"Without Ramel it would have been ugly the first half," Smith said. "He was unconscious making shots. He has that ability and that passion. We needed every basket he had."
Central Florida coach Kirk Speraw said Bradley was "drilling shots" and was the reason UK had the halftime lead.
"The second half we tried to shift different people on him and be more aware of what he was doing," Speraw said.
Bradley had a career-high 18 points in UK's previous game. He hopes this is the start of a productive stretch of games for him.
"If you want to get on the court, you have to be productive," Bradley, who had three steals, said. "If I make shots, I'm going to play."
No foul: Speraw admitted he thought of fouling Rajon Rondo after his team tied the game 57-57 with 24.5 seconds to play. Instead, he let Rondo, a career 60 percent free throw shooter, get inside and make a spinning shot with 1.5 seconds left to win the game.
"We considered that (fouling) a little bit," Speraw said. "I hated to give him a free shot at the line. He struggles a little there, but he's a competitor. He makes big free throws. I anticipated he would make them if we fouled him."
Speraw said he knew Smith would go to Rondo, who he calls the "best point guard in the country" for the final shot.
"He can go by you and create for other people. We knew he would have the ball in his hands. If I was coach Smith, I would have run the same thing," Speraw said.
Bradley knew the play was coming, too.
"We see him do that every day in practice," Bradley said. "I'm glad he knocked it down. If not, I was ready for the offensive rebound because I knew he would shoot. But he doesn't always hit that shot in practice, especially if I am guarding him."
Rondo never thought of passing when he was unable to get all the way to the basket.
"I knew I was going to take the shot," he said. "I never doubted myself. I knew I could find a shot I could make. The only way I would have passed would have been if two or three people had just surrounded me. When that didn't happen, I knew I was going to make the shot."
