Posted on Sat, Mar. 17, 2007

Cats conjure throwback 'D'

By Mark Story

HERALD-LEADER SPORTS COLUMNIST

Mark Story

CHICAGO — When they got in trouble, the best of Tubby Smith’s Kentucky teams always had the same cornerstone on which to rely.

They just wouldn’t let the other team score.

So in this season of tumult and turmoil — with rumors swirling about the security of Smith’s job — it was fitting that his Wildcats opened the NCAA Tournament by getting in touch with the grinding, stifling defense upon which their coach built his name.

When it counted last night, Kentucky shut down Villanova, holding the “other” Wildcats to only eight field goals in the second half.

The result was a 67-58 UK victory, which means two wildly significant things.

This much-maligned Kentucky team will not go down as the first UK squad to lose in the first round of the NCAA Tournament since Ohio State bounced Eddie Sutton’s Cats in 1987.

And, more importantly, the Cats will live to fight again, getting a shot on Sunday to play David to the Goliath that is top-seeded Kansas.

The reason, pure and simple, was a dose of old-fashioned Tubby ‘D.’

“Our defense did great things,” Smith said.

Playing with an energy not always seen during this year’s 22-11 slog, the Cats harried Villanova’s three best offensive players into dreadful shooting nights.

Oh, in the first half they didn’t have an answer for ’Nova’s explosive point guard Scottie Reynolds. The freshman who would be at Oklahoma had Kelvin Sampson stayed a Sooner sliced and diced and bombed away for 14 first-half points.

With Reynolds draining three of them, Jay Wright’s Wildcats hit their first four three-point tries of the game.

But, in the second half, UK got into the spirit of this host city and went all Monsters of the Midway.

They harried Reynolds into 1-for-9 shooting, 0-for-4 on treys, and made the ’Nova guard do all his last-half damage (he finished with 23 points) from the foul line.

After that 4-for-4 start from behind the arc, ’Nova went 3-for-17 the rest of the game.

With the main outside threat of the Philadelphia Cats more or less harnessed down the stretch, Villanova needed another answer.

But, boosted by an energetic 28 minutes from forward Sheray Thomas (seven points, six rebounds), the UK interior proved every bit as stifling as the perimeter.

Villanova fifth-year senior Curtis Sumpter was harried into a 6-for-17 effort.

Of the seven Villanova players who took shots in the game, only one — center Will Sheridan — hit 50 percent. And he was only 2-for-3.

The result was a team shooting effort as chilly as the Chicago wind — 18-for-55, 8-for-28 after halftime (28.6 percent).

“We made some stops when we had to have them,” UK’s Smith said.

Yet, for all of UK’s defensive prowess, in this season when nothing comes easy the Wildcats found themselves inside the final two minutes in a precarious spot.

Again.

With UK up only 61-56, Villanova sharpshooter Mike Nardi — who didn’t start because of a leg injury but did play 25 minutes in reserve — found himself completely alone at the top of the key.

As he rose for a three, 19,274 people in The United Center held their breath.

Nardi, one of the four backcourt starters last season for the appealing Villanova team that earned a No. 1 NCAA seed and advanced to the Elite Eight, missed.

After Randolph Morris hit one of two free throws to give UK a 62-56 lead, Nardi got another chance. Finding himself lonely in the left corner, Nardi again missed.

Those were Villanova’s final two chances.

“Hats off to Villanova, especially with Nardi playing on a bad wheel,” UK’s Smith said. “It was a big-time game.”

Actually, the big-time game — and big-time defensive challenge — awaits Kentucky Sunday against explosive Kansas. The Jayhawks hung 107 points on outmanned 16-seed Niagara yesterday.

Still, UK will go into the battle coming off one of its best defensive games of the season.

When the games matter most, it’s good to remember who you are.