Preview – St. Louis Region
by Matt Jones
(1) Kentucky vs. (9) UAB
Columbus should be rocking on Sunday as the Kentucky Wildcats get ready for
their second round showdown with the UAB Blazers. The Blazers are coming
off an impressive and entertaining performance in their win late Friday
night over Washington. The combo of Morris Finley and Demarrio Eddins have
shown to be true talents who could very well be using this tournament as
their chance to be discovered on a national level. Coach Mike Anderson has
found a way in recent weeks to impose his team’s “40 Minutes of Hell”
philosophy on its opponents and they have truly controlled the tempo in most
of their recent matchups. It is crucial for Anderson’s team to jump out to
a quick start against the Wildcats who have the ability to suck the life out
of opponents who are not ready to play from the opening tip.
As for Kentucky, they cannot be thrilled with the way they played in
Sunday’s contest against the Florida A&M Rattlers. For the first time all
season, Kentucky looked to be going through the motions and seemed decidedly
uninterested until the last 15 minutes of the game. Coach Tubby Smith has
to be a bit surprised at his team’s reaction to their first NCAA Tournament
game, especially considering that they are coming off an SEC Tournament
where they played some of their best basketball of the season. They cannot
afford to take UAB lightly, especially considering the fact that the
Blazers’ up-tempo style has traditionally given this Kentucky team fits (see
the last two year’s games against Louisville). Guards Cliff Hawkins and
Gerald Fitch must cut down on turnovers and find a way to match the
defensive intensity which will surely be present in the Blazers’ game plan.
I look for this game to be the proverbial “closer than the experts think”,
with Kentucky pulling out an 82-75 win down the stretch.
