xt7j6q1sfv9b https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7j6q1sfv9b/data/mets.xml Wildcat News Company 1989 Volume 13 -- Number 28 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 (1988-1989) coaches Sutton, Eddie players Mills, Chris Sanders, Curtis NCAA investigation (1988) SEC Men's Basketball Tournament (1989) statistics schedules Cats' Pause Combs, Oscar The Cats' Pause, March 18, 1989 text The Cats' Pause, March 18, 1989 1989 2012 true xt7j6q1sfv9b section xt7j6q1sfv9b $1.25 PER ISSUE
Margaret !. King Library - North University of Kentucky Lexlrtfton, Kentucky 405
25590
The Cats' Pause
SPOTLIGHTING UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY AND SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE'
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VOLUME 13 - NUMBER 28
SATURDAY, MARCH 18,1989
LEXIN
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7 o o
I Chris Mills and I Eddie Sutton: I Will they stay I or will they go?
j Vaught, page 13
Tourney time: Get ready for office pool with Sweet Sixteen, NCAA pairings
pages 2, 24-25 77l& (jat&' &cum&
Rice to join TCP as managing editor
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TCP staff report
Russell Rice, the sports information director at the University of Kentucky for almost two decades, will join The Cats' Pause as managing editor on June 1 according to editor/publisher Oscar Combs.
Rice, currently an assistant to the athletics director at UK, retires from UK on May 20.
In addition to the appointment of Rice, two other promotions with the publication and Wildcat News Company were announced today.
Mike Estep, who is associate editor of the TCP, will continue in that capacity and has also been named managing editor of a sister publication, Oscar Combs' Big Blue Basketball monthly.
Associate editor Nick Nicholas has also been promoted to managing editor of the 7CP Kentucky Basketball Yearbook, the No. 1 selling basketball annual in the state of Kentucky. He will also continue as associate editor of TCP.
"I'm extremely pleased Mr. Rice has decided to join our company," said Combs. "He will bring to us an invaluable source of information and background no other journalist can offer in the state. His knowledge and wealth of information on UK sports goes back to the days of Bear Bryant."
Rice's primary duties will be writing and being in charge of the overall production of 77it? Cats' Pause newspaper.
Estep will be in complete charge of the monthly four-color publication, which has shown a tremendous growth in just two years of publishing.
Nicholas will be in charge of the annual yearbook, which has been acclaimed for its tremendous volume of basketball tacts and information on UK, the state college scene and Kentucky high schools.
"The promotions and the addition of Rice will enable us to greatly expand our editorial content in covering Kentucky sports," said
Combs. "Although Estep and Nicholas have been named managing editors of the other two publications, they will continue their same roles with TCP.
"Adding Rice to the TCP staff will enable both Estep and Nicholas to spend more time on the two newer publications, yet still continue in their present roles with TCP.
"What we now have is the finest organization of writers and management people on the college scene.
"I cannot say enough good things about Estep and Nicholas. They're the big reason we're enjoying the success we have today. They have gone beyond the call of duty in carrying the TCP load. Now with the addition
of Rice, our readers can expect even more," the 7CP publisher added.
Combs said the company will be offering some exciting and special packages to readers in the near future where they can purchase mail subscriptions to all three publications at the same time with a substantial savings in cost.
"What with all the NCAA controversy and uncertainity around the Kentucky basketball program, these have been trying times to say the least," said Combs, "but the program will come back and we want our readers to know we're excited about the future, the arrival of new athletics director CM. Newton and the 1989-90 season."
Russell Rice
A native of jf^ Paintsville, Rice
was a three-sport letterman at Van Lear High. After serving with the Marines in the South Pacific during World War II, he played baseball one year at Ken-
tucky Weslyan College before transferring to UK, where he earned his B.A. in journalism in 1951. He also attended Columbia University briefly in 1967.
He was news editor of The Mountain Eagle at Whitesburg (1951-52) and The Hazard Herald (1952-53) before joining The Lexington Leader as police reporter. The last five years of his 13-year tenure at The Leader were spent as sports editor.
Rice was named assistant sports information director at UK in May, 1967, and took over the head position two years later, serving in that capacity until being named special assistant to the athletics director two years ago. He has written four books on UK sportsTHE WILDCATS, A Story of Kentucky Football; Kentucky Basketball's Big Blue Machine; Joe B. Hall, My Own Kentucky Home,
(see RUSSELL RICE, page 8)
Mike Estep
Estep, 25, a Harlan native, moved to Richmond and attended Madison Central High for one year before moving to Florida and graduating from Crystal River High in 1981, where he was a
three-year letterman in basketball and baseball. After enrolling at the University of Central Florida in 1982, majoring in computer science, Estep transferred to Central Florida Community College to major in journalism, where he won Florida State Jr. College Awards in 1983 for Best Sports Column and 2nd Best Sports Reporting and also wrote for The Tampa Tribune. He eventually transferred (again) to UK 1985 before
joining the TCP staff as an intern in the summer of 1986 and full-time in August of that year.
In his spare time, Estep enjoys deer hunting, fishing for smallmouth and doing a fair Hugh Durham impersonation. He says he hasn't written any books yet...although he vaguely remembers reading one in 1983. Estep, who is single, also graces the airwaves from time to time on various radio call-in shows.
Nick Nicholas
Nicholas, 28, a native of Owensboro, has covered the Wildcats five seasons for TCP
He graduated from Owensboro Senior in 1978 and has from UK a BS in education (1983) and a BA
in journalism (1984). Was a staff writer for the Kentucky Kernel, the school's student publication, in 1984. After getting his second degree from UK, Nicholas worked in the sports department of the Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer, where he covered high school sports for four months. While working under then-sports editor Danny McKenzie, Nicholas was hired as a senior writer for TCP in the fall of 1984.
In his spare time, he can usually be found on a golf course. A onetime State Amateur qualifer, he enjoys the game he learned from his dad, who's played in the British Amateur and is a former Owensboro City champ, and his brother, Madison, golfing pro at Ben Hawes State Park.
He's the son of Dr. and Mrs. N.N. Nicholas of Owensboro, has one brother, and one sister, Suzanne, a free-lance photographer in New York.
7989 boys' state tournament pairings
March 15-18 at Rupp Arena
FIRST ROUND March 15-16
Prestonsburg_
QUARTERFINALS March 17
SEMIFINALS March 18
FINALS March 18
Game 1: Wed., 1 p.m
Madisonville-N, Hopkins
Marshall County
Game 9: Frl., 1 p.m.
Game 2: Wed., 2:30 p.m.
Clay County_
Clark County
Game 13: Sat., 9 a.m.
Game 3: Wed., 7:30 p.m.
Rowan County_
Jeffersontown
Game 10: Frl., 2:30 p.m.
Game 4: Wed., 9 p.m.
Pleasure Ridge Park
Bryan Station
Game 15: Sat. 7:30 p.m.
Game 5: Thur., 1 p.m.
Central City_
Oldham County
Game 11: Frl., 7:30 p.m.
Game 6: Thur., 2:30 p.m.
Warren East
Wayne County
Game 14: Sat. 11:30 a.n
Game 7: Thur., 7:30 p.m.
Covington Scott_
Buckhorn
Game 12: Fri., 9 p.m.
Game 8: Thur., 9 p.m.
Hart County_
Kentucky state champion
Cats' Pause chart OSCAR L. COMBS
CATS' PAUSE EDITOR/PUBLISHER
'Cats right for the fight all the way to the end
?One of Kentucky basketball's darkest hours has passed. The basketballs have been put away for another year, the kids who wear the sneakers are off for a much-deserved spring break.
Perhaps no other time in their life, have the UK players so welcomed a break away from the sport. It came in Knoxville last Friday when the 'Cats flirted with a monumental upset early in the game, only to lose for the ninth time in their last 11 games.
It brought to an end a season which witnessed only 13 victories, an ominous number in itself. It saddled UK with its worst record (in number of defeats) in the history of the school as the team compiled a 13-19 mark.
This isn't to say the Wildcats were looking for a way to lose. They fought to the end. It's difficult to say what frame of mind the players were in. One could argue they were all ready for a week away from the limelight. Who could blame them? College youngsters may only be 18 to 20 years of age, but they're not stupid. They're smart enough to say the "right" thing at the "right" time.
Nevertheless, it was a season we'd all just as soon forget, but one which we must never forget because of the lessons taught this very proud and once respected program. The end of this nasty saga is here.
It's clean-up time, time to take action and move forward for the future. Time for the NCAA to render its verdict on the Kentucky program. Time for UK officials to tell us what they couldn't during the season. Time for supporting or rejecting those people who run the athletics department and basketball program at the university.
Time to tell us once and for all how this program will be put back together.
It won't be long before Vanderbilt coach CM. Newton will be here to start the rebuilding process. His schedule calls for him to arrive in Lexington on April 1, unless his Vanderbilt team is still alive in the NCAA Final Four.
Before that date arrives, UK president David Roselle will have made some crucial decisions concerning UK basketball, like deciding the fate of UK coach Eddie Sutton and his staff. Rumors were swirling about in Knoxville during the SEC Tournament last week that Sutton's fate would be known within 72 hours of Kentucky's final loss.
Less than a week earlier, Dr. Roselle spoke before the Corbin Rotary Club and, during his address, he spoke to what Ken-tuckians can expect during the upcoming weeks.
He strongly defended the way in which he and the school have handled the investigation of the basketball program, saying the outside invesigator left no stone unturned in arriving at the truth. Dr. Roselle said people who are concerned that UK isn't supporting its basketball program are uninformed. He said if people think UK will hide facts and turn its
head from the truth, then neither he nor UK is defending the program.
In other words, he wants the truth. At the same time, he has reassured fans that he is dedicated to rebuilding the program to the status it once enjoyed.
The UK president said he harbored no desire in running the athletics program when he came here and all the problems facing the program have done nothing to cause him to change his mind.
He reassured the audience that once Newton arrives on the UK campus, Newton most assuredly will be in complete charge of the UK athletics program. But, warned Dr. Roselle, don't take his lack of desire to run the athletics program as a sign he doesn't want a winning program.
Said Dr. Roselle: "When this program is rebuilt and winning again, no one will be happier than me."
? ? ?
""THE SWEET SIXTEEN is upon us as Rupp Arena becomes the center of attention this week from border to border.
Sixteen of the Commonwealth's top teams, a champion representing each of 16 geographic regions, will battle it out for the right to become the state's best high school basketball club.
And the event appears ready to top all of its illustrious past great events. The Kentucky High School Athletics Association's boys state tournament is generally regarded as the premier event of its kind in the nation.
Record after record belongs to the Kentucky event and KHSAA commissioner Tom Mills says another record could be just around the comer if advance ticket sales are any indication.
Mills says the tourney has enjoyed the greatest advance ticket sale in history.
There are all kinds of attractions for the tourney, not to mention the much-acclaimed Sweet Sixteen Academic Showcase which was launched by Lexington mayor Scotty Baesler several years ago.
The major headlines, though, belong to the likes of prep stars such as Madison-ville's Travis Ford, Bryan Station's Michael Allen, Louisville PRP's Andy Penick, Central City's Greg Franklin, Jef-fersontown's Travis Ziegler, Marshall County's Dan Hall, Clay County's Russ Farmer and Eugene Rawlings and Bryan Station's Robert "Nimbo" Hammons to name a few of the well-known stars.
The list of participating coaches is like a Who's Who roster. You start with Clay County's Bobby Keith, who is retiring after the current season and has his Tigers undefeated at 33-0 and hoping to pull off the ultimate dream.
You have top-notch tutors like the legendary Guy Strong at Clark County. Here's a coach who's worked at almost every level, yet finds his greatest thrill on the Kentucky prep scene.
Take Rodney Woods, the young Wayne
County coach who once pounded the hardwoods for the University of Tennessee Vols. Now, Woods has Wayne County headed to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time in modern history. No doubt, it will be a trip to remember.
You have Bryan Station's Bobby Washington (who once played pro ball after a brilliant Eastern Kentucky University playing career), finally earning his first trip as a coach. And the state will finally get a chance to watch the state's most underrated candidate for Mr. Basketball in Allen, who blistered Madison Central for 45 points in the championship game of the 11th Region.
Allen, who is ticketed to the University of Georgia, has blossomed into one of the state finest players. The point-guard deluxe has been phenomenal all season and leads the state in scoring. Although the Bulldogs have a great point guard in Litterial Green, the only thing which could keep Allen from seeing lots of action next season would be academics. Allen, reportedly, is yet to meet all his academic requirements under Proposition 48.
About the only thing missing from this drama will be the possibility of a third straight championship matchup between perennial powers Louisville Ballard and Clay County. Such a matchup was nixed when the two regions drew into the same bracket. And any kind of state tournament rematch was quashed last week when Ballard was upset by J-town in the Seventh Region tourney. After Ballard and its star Allan Houston captured the state title by turning back Clay County in a rematch of the 1987 title game, most everyone labeled Ballard as the odds-on favorite for the 1989 title. More often than not, that's the kiss of death.
It's about as difficult to defend your way to the title game as it was for a World Series champion to repeat.
That's what makes the Clay County story so intriguing. Here's a team which is undefeated in 33 games, it has its coach retiring at the season's end and the club is trying to make the state tournament championship game for a third straight season and the fourth time in six years. Unheard of!
The odds of Clay County making a repeat performance are astronomical. Borders on the line of impossibility. Such dreams are what the Sweet Sixteen is all about. Clay County probably won't make it, but the dreams live.
Just like those of tiny Central City of the Third Region. There have been better Central City teams which haven't made it to the big show. And there's pretty good reason. Owensboro, the king of kings in state hoops, has been the representative in 16 of the last 19 seasons. The region is also home to Owensbcro Apollo, which produced Rex Chapman.
There was a time when Central City was a major factor, but that was before school consolidation and the tiny western Kentucky schools became dwarfed. Until
this season, a season which would become the Muhlenberg County's second to last shot at the "Greatest Show On Earth." In the fall of 1990, the school will fall victim to consolidation.
So after a 23-year absence, Central City is back to the big show, and you can bet the Golden Tide will become one of the crowd favorites. Playing Lexington Bryan Station won't hurt the Tide's underdog role as state tournament crowds have a history of rooting against teams representing the state's largest citiesLouisville and Lexington.
? ? ?
?OTHER INTERESTING TIDBITS ... Little Buckhorn made its first trip ever to the state tournament last year and liked it so well that the Wildcats are making a second straight appearance. Th Wildcats were only 1543 when district play began and not among the favorites, but quietly worked their way through the 14th Region ... Speaking of the 14th Region, controversial Hazard coach Roy McKamey has called it quits after six years at the school. The fact that little Buckhorn made it big-time two years in a row probably didn't help his situation any and there had been reports of player dissention in recent years ... One of Jef-fersontown's top stars is senior Travis Ziegler who nailed Louisville Moore for 27 points in the championship game of the Seventh Region. Ziegler's layup with just two seconds remaining defeated Moore 71-70. In case you recognize the name, Travis is the younger brother of former UK and Western Kentucky University forward Todd Ziegler ... Without question, the upper bracket of the state tournament is loaded with most of the great teams and the survivor should be a heavy favorite. Handicapping the two Louisville representatives is the fact they square off in the first round and the winner will probably be expected to take on either Madisonville or Clay County in the semifinals. The latter two clubs will be first-round favorites with Madisonville expected to handle Prestonsburg and Clay County a slight favorite over Marshall County. This game, however, could spring an upset ... In the bottom bracket, the winner of the first-round game between Bryan Station and Central City could very well be playing on Saturday night ... The semifinals and championship games of the tourney will be televised over a statewide network including WKYT-TV, Channel 27 in Lexington and WYMT-TV, Channel 57 in Hazard.
? ? ?
?SEC TOURNEY NOTES ... Gossip, gossip galore during March Maddness and last week was not exception in Knoxville. Speculation there had the Vols' coach Don DeVoe in trouble unless Tennessee won the SEC Tournament. The (continued on page 26) March/$,
SEC TOURNAMENT
Game-by-game review
Tide outlasts weary Florida 72-60 for tourney title
Depth powers 'Bama to second SEC tourney title in three years
by TCP associate editor Mike Estep
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. In a tournament with very few surprises, regular-season champion Florida and runner-up Alabama, as expected, advanced to the championship game. And for the second time in eight daysthe Tide whipped the Gators 83-63 March 4 to close out the regular-seasondepth won out as Wimp Sanderson's club captured its second tourney championship in three years with a 72-60 victory.
?For more on UK's season-ending 77-63 loss to Vandy, please turn to pages 14-15.
What follows is a recap of the llth renewal of the SEC tournament, tagged this year as the Shootout in the Smokies:
GAME 1
Georgia 83, Mississippi State 68
Although they were separated by only one game in the final SEC standings, Mississippi State and Georgia entered the game as two teams going in opposite directions. Georgia, picked by the media as the league's preseason favorite (over coach Hugh Durham's objections), struggled to a 6-12 SEC record and dropped seven of its last eight games. Mississippi State didn't do much better, finishing 7-11 in conference play, but Richard Williams' team ended the season on a positive note, winning four of its last six games.
If you were looking for a first-round mismatch, this one figured to be it. And it was.. .only it was Durham's 'Dogs that came out on top.
Georgia took the early lead, jumping out by eight at 20-12 nine minutes into the game. But with UGA's Marshall Wilson and Alec Kessler on the bench with foul trouble, MSU was able to fight back and take a pair of one-point leads before Georgia's Rod Cole gave his team the lead for good at 36-35 with a buzzer-beater just before the half.
Kessler and Pat Hamilton, who finished with 16 points each, combined for all but two of Georgia's points in a 13-2 run that allowed Durham's 'Dogs to retake control of the game and lead 49-37 early in the final period.
"I got more into the game in the second half," Kessler said. "We knew if we lost, we were probably done playing."
State, with its top player Cameron Burns scoring only 11, could get no closer than eight the rest of the way, thanks to an eight-minute drought that produced just one bucket and Georgia freshman Litterial Green. Green scored 20 of his game-high 30 points in the second half, including 14 of his team's last 19.
GEORGIA (63)
Name fg-a 3pt-a ft-a reb pf tp
Rod Cole...............4-6 0-0 0-1 4 2 8
Marshall Wilson......0-1 0-0 0-0 0 4 0
Alec Kessler...........6-9 0-0 4-4 8 3 16
Litterial Green.......7-16 0-1 16-17 3 1 30
Pat Hamilton.........7-11 1-3 1-2 3 2 16
Jody Patton............2-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 4
Lem Howard..........0-0 0-0 0-0 1 1 0
Arlando Bennett.....1-2 0-0 1-2 2 0 3
Neville Austin.........3-5 0-0 0-2 8 2 6
Team 2
Totals..............30-53 1-422-28 31 15 83
7989 SEC tournament results
FIRST ROUND
SECOND ROUND THIRD ROUND
FINALS
Thur. March 9 Fri. March 10 Sat. March 11 Sun. March 12
No. 4 LSU 77
Game 3 Tennessee 71
No. 5 Tennessee 95
No. 1 Florida 62 Game 7 Florida 60

No. 8 Mississippi State 68 Game 5 Florida 76
Game 1 Georgia 61
No. 9 Georgia 83
Game 9 ALABAMA
SEC tournament champion
No. 3 Vanderbilt 77
Game 4 Vanderbilt 79
No. 6 Kentucky 63
No. 2 Alabama 64 Game 8 Alabama 72

No. 7 Ole Miss 80 Game 6 Alabama 83
Game 2 9:45 p.m. Ole Miss 56
No. 10 Auburn 68 Cats' Pause chart
MISSISSIPPI ST. (68)
Name fg-a 3pt-a ft-a reb pf tp
Greg Carter...........0-0 0-0 0-0 0 2 0
Cameron Burns.....3-5 0-0 5-8 6 4 11
Todd Merritt...........3-6 0-1 0-0 5 3 6
Greg Lockhart.......7-12 3-4 2-2 2 5 19
Tony Watts............6-12 3-7 0-0 2 5 15
Chris Hall...............1-3 1-3 0-0 0 0 3
Reginald Boykin.....2-7 0-1 4-4 4 1 8
Doug Hartsfield......1-6 0-3 0-0 1 2 2
Carl Nichols...........1-2 0-0 2-3 3 3 4
Chris Clark.............0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Team 2
Totals..............24-54 7-19 13-17 25 25 68
Georgia...............................................36 4783
Mississippi St......................................35 3368
FG%: Georgia, 56.6; Miss. St., 44.4. 3-pt. FG%: Georgia, 25.0; Miss. St., 36.8. FT%: Georgia, 78.6; Miss. St., 765. Assists: Georgia, 18; Miss. St., 12. Turnovers: Georgia, 14; Miss. St., 14. Technicals: none. Officials: John Clougherty, Don Rutledge, Mac Chauvin. Attendance: 12,221.
GAME 2
Ole Miss 80, Auburn 68
Auburn coach Sonny Smith was sick. Real sick. So sick he probably shouldn't have even been on the bench when his Tigers took on Ole Miss in Thursday night's nightcap.
"I felt very bad before the game and I don't feel too good right now," Smith, weakened by a stomach virus, said after the game. "This is about the sickest I've been."
Smith's team has been sick, too. With records of 9-18 overall and 2-16 in the SEC entering the game, the Tigers probably shouldn't have even been on the same floor with Ole Miss with just under 15 minutes left to play.
But, like their coach, Auburn's Tigers gritted their teeth and hung in there. And following a layup by Keenan Carpenter at the 14:47 mark, Auburn, which trailed just once in the first half, led 50^2.
At that point, though, the Tigers suffered a costly relapse. Ole Miss guard Tim Jumper got loose for a 14-footer, the first two of a
dozen unanswered points, with 14:26 to play. When Gerald Glass canned his only three-pointer of the night some 4'A minutes later, the Rebels, who hadn't been in front since it was 6-4, led for good.
Auburn center Matt Geiger ended the run with a 10-footer to bring the Tigers back to within two at 54-52, then got a layup to cut the lead to three at 57-54 minutes later, but Ole Miss streaked again. The Rebels went on a 6-0 run to extend the lead to 63-54 with 4:42 to go, then coasted the rest of the way.
AUBURN (68)
Name fg-a 3pt-a ft-a reb pf tp
Kirt Hankton..........4-6 0-0 0-0 6 4 8
Zane Arnold...........3-6 0-0 0-2 4 2 6
Matt Geiger..........8-16 0-0 2-4 14 5 18
Derrick Dennison..4-11 1-5 0-0 5 4 9
Keenan Carpenter.6-18 1-7 5-7 2 2 18
Clarence Wrencher.. 1-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 2
Bill Eaddy...............1-1 1-1 0-0 10 3
Robert McKie.........0-3 0-0 0-0 6 4 0
Chris Brandt..........2-3 0-0 0-2 4 2 4
Team 1
Totals..............29-65 3-13 7-15 44 23 68
OLE MISS (80)
Name fg-a 3pt-a ft-a reb pf tp
Gerald Glass......13-26 1-4 4-7 10 4 31
Greg Turner...........2-4 0-0 3-8 9 1 7
Sean Murphy.........3-8 1-3 1-2 7 4 8
John Matthews.......3-6 0-0 2-2 1 3 8
Tim Jumper...........2-7 0-0 0-0 1 2 4
David Midlick.........0-3 0-1 5-6 0 1 5
Hunter Atkins.........4-7 0-2 2-3 2 1 10
Bernard Sylve........2-3 0-0 3-4 1 1 7
Team 4
Totals..............29-64 2-10 20-32 35 17 80
Auburn...............................................40 2868
Ole Miss.............................................35 4580
FG%: Auburn, 44.6; Ole Miss, 453. 3-pt. FG%: Auburn, 2ai; Ole Miss, 20.0. FT%: Auburn, 46.7; Ole Miss, 62.5. Assists: Auburn, 16; Ole Miss, 12. Turnovers: Auburn, 21; Ole Miss, 10. Technicals: none. Officials: Don Shea, Wally Tanner, John Ferguson. Attendance: 12,221.
GAME 3
Tennessee 95, LSU 77
When Tennessee traveled to Baton Rouge
for a Feb. 11 encounter with the Bayou Bengals, the Vols did a pretty fair job of impersonating a lawfirm, if not a basketball team: The defense rested, literally. That day on court, Griffin, Swearengen, Nix & DeVoe scored 106, but gave up a ghastly total of 122.
"They taught us a lesson down there on how not to play defense," UT's Mark Griffin, who taught LSU how to shoot three-pointers by hitting five of six for the game, said.
"Everybody wanted to play LSU because of the way we played down at LSU," Dyron Nix added. "They embarrassed us. I think we wanted to pay them back."
They did. UT's defense held the Tigers to 77 points and forced them into 40.0 percent shooting from the field, 16.8 and 9.0 points below their averages respectively. And although superfrosh Chris Jackson lit up the scoreboard for 37 points, it took him an SEC tournament record 36 field goal attempts to do it.
"When you play hard," guard Clarence Swearengen said, "good things happen."
Good things started happening early for Tennessee. The Vols jumped in front 5-0 and led 21-10 at the 11:24 mark of the first half...all without star Nix, who now finds himself coming off the bench.
Nix, who wound up with 17 points in only 25 minutes, sat for the first 14 minutes of the game, then watched the first nine minutes of the second half. The Vols didn't need him on this day, however, as all five starters were in double figures, led by Griffin with 22. Swearengen and Ian Lockhart tossed in 13 each, Travis Henry had 12 and Doug Roth 11.
The Tigers, who trailed all the way, never could get it going. It appeared they might just before they halfLSU pulled to within five at 38-33 with 1:07 in the periodbut Griffin's three at the buzzer extended the Vol lead back (Continued on page 6) March ry