Shot Clock

Dominic James, a junior guard, was a preseason All-American pick for Marquette by Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook. His scoring average is down to 13 points per game this year but he had 25 points against Villanova and 23 against Notre Dame. He's also a nifty passer and recently had 12 assists against Pittsburgh. He did sprain his wrist in early January and also sprained his ankle late in the season, but he did not miss any games. Jerel McNeal, another junior, was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year last season.

Dominic James, a junior guard, was a preseason All-American pick for Marquette by Blue Ribbon Basketball Yearbook. His scoring average is down to 13 points per game this year but he had 25 points against Villanova and 23 against Notre Dame. He's also a nifty passer and recently had 12 assists against Pittsburgh. He did sprain his wrist in early January and also sprained his ankle late in the season, but he did not miss any games.Jerel McNeal, another junior, was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year last season.

LEXINGTON -- Sometimes the Rupp Arena crowd might hurt Kentucky rather than help the Wildcats. Or at least that was the impression UK coach Billy Gillispie left after Wednesday's 73-64 win over Auburn. Several times during the game Kentucky fans voiced their displeasure when Michael Porter, Ramon Harris and Darius Miller passed up open shots even if most came with plenty of time remaining on the 35-second shot clock. "I think that our crowd is always panicky about that and I think that if a player is mentally weak then it would bother them, but it doesn't bother any of our guys," Gillispie said.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In Kentucky's first give games, freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin have been consistent double-figure scorers. The only time one didn't reach double figures came in the opening game when Poythress had eight points. But against Notre Dame here Thursday in a 64-50 loss, the two managed just three points each. Poythress played just 23 minutes after getting two fouls in the first five minutes and was 1-for-1 from the field with two rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.

LEXINGTON - After the energy and emotion his team used Sunday at Tennessee, Billy Gillispie can understand why some may worry about how Kentucky will play tonight at South Carolina. The Kentucky coach, though, has no worries about the effort his team will have in the Southeastern Conference road game. "I am not worried about a letdown. All year you practice to develop mental toughness," Gillispie said. "When you face some hard times, if you are a soft team, you don't handle it. If you are tough, you do. "We have had plenty of practice handling tough situations this year.

LEXINGTON -- After the energy and emotion his team used Sunday at Tennessee, Billy Gillispie can understand why some may worry about how Kentucky will play Wednesday at South Carolina. The Kentucky coach, though, has no worries about the effort his team will have in the Southeastern Conference road game. "I am not worried about a letdown. All year you practice to develop mental toughness," Gillispie said. "When you face some hard times, if you are a soft team, you don't handle it. If you are tough, you do. "We have had plenty of practice handling tough situations this year.

LEXINGTON -- Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie knew his team was on an emotional high after Tuesday's victory over Tennessee. That's why he was anxious to see how the Cats would respond when they hit adversity here against South Carolina Saturday. "I thought the most important thing would be how much we hung our heads when they would take 24 or 28 seconds off the shot clock then shoot a 3 and make it," said Gillispie after Kentucky's 78-70 victory. South Carolina did that during a 14-0 run that turned a seven-point deficit into a 46-39 lead with 16 minutes to play.

LOUISVILLE - Sitting in front of his locker at Freedom Hall Saturday, the last thing Larry O'Bannon looked like he wanted to do was talk. He didn't want to talk about his team-high 16 points, and he didn't want to talk about his two free throws that gave Louisville a one-point lead with 15.2 seconds left. All that mattered to him was Louisville lost to Kentucky 60-58. With all the talk about Kentuckian Patrick Sparks keying the Wildcats' win with three free throws with .6 seconds remaining, it was Louisville's hometown player that kept his Cards in the game and nearly won it for them.

It was as if you had let all the air out of a balloon when DePauw overcame a four-point deficit in the final nine seconds of regulation to send the game into overtime against Centre here Friday. The Colonels had just come through with their most important defensive stop of the night, but when they needed just one more rebound in regulation they couldn't get it. Centre (15-6, 7-4 Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference) eventfully won 76-69. But the Colonels held what seemed to be a comfortable 57-53 advantage when DePauw senior Alex Stewart, who hit a 3-point shot at the end of regulation at DePauw earlier in the year, hit the first free throw after being fouled with three seconds to play, then intentionally missed the second try. Centre swatted at the rebound only to knock to it out of bounds and Stewart turned hero again for the Tigers when he nailed another trey as time expired to send the game to overtime.

Awesome.That word best describes George Rogers Clark's 91-69 win over Montgomery County in the 40th district finals last week at the MCHS Arena. The Cardinals led 48-27 at the half and never let up. The Cards' pressure defense, led by point guard Ryan Williams and Marc Miller, was intense, relentless, and never allowed the Indians to get into any kind of rhythm on offense. Offensively, with Robbie Stenzel and Robert Hatton hitting 3-pointers and making acrobatic drives to the basket, Clark had control of the game from the outset.

BURGIN - The Mercer County boys were trying to do two things at once Thursday night. They wanted to take care of the business at hand in their game against Burgin, but coach Brian Britt also wanted them to sharpen their game and their focus for another district game 24 hours later. Mercer appeared to accomplish both objectives in its 68-43 victory over Burgin, even though for the second time in as many meetings this season, the Titans didn't put the Bulldogs away until after halftime.

SOUTH BEND, Ind. - In Kentucky's first give games, freshmen Alex Poythress and Archie Goodwin have been consistent double-figure scorers. The only time one didn't reach double figures came in the opening game when Poythress had eight points. But against Notre Dame here Thursday in a 64-50 loss, the two managed just three points each. Poythress played just 23 minutes after getting two fouls in the first five minutes and was 1-for-1 from the field with two rebounds, one assist and three turnovers.

DAYTON, Ohio - Western Kentucky freshman George Fant isn't worried about facing the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “We're going to keep playing the way we've been playing,” he said following the Hilltoppers' 59-58 triumph over Mississippi Valley State on Tuesday night at the Dayton Arena. The Hilltoppers (16-18) don't plan to change much when they take on overall top seed Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night in Louisville. Western has less than 48 hours to prepare coming off the come-from-behind victory over the Delta Devils, led by former University of Kentucky guard Sean Woods.

DAYTON, Ohio - Western Kentucky freshman George Fant isn't worried about facing the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. “We're going to keep playing the way we've been playing,” he said following the Hilltoppers' 59-58 triumph over Mississippi Valley State Tuesday night at the Dayton Arena. The Hilltoppers (16-18) don't plan to change much when they take on overall top seed Kentucky in the second round of the NCAA Tournament Thursday night in Louisville. Western has less than 24 hours to prepare coming off the come-from-behind victory over the Delta Devils, led by former University of Kentucky guard Sean Woods.

LEXINGTON ? Maybe the defense improved. Maybe Rider was just tired. Maybe it was a combination of both. But quit worrying about the defense. Instead, enjoy what this Kentucky team can do offensively ? and will continue to do. The Wildcats again displayed a lot of offensive versatility here Saturday in a 92-63 win over Rider, the same team that won at Mississippi State last week. "I was really fearful of this game until I saw how we defended early and then I knew we would be fine," said Kentucky coach John Calipari.

The Eagles needed to be on the smiling side of one of these close games. After enduring four losses in its six games decided by two possessions or fewer, the Asbury women's basketball team finally eked out a tight one, upending visiting Transylvania University 58-57 Tuesday night in Wilmore. Asbury (9-15, 1-3 KIAC) led by as much as 10 in the second half, but the Pioneers (15-5, 9-2 HCAC) used several small runs to claw back, and they eventually tied it at 55 on a free throw by Holly Milburn with 2:26 left.

LEXINGTON - Junior point guard Michael Porter understands why Kentucky fans are sometimes frustrated with the Wildcats' offense. "I think our offense has been inconsistent," said Porter Friday. "There have been times when it looks really good, and there have been times when it looks like we can't do anything. "Our offense has to get the ball in the post. We have to work on that, because when we send the ball through the post, we do a lot better. In games that we do that, the offense flows better.

LEXINGTON -- Sometimes the Rupp Arena crowd might hurt Kentucky rather than help the Wildcats. Or at least that was the impression UK coach Billy Gillispie left after Wednesday's 73-64 win over Auburn. Several times during the game Kentucky fans voiced their displeasure when Michael Porter, Ramon Harris and Darius Miller passed up open shots even if most came with plenty of time remaining on the 35-second shot clock. "I think that our crowd is always panicky about that and I think that if a player is mentally weak then it would bother them, but it doesn't bother any of our guys," Gillispie said.

LEXINGTON - He's Kentucky's leading scorer this season, but junior guard Jodie Meeks knows he needs to be more than a scoring leader. As one of the veterans on coach Billy Gillispie's second team, Meeks has to be a team leader on and off the floor. That's why early in Monday's easy 91-57 win over Longwood, Meeks quickly summoned his teammates together after a Longwood pass was deflected out of bounds. He wanted to remind them that only eight seconds remained on the 35-second shot clock.