xt7hhm52gb8g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7hhm52gb8g/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1986 Volume 10 -- Number 24 athletic publications  English Wildcat News Company Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. The Cats' Pause UKAW University of Kentucky Men's Basketball (1985-1986) coaches Sutton, Eddie players Harden, Roger Issel, Dan Adkins, Earl SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (1986) UK vs. Mississippi State University (February 2, 1986) University of Kentucky Football (1986) Gardner, Carwell Claiborne, Jerry statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause,  "February 22, 1986" text The Cats' Pause,  "February 22, 1986" 1986 2012 true xt7hhm52gb8g section xt7hhm52gb8g The UK Road Warriors
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The Cats' Pause
SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE'
saturday, february 22, 1986
LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY
Lock Gets His Chance &ay&2
^eoraaru 22,
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Baker Prize Catch
Grid Cats Land 14 Prospects
Coach Jerry Claiborne and his staff received 14 commitments last week, including eight outside the Kentucky boundaries, as the national signing period started last Wednesday. Of course, the biggest prize landed by the Wildcats was pulled within the state as Trigg County Star Al Baker signed a letter-of-intent to play for UK. Overall, Kentucky had 21 scholarships to offer.
"We're real pleased with the players we got," said Wildcat coach Jerry Claiborne. "We think they're going to be good student/athletes for the University of Kentucky. We hope that their college careers are as good as their high school careers."
Claiborne Pleased
Baker, a 6-foot-l, 222-pound brusing back, ran for 5,350 yards in four years at the Cadiz school. In his senior campaign he rambled for 1.338 yards and 12 touchdowns while playing
with nagging injuries.
A couple of weeks ago the Atlanta Journal and Constitution listed Baker the No. 1 recruit in the South as well as being the nation's second best player available. His other accomplishments as a prepster were: Class A 100-and 200-meter state track champion, second in the state shot put event, and Kentucky's top power-lifting champion in the 242-pound division.
"He's a quality player," Claiborne said about his new back. "He's one that has had a real outstanding high school career."
"Getting Al Baker (pause) we feel that he's probably one of, if not THE, best best runn-ingback in the country, " said assistant Jerry Eisaman, "which has to make it (in regards to recruiting) a real good year.
"If we had gotten a lineman or two here or there then we would have had a truly outstanding year. But. we've got some linemen that have some size, speed, and the weight that could blossom into real fine football players."
As in 99.9 percent of the recruiting wars, however, you win some and you lose some. Though Kentucky won with Al Baker and other signees. the Big Blue lost out on in-state product Colburn Clark and out-of-state offensive lineman Dave Szott.
Last December 2, Clark, a 6-2. 260-pound defensive lineman who played for the Daviess County Panthers, verbally committed to UK. However the All-State product signed the dotted line Wednesday to play for Howard Schnellenberger and the Louisville Cardinals.
Another Kentucky miss in the 'big game' hunt was Szott, a 6-4, 240 lbs Parade Magazine prep All-American from New Jersey. His decision apparently came down to UK, Penn State and Duke. When it came time to choose, though. Szott picked the Nittany Lions.
Another player high on UK's list, but who is also heading to Penn State, is Eric Jonassen.
Listed at 6-6, 275 lbs., Jonassen narrowed his choices to UK, Penn State and Mi i . land before deciding on Joe Paterno's team. He was a second-team prep All-American selection (T/Sd Today). Jonassen is from Baltimore.
The five other instate Wildcat signees were: Donnie Gardner (Defensive Lineman). 6-5. 210 pounds. Louisville Trinity; Carlos Phillips (Linebacker), 6-2. 220 lbs., Owensboro High School; Paul McDowell (Linebacker), 6-2, 205 lbs., Louisville Ballard; Mike Nord (Offensive Lineman), 7-6, 236 lbs., Louisville St. Xavier: and John Bolden (Wide Receiver), 6-2, 175 lbs. Louisville Male.
UK's out-of-state list features signees hailing from Pennsylvania, Florida, Texas, to theGrand Canyon State of Arizona. Sandwiched among those players are four recruits from Ohio.
The out-of-state players arc: Randy Holleran (Linebacker). 6-1, 234 lbs., McKeesport, Pa.; Gary Ralston (Defensive Lineman), 6-3, 240 lbs., Cuyahoga Falls. Ohio; Mike Meece (Tight End). 6-5, 210 lbs.. Madeira. Ohio; Dean Wilks (Offensive Lineman), 6-5, 275 lbs., Proctorville, Ohio; Steve Phillips (Wide Receiver and Strong Safety), 6-2. 184 lbs., Fairfield. Ohio; Ed Keenan (Linebacker and Defensive End), 6-3, 200 lbs., Corral Springs, Fla; Scott Rayburn (Tight End), 6-3, 240 lbs., Richardson, Texas: and Chris Moga (Wide Receiver), 5-10, 175 lbs.. Tucson. Ariz.
Last season Kentucky successfully recruited three players from the Ohio area  Tom Crumrine, Westerville; Gardner Sorrell, Mid-dletown: and Russell Viei, Middletown.
Claiborne said that the staff would continue to keep on the trail of '86 freshmen-to-be and possibly junior college players. He also noted that some students are still awaiting to take the ACT or SAT (college entrance exams). And with Proposition 48, the college bound student thus faces a tougher task just to qualify for college eligibility.
Kentucky Basketball Statistics
Date: 02-17-1986
____G___ US
WALKER, KENNY 25 25
Min
858
34.3
FC
2-5-GANE STATISTICS UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY WILDCATS EGA      Pet      FT    FTA     Pet    Reb    Avg     PF D
172    312    55.1    130    178 73.0
BENNETT, WINSTON
25       25     773 30.9      122    227    53.7     83    104 79.8
DAVENDER, ED
25       25     788 31.5     123    266   46.2     64     84 76.2
HLACKMON, JAMES
25       25     666 26.6       99    206   48.1      28     47 59.6
HARDEN, ROGER
25       25     745 29.8       72    1 37    52.6     23    ^25 92.0
MADISON, RICHARD
25 -     412 16. 5       52     93    55.9     29     43 67.4
LOCK, ROBERT
18
JENKINS, CEDKIC
126      7.0        21      37    56.8      16      33 48.5
25
ZIEGLER, TODD 1 J
ANDREWS, PAUL 17
BYRD, LEKOY 16
THOMAS, IRVING
14
Team
WILDCATS
25
284    ii.. 4        24      59    40. 7      18      27 66.7
61      4.7        12      22    54.5        6      10 60.0
125     7.4       14     33 42.4
6 100.0
97 6.1
65 4.6
15    60.0      10      13 76.9
II 36.4
8 62.5
5000    200.      724  1418    51.1    418    578 72.3
Opponents
25 -    5000   200.      606 1297    46.7    291    416 70.0
187 7.5
171 6.1
68 2.7
95 3.8
52 2.1
69 2.1
30 1.7
52 2.1
17
13 .8
10 .6
13 .9
41 1.6
818 32.7
712 28.5
(22-3 Overall;  13-1 SEC) (13-0 Home; 9-3 Away;   1-0 Neutral) Ast      To    Blk    Stl Pts Avg
63 1
30
34
27
35
34   4      34     48     11 31
61    1      83 55
46
60   1      57     28       1 32
A7    -    175 56
26
32   -     20     30       4 9
3     17       6 4
37    1       5       8       3 5
4       6       1 2
11-11 4
9-14
13
12
4      15       1 ,1
451    8   440    309     54 209
522 20   317    420     66 129
474 19.0
3*27 13.1
310 12.4
226 9.0
167 6.7
133 5.3
58 3.2
66 2.6
30 2.3
34 2.0
28 1.8
13 .9
1866 74.6
1503 60. 1 &7l& (Dates' &aaAe/
Something Has To Give In Athens
Some interesting notes and more notes about college basketball in the Southeastern Conference.
Did you know that only two SEC teams are unbeaten at home this season in league play? Yep, Kentucky and Georgia. The Wildcats have won all seven of their SEC home battles while the Bulldogs are undefeated in seven contests.
Three schools have lost only one game. They are Alabama, Auburn, and Florida. Kentucky is responsible for the only home court SEC win in Tuscaloosa and Gainesville. LSU upset Auburn on the road. Tennessee and LSU have lost twice each at home. Florida and Vander-bilt have beaten the Vols in Knoxville while UK and Alabama have whipped LSU in Baton Rouge.
Eddie Sutton's Wildcats will get a shot at eliminating Georgia from the field of "unbeaten at home" this Saturday in a nationally televised game via NBC-TV in Athens.
While Kentucky and Georgia have been most impressive at home, only Kentucky and Alabama (4-3) have played better than .500 on the road. The Cats have been awesome, to say the least, with a remarkable 6-1 road mark and the 'Bama is 4-3.
On the other hand, most SEC schools just can't find that winning combination away from home. Tennessee hasn't won a road SEC regular season contest since January of last year when the Vols upset Georgia in double overtime in Athens. The Vols are 0-11 since that time.
Ole Miss is in the same category with a current 0-6 mark on the road. Even worse is Mississippi State which is winless in seven SEC outings on the road. Vanderbilt won its first road trip to Ole Miss, then lost the next four, but bounced back last Saturday to upset Tennessee in Knoxville.
What does all this mean? That Kentucky's 6-1 SEC road record is enough evidence to hand the league trophy over to the Wildcats without even looking at the home mark.
Kentucky's 36th Southeastern Conference title should be assured on Wednesday night when the Cats host the Florida Gators at Rupp Arena.
A win over Florida would give the Cats a 14-1 league mark and guarantee UK no worse than a first place tie. Going into the Florida game. UK held a three-game league over second place Alabama with four games remaining.
Should UK defeat Florida and should Alabama lose at Tennessee, the Cats would own the title outright. It would also be the earliest the title race has been decided since LSU won the SEC with a 17-1 mark back in 1981. That season, LSU went to the Final Four in Philadelphia.
Statistics don't always tell the complete truth, but rarley do they tell complete lies either.
For instance, the SEC season stats give one a good reason why the league race came down to a two-way fight between Kentucky and Alabama.
Kentucky leads the SEC in scoring defense (limiting the opposition to only 59.6 ppg), opponents' rebounds (allowing opposition to only 28.6 rpg), rebounding margin (a 4.7 rpg) and scoring margin ( 14.5 points per game).
That's not all. Kentucky is second in defens-ing against the field goal (opponents hit only 46.3 percent against UK), second in field goal differential (3.9 percent), second in steals (8.4
spg) and second in turnover margin (4.2 per contest).
Stats show the Wildcats' most glaring weaknesses in blocked shots, free throw accuracy, rebounding and field goal accuracy. Usually, those last three categories can be mighty costly to a club.
Kentucky is sixth in the league in field goal percentage, but still hitting at a 50.2 clip which isn't as bad as the league's No. 6 spot would indicate. Kentucky's 72.1 clip from the charity line isn't terrible, but one would expect better shooting from a 22-3 club.
Rebounding at a 33.3 clip could be expected for a team which doesn't boast a huge front line. The Cats' plus here, though, is the fact that Kentucky permits its opponents only 28.6 rebounds per game which still has UK No. 1 in the rebounding margin department.
Although everyone except Kentucky and Alabama are officially out of the regular season SEC race, don't expect any of the clubs (except perhaps Mississippi State which practically has a lock on tenth place) to roll over and play dead.
Why?
Because the tournament seeding will be more important than ever next month.
By mid-February, one can usually begin to sort out which teams are targeted for the extra preliminary round to qualify for the final eight in the SEC Tournament.
As mentioned earlier. State is assured of one of the four sports on opening night. Only Kentucky and Alabama are cinches not to play on Wednesday night. Auburn appears to be a safe bet to escape the extra game. After that, everyone is fighting to avoid the bottom four.
Two games over the weekend really brought the rest of the pack together. Ole Miss' shocking 58-57 upset of LSU and Vanderbilt's equalling shocking 66-62 upset over Tennessee in Knoxville were the key disaster areas for two schools who expected better results in the preseason.
Tennessee expected to finish somewhere in the upper division but finds itself mired in eighth place, only one game ahead of Ole Miss.
Meanwhile, LSU was considered a legitimate Final Four contender but one disaster after another has hit the Baton Rouge campus this season. The Tigers appeared to regroup about ten days ago, but Alabama surprised the Tigers in the Deaf Dome a week ago Sunday. A few days later, LSU rallied back and destroyed Tennessee 75-50.
Everything was back to normal, until Dale Brown's troops headed to Oxford where Lee Hunt again proved he's one of the most underrated coaches around. Ole Miss fashioned a one-point win and LSU is just one game ahead of seventh place Vanderbilt.
Right now, the best bets for the first round action appear to be State, Ole Miss, Tennessee and Vanderbilt.
Next to the SEC Tournament, the hottest topic is how many SEC teams will be invited to the NCAA Tournament next month. It says here that the SEC may get its fewest invitations since 1982 and there's an outside chance the league might get only two.
Five SEC teams were invited last March and
the league was supposed to be a more improved conference this season. Four teams went in both 1983 and 1984. Only three (Alabama, Tennessee and Kentucky) were invited in 1982.
No question the league is down this season, from top to bottom and in between. Quite frankly, LSU, Auburn and Tennessee have been major disappointments. Florida and Georgia have played about as expected although both of these clubs hurt themselves with less than impressive non-conference play.
Only Kentucky and Alabama have surpassed preseason predictions. By the time the SEC tournament arrives, eight of the ten clubs will most likely have ten or more losses. Teams with double-digit losses have a way of being ignored by the selection committee unless you have (a) twenty or more wins and/or (b) played a rugged non-conference schedule.
Kentucky is a lock for NCAA play. Alabama is close to a lock because it has been UK's stif-fest challenge to the league crown and trie SEC will always get at least two bids. Bama's two most recent losses have dampened the pollsters' interest though and the Tide's only tough non-conference foe was UTEP which defeated Alabama 74-62.
Auburn has all the horses, but they haven't always showed up for a fall day's work. The non-league card was improved this season for the Tigers, but not by as much as first thought. Auburn was upset early by the likes of West Virginia, Western Kentucky, UAB and Southwest Louisiana. If the Tigers should drop three of their last four, a trip to the NCAA would probably hinge on their play in the SEC tourney.
One big plus for Auburn would be All-American Chuck Person. All things equal, the NCAA would not want Person to be showcased in the National Invitational Tournament when the Tiger senior will probably be one of the top five NBA draftees this spring. On the second thought. Auburn will get an NCAA bid, no matter what.
Florida could find itself in another down-to-the-wire duel with another team for the SEC's fourth invitation. LSU and Georgia will likely fight it out with Florida for an entry. The Tigers played a bunch of patsies early (aka Montana State. BYU-Hawaii, Hawaii Pacific, Hawaii-Loa, among Hawaii-Hilo among others), but you have to give Dale Brown credit for taking on Lamar, Texas, Washington and Georgtown.
And John Williams is a billboard hit. LSU should go into the SEC tourney with at least 20 wins, but should the Tigers get upset by either Vanderbilt or Auburn, the pressure could be on for LSU to go a long way in the SEC tourney.
Fact.
LSU has not won a post season tournament game (either SEC or NCAA or NIT) since 1981 when the Tigers lost both their games in the Final Four at Philadelphia. That's a ten-game losing streak after the regular season.
Of course, all this can go down the drain if the league tournament holds to tradition.
In case you've forgotten, the SEC has staged seven post season tournaments since the renewal back in 1979 and there have been seven different champions.
Only Florida, Vanderbilt and Mississippi State haven't won the event since 1979.
Speaking of the SEC tournament, there's growing suspicion that the University of Ten-
nessee won't be able to host next March's event at its new 25,000-seat arena.
If that be the case, the SEC tournament site selection committee will have to decide whether to hold it at Birmingham, Nashville. Lexington or perhaps Adanta or Baton Rouge. Our sources indicate the tourney might return to Nashville because the Vandy people did such a great job with it in 1984.
UT officials are still having problems with their new facility. Work was stopped several months ago because of massive sink holes at the construction site and the university is now in the process of trying to get the project started up again.
No official word has been handed down, but insiders say there is no way the facility will be completed in time for the 1987 tourney. The arena was supposed to have been ready for near month's tourney.
Plenty of tickets remain available for the 1986 SEC Tournament at Rupp Arena according to UK officials. Ticket books are S60 each and are good for one admission to all five sessions.
Tickets are on sale at the UK Basketball Ticket Office, Memorial Coliseum, Lexington. Kentucky. If you order by mail, you should include a handling and postage fee of $2.
Tickets can also be purchased in person at the UK ticket office.
UK athletics director Cliff Hagan is hoping that Wildcat fans will turn out in record numbers for the tourney because it could have an impact on UK's ability to attract the tourney back to Lexington in the future.
Obviously, most coaches are against the tourney being played on UK's home court, but 22.000 tickets at S60 each can be a mighty powerful ally when comparing that with 15.000 in Nashville and even less in Birmingham.
Some 19,000 tournament books were sold for the 1982 tourney in Lexington, but sales are lagging this time around. UK assistant athletics director Larry Ivy said there was a brisk increase last Friday, the morning after UK upset Alabama in Tuscaloosa.
Should UK sell out the tourney, it would set an all-time attendance record for a conference post season tournament and also put the SEC in a position of having to consider Rupp Arena almost every other year or so.
Not only will UK have to generate more sales than three years ago, Wildcat fans will have to make up for lagging sales at other schools.
Most disappointing were ticket sales at a number of SEC schools, including Vanderbilt where the Commodores did not take their entire allottment. Usually, Vandy requests additional tickets.
With many of the teams absorbing lacklustre campaigns, about the only real interest just happens to be in Kentucky and around the Crimson Tide campus.
Kentucky football coach Jerry Claiborne got his biggest recruit of all on national letter-of-intent signing dayAll-American Al Baker last Wednesday, but the Wildcat staff obviously felt some major disappointments on the way to an average recruiting season.
[Continued On Page TJ fFe/traart/ 22. (9<9f
Intensity Was The Telling Factor
Cats Chase Dogs Out Of Rupp, Win 88-62
Cats whip Dogs?
This case wasn't where man bites dog. . .no, not at all as Kentucky was a 19-plus favorite to whip Bob Boyd's Mississippi State Bulldogs. Eddie Sutton, though, was glad to see his Wildcats run their underdog opponents out of Rupp Arena by the count of 88-62 last Saturday night.
"I believe the ballclub has matured and they understand they're in a position now to where WE'RE going to go out hunting people," said the Kentucky mentor after his team's 22nd victory. "I told them I'm getting tired of being hunted: let's go out and hunt some folks. I thought they did that tonight. I hope they can do that next Wednesday evening when we play the (Florida) Gators."
Kentucky's 72.2 shooting percentage from the field  39 of 54  was the best ever by a Wildcat team in Rupp Arena.
Winston Bennett led the winners with a deadly 10 of 12 effort from the floor, scoring a game-high 21 tallies. Kenny Walker, who's currently UK's No. 3 all-time leading scorer, was next with 20 points.
Kentucky broke a close struggle (11-9) with a 20-8 run. Following two free throws from Robert Lock, the Wildcats were in complete command with a 31-17 lead at the 6:51 mark.
Troubled by fouls with starters Raymond Brown and Anthony Blakely with four fouls apiece before halftime, MSU could not stay close. The Wildcats opened the advantage to 19 (51-31) early in the second half. A three-point play from Chauncey Robinson pulled the Bulldogs within 13 (53-40). However, with help from three Bennett jumpers Kentucky was back on top by 19, (61-42) with 12:18 left to play.
UK's starting guards  Roger Harden, Ed Davender and James Blackmon  connected on a combined 14 of 22 from the field, netting 30 of the Wildcats' 88 points.
Sutton also got a encouraging performance from Lock. The sophomore center hit on a perfect 3 of 3 from the field. 3 of 4 from the charity strip, to total nine points in 10 minutes of work.
"I had been practicing well for the last week and a half," said Lock. "I was hoping that I was going to get in because I felt real comfortable. I think that now I've gotten past the stage of being nervous in front of the Rupp Arena crowd.
"That's a plus, I'll tell you."
Many Things Point To Sharp Cats
Being an overwhelming favorite, Kentucky could have easily taken its guests for granted. But it wasn't to be on this night where UK's back court trio dished out six or more assists.
"Kentucky's attitude towards the game was very good." said Bob Boyd after he saw his team fall to a 4-19 record. 1-13 in the SEC. "It could have been less than that because of their recent win at Alabama.
"They seem to me to have a (certain) degree of intensity that good teams need to have. I point that out because you can never take that for granted. Kentucky should be commended for their approach to this game, which I thought was very solid."
With only four league games remaining, Kentucky, due to Alabama's 71-69 loss at Auburn, can clinch a tie Wednesday night for the SEC title. Norm Sloan and the Florida Gators will have something different in mind, however.
Out Of My Way
Jenkins Eying Two
The Wildcats now stand 13-1 in the SEC, 22-3 overall. Alabama is second in the conference with a 10-4 mark (17-6 overall).
Asked if he feared a letdown coming into the MSU contest, Sutton responded, "This ballclub has matured a lot. I would have feared that very much maybe three weeks ago."
Leading 43-27 at the midway point, the Wildcats improved on their first half shooting percentage (68.0 percent) with a 22 of 29 (75.9 percent) heated performance in the second stanza.
While Boyd pointed out that UK's marksmanship from the field was the key statistic, other categories also led to a Wildcat win.
Harden's 10 assists was the game's high. Overall, UK finished with 32 assists on the night. Blackmon and Davender also dished out six each, respectively.
MSU's 20 turnovers didn't help matters either for the team which currently resides in the cellar of the SEC standings. On the Kentucky side of the miscue ledger, the Wildcats committed only eight. UK's man-to-man defense turned in another stellar performance, coming up with nine steals.
The big factor which enabled a 26-point blowout, however, was intensity. Time and time after an emotional win teams tend to falter the next time out. As Sutton mentioned, though, his team has matured a great deal in the last three weeks.
On this Saturday night the maturity showed.
Undermanned Bulldogs Couldn't Stay Close
Kentucky's front line of Bennett and Walker were to much for MSU's 2-3 zone. And while the two starters were netting for a combined 41-point total, Lock also contributed underneath as well.
J tt'/traarf/ 22, (pc?f
6ate' &cuM&
Walker Above Clouded Paint
Bennett got most of his points on turnaround jumpers as Walker was also hitting on short turnarounds, mixed in with three dunks.
Robinson led the Bulldogs in the first half with 12 points. But with Blakely and Brown picking up their fourth fouls at the 8:08 and 2:40 marks the 'Dogs were helpless. UK would have an easier time underneath with two of MSU's big men in early foul trouble.
Harden, who has found a home at the top of the key, took only seven shots but connecting on six. His 5 of 6 shooting in the first half kept the Bulldogs off the trail.
The senior guard's 16-footer gave his team its biggest lead at the time. 29-17 at the 7:29 mark. Robinson scored five of MSU's next 10 points, but the Bulldogs found themselves down by 16 at intermission.
Robinson finished with a team-high 15 points followed by Mark Peters with 12 points. Peters, a 6-foot-4 guard, led the Bulldogs in rebounds with five.
MSU improved on its 42.9 first-half shooting with a 57.7 clip 05 of 15). However. 12 points was the closest Boyd's team could get,(43-31) when Peters took a pass from Tracy Taylor and hit from 18 feet.
Kentucky quickly negated the 4-0 run with a 16-9 run of its own. The spurt started when Davender canned an 18-foot jumper to put UK ahead 45-31 with 18:32 remaining. Following a free throw by Hubert Henderson, the Wildcats scored on a Bennett tip in and a Walker dunk.
With 4:55 left. Walker showed the crowd his outside touch by drilling a 12-foot jumper.
idric  
Kentucky now led 78-52 as it was time for the reserves to get some playing time
The second-stringers kept the pace as they initiated and completed a 10-2 spurt. Cedric Jenkins, who took a pass from speedster Leroy Byrd, jammed one home giving the Wildcats their biggest margin of the night, 32 points (86-54).
Bulldog - Wildcat Tidbits
The late Adolph Rupp was honored at halftime as the recipient of the 1986 Naismith Outstanding Contribution to Basketball Award John Stcen of the Naismith Awards Program presented the award to Kentucky's athletics director Cliff Hagan and the members of the Rupp family. . .UK announcer Cawood Ledford was not at courtside for the second straight game. Ledford's father-in-law died earlier this week, following the death of his mother Monday night. Ralph Hacker did the play-by-play while Russ Small provided the commentary for the UK Network. Ledford is expected to back for the Florida-UK matchup Wednesday night. . The victory over the Bulldogs gives Kentucky a 61-25 series lead, which started back in 1925. . The Wildcats were led in rebounding by Kenny Walker and Winston Bennett with seven and six. respectively. . .UK's win marks the schools best start (22-3) since the 1977-78 NCAA Champions raced off to a 23-2 slate. That season UK earned its 23rd win of the campaign with a thrilling 58-56 win over Mississippi State at Rupp Arena. . The best regular-season shooting percentage from the field prior to the MSU-UK game was held by West Virginia, which shot 68 percent (34 of 50) in a win over Bowling Green during the 1977 UKIT Villanova still holds the record with a 78.6 clip (22 of 28) in the NCAA championship last season against Georgetown. . Roger Harden's 10 assists place him within only 13 of Dirk Minniefield's single-season record of 188. . .With Bennett scoring 21 points the junior forward has now hit double figures in 19 of Kentucky's 25 games this season. . The University has recently released a beautiful poster of Walker, which will be mailed to All-America voters next week. Fans can order by sending a check to: UK Sports Publications, Memorial Coliseum. Lexington, KY 40506. The poster sells for $4.
rob lock
(About being ready to play against Mississippi State)
Lock: I had been practicing well for the last week and a half. I was hoping that I was going to get in because I felt real comfortable. I think that now I've gotten past the stage of being nervous in front of the Rupp Arena crowd. That's a plus, I'll tell you.
just thankful that I got the shots and to have people like Roger (Harden). Ed (Davender) and James (Blackmon) to pass the ball to me when
I post up.
roger harden
(About being ready for the Bulldogs after beating Alabama)
Harden: I really wasn't surprised the way we played (against MSU). Before the game we talk-
(About contributing late in the season)
Lock: I think that anytime you can contribute to a team it's always a plus. I'm just happy that I was fortunate to get in tonight and do what I could.
(About knowing that the team will have the day off tomorrow)
Lock: Awesome.
(About having a good game)
Lock: I knew that I was ready to start playing well; I'd been playing well in practice. I was just waiting for the opportunity, because once I got in the game with more than two minutes left in the end I would feel comfortable. I was
ed about complacency. I though Coach (Eddie) Sutton and the staff did a great job of elevating a dull night for us  not to come out and play sharp. They were talking about after a big win like how some teams can have a letdown. What we wanted to focus on was our effort and our enthusiasm tonight.
(About his shooting)
Harden: I think I've shot the ball well all season. I've been taking the shots that the offense has been giving. I've been shooting at about the same percentage that I have all year. I'm awfully pleased with the way I've been forming, offensively. Assistants See Both Sides Of Recruiting
Eisaman, Hallum Reflect On Signings
Five to six inches of snow covered the Bermuda turf at Commonwealth Stadium last Friday morning. Even though it was the day after Eddie Sutton's hoopsters defeated Alabama to retain their grasp on the SEC lead, the talk around Cooper Drive was not about basketball. For some this cold, weekend beginning day marked the end to a week of speculation of a different sport  football.
You see, the 1986 NCAA national signing day was less than 48 hours old. And with it brought smiles of landing talented recruits like an Al Baker, mixed in with "we almost got this All-American prep star' expressions.
Although the trail never ends for new prospects, the Kentucky football staff added 14 recruits last week to their current roster. Last Wednesday was the first day high school seniors could sign with the school of their choice.
Nick Nicholas
Cats' Pause Columnist
While the out-of-state numbers were good (eight). UK retrieved only six in-state players this season.
"As far as our in-state recruiting is concerned I think it was a lean year in the state." said Wildcat assistant Jerry Eisaman last Friday. "We had a few outstanding football players, six to eight. The last three years we've had between 12 and 16.
"Every year we've been getting approximately 12 in-state football players and we'd approximately get eight out-of-state football players. This year we get six in-state and 12 out-of-state players. It's not anything against the out-of-state recruiting, even thought Proposition 48 hurt us, we just had a lean year in the state. That was the difference, it's that simple.
"We th