Villanova

NOAH KEETON will continue to fire the roundball when the 2008-09 college hoops season starts this winter, signing on with the Northwood University Red Raiders in West Palm Beach, Fla. Keeton averaged 17.6 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.7 assists last year for Lincoln as the Patriots won their second-straight 12th Region title. He shot 46.5 percent from the field and 75.6 percent at the foul line. Keeton will be playing for a well-known coach at his new school, with Rollie Massimino at the Red Raider helm.

CHICAGO - Kentucky senior Bobby Perry doesn't think the bizarre loss to Mississippi State in the Southeastern Conference Tournament last week caused in part by a free throw lane violation on Sheray Thomas will haunt UK tonight in Chicago when it plays Villanova. "I think we can move past it. We felt we had the game won. It was just one play that pretty much took it all away," Perry said. "We didn't play our best, but we fought back and that shows how we can come back. We have to get over it and move on. "I know not many people are giving our team a chance to do well in the tournament.

STANFORD - Rollie Massimino is one of only 17 coaches in NCAA history to have won more than 500 games and a national championship. He won his national title in 1985 when Villanova beat Georgetown in the title game in Rupp Arena. He also coached at Nevada-Las Vegas and Cleveland State before retiring in 2003. However, three years ago he accepted the head coaching job at Northwood University, a NAIA Division II school in West Palm Beach, Fla. Tuesday he was here to sign Lincoln County senior guard Noah Keeton to a scholarship and talked about how Keeton would help the program make the transition to NCAA Division II in two years.

STANFORD - As soon as the coaches told him they needed a shooter, Lincoln County senior Noah Keeton knew Northwood University in West Palm Beach, Fla., was the perfect school for him. Keeton will sign with the Red Raiders on Tuesday. "The past couple of years I have played on a summer all-star team and their assistant coaches saw me play then," said Keeton. "They started contacting me at the start of the season and told me they would like to have me. " He went for a visit during spring break and got to play several pick-up games with the returning players as well as see the campus.

CHICAGO - Kentucky senior Bobby Perry wishes he knows what went right for him during the last two NCAA Tournaments. "I don't know what it was with my shooting," said Perry. "Maybe it is the NBA rims or something. " Perry was 8-for-12 from the field here Sunday and had 21 points in Sunday's 88-76 loss to Kansas that ended Kentucky's season - and Perry's collegiate career. He was 3-for-5 from the field in Friday's win over Villanova and scored six points. However, in two NCAA games in 2006, Perry had 25 points against Alabama-Birmingham and 20 against Connecticut.

KENTUCKY 67, VILLANOVA 58 VILLANOVA (22-11) - Cunningham 1-5 2-2 4, Sumpter 6-17 5-6 19, Sheridan 2-3 0-0 4, Reynolds 6-18 8-12 23, Redding 0-2 0-0 0, Nardi 2-7 0-0 6, Clark 1-3 0-0 2, Drummond 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-55 15-20 58. KENTUCKY (22-11) - Morris 5-7 9-15 19, Bradley 2-5 6-8 11, D.Perry 0-0 0-0 0, Crawford 4-12 1-2 10, Jasper 0-2 0-0 0, Obrzut 0-0 0-0 0, R.Perry 3-5 0-0 6, Meeks 3-9 4-4 12, Stevenson 1-1 0-0 2, Thomas 2-3 2-2 7. Totals 20-44 22-31 67. Halftime-Kentucky 30-28.

LEXINGTON - Kentucky coach Tubby Smith thought his Wildcats merited being a higher seed in the NCAA Tournament than the one they received, but he certainly has no complaints about his team opening tourney play in Chicago Friday. Kentucky, the eight seed, will face No. 9 seed Villanova (22-11) in the first round with the winner probably having to go against Kansas (30-4), the top seed in the West Region, in the second round Sunday. Smith admitted "everyone talking about his team" being an eight or nine seed with its 21-11 record.

Wednesday, March 14 COLLEGE Baseball Maryville (Tenn.) at Centre, 2, 4:30 p.m. Thursday, March 15 COLLEGE Men's Tennis Union at Centre, 3 p.m. Women's Tennis Union at Centre, 3 p.m. Friday, March 16 COLLEGE Men's Basketball NCAA Tournament: West Regional first round, Villanova vs. Kentucky, 9:40 p.m. (WRNZ-FM 105.1) Softball Centre at Millsaps, 5 p.m.

LEXINGTON ? ESPN is bringing "College GameDay" back to Rupp Arena. The network announced Tuesday the show will air live from the arena on Saturday, Feb. 13, before Kentucky hosts Tennessee. The network will air a pair of live shows from the arena, a one-hour show at 11 a.m. and another show at 8 p.m., an hour before tip-off. The show will also make stops at several other high-profile games next year, including North Carolina-Duke and Villanova-Syracuse. Kentucky will also host Sam Houston State and Rider in November as part of the Cancun Challenge.

The top 25 teams in the The Associated Press' women's college basketball poll, with first-place votes in parentheses: 1. Baylor (37)     2. Notre Dame 3. UConn (3) 4. Stanford     5. Duke          6. California   7. Maryland   8. Penn St.     9. Georgia    10. Kentucky     11. Louisville     12. Tennessee   13. Purdue       14. Texas A&M     15. South Carolina  16. North Carolina  17. UCLA 18. Dayton 19. Florida St. 20. Delaware 21. Colorado 22. Oklahoma St. 23. Oklahoma 24. Syracuse 25. Iowa St. Others receiving votes: Green Bay 31, Nebraska 20, West Virginia 20, Michigan St. 19, Michigan 13, Toledo 11, Kansas 7, UTEP 5, Villanova 4, Washington 4, Miami 2, Middle Tennessee 2, Pacific 2, SMU 2, Creighton 1, Iowa 1, Wyoming 1.