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ST. LOUIS (AP) -- A career-high 41 points didn't satisfy Tayshaun Prince, who broke out of his shooting slump with authority.
While perusing the statistic sheet following Kentucky's 87-82
victory over Tulsa in the second round of the East Regional on
Saturday, Prince noted that he didn't have a turnover in 37 minutes
but only had nine rebounds.
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It has been a soap opera year for the Kentucky Wildcats -- the suspensions, players moaning about playing time, players talking about transferring. But the bottom line shone through on Saturday -- the Wildcats respond at Tournament time. They have a Tourney-tested coach in Tubby Smith, who faced Tulsa -- the school that first gave him his first opportunity as a head coach -- in the second round.
Tulsa head coach John Phillips can be proud of the Golden Hurricane -- they had a great year and are a quality team, but they couldn't contain Tayshaun Prince, who had a career-high 41. Keith Bogans -- who had 21 points in the Wildcats' first round victory over Valpo added 19 against Tulsa.
Prince and Bogans looked as good as they have all year -- which only can mean good things for the Wildcat faithful. Ashley Judd will be doing her dance, and they'll be smiling in Lexington tonight as the 'Cats march on to the Sweet 16.
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"I should have had one more rebound," he said. "Should have
had the double-double."
Kentucky's lone senior starter went 14-for-21 from the field,
including 6-for-8 from 3-point range.
"It got to the point where I was just shaking my head," Tulsa
guard Greg Harrington said. "We tried to find a way to stop him,
but nothing worked."
Kentucky never stopped giving Prince the ball.
"Even the bench was yelling, 'Get the ball to Tayshaun!"'
coach Tubby Smith said. "It was spectacular."
The rail-thin Prince, who's 6-foot-9 and 215 pounds, never ran
out of gas until after the game, when he showed up at the news
conference with an oatmeal cookie.
"I was really hungry," Prince said. "I needed to get a bite
of something."
The NCAA Tournament is bringing out the best in a team that lost
four of nine games coming in, with Kentucky (22-9) also impressive
in beating Valparaiso 73-58 in the first round.
"We talked about wiping the slate clean, forgetting the past,"
Smith said. "That's what we've done."
Kentucky fought off several runs by Tulsa (27-7), and four free
throws by Prince in the final 25 seconds were crucial. Both teams
were on target on 3-pointers: Kentucky went 10-for-19 from long
range to compensate for shooting 44 percent overall, and Tulsa was
9-for-20.
The Wildcats led 81-72 with 4:49 to go, but the Golden Hurricane
cut the gap to two on a 3-pointer by Harrington with 57 seconds
left. The lead was three after Antonio Reed's layup 47 seconds
later, but Prince clinched it with a pair of free throws with 8.5
seconds remaining.
"If we would have gotten a lead, momentum would have
switched," Tulsa center Charlie Davis said. "Every time we hit a
big shot, they answered."
Mostly, Prince answered.
"It was a good thing I was taking care of the basketball and
knocking shots down, because it was just a three-point game with 10
seconds left," Prince said. "It was just a good, good win."
|  | | Tayshaun Prince had a career game, scoring 41 points and grabbing nine boards -- all without a single turnover. |
Kentucky is 11-2 in second-round games since the tournament
expanded to 64 teams in 1985, and made it to the round of 16 for
the second straight year. The victory over 12th-seeded Tulsa might
have bittersweet for Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, facing the school
that gave him his first Division I job in 1995.
The Wildcats will next play the winner of the Maryland-Wisconsin
game.
Prince, Kentucky's leading scorer with a 16-point average,
topped his previous career best of 31 points.
He made seven of his first eight shots and added nine rebounds,
three blocked shots and four assists. He was 12-for-15 at one point
in the second half before missing four of his last six shots.
"He hit a 3 that was ridiculously long," Tulsa coach John
Phillips said. "If you make one from 25 feet, it's your night."
Prince broke out after shooting only 35 percent over the
previous seven games. That included a 5-for-14 outing against
Valparaiso, although his defense on Mid-Continent Conference player
of the year Lubos Barton was instrumental to Kentucky's victory.
He said the key was scoring off the drive in the early going
before taking the outside shot.
"I got some to fall," Prince said. "Guys knew I had it going
on, so they tried to get it to me as much as possible."
Kentucky threatened to make it a rout early against Tulsa,
hitting seven of its first eight shots and going 7-for-11 from
3-point range in the first half. But the Wildcats needed a long 3
from Prince at the buzzer for a 43-42 lead after an 11-0 Tulsa run.
"That was a big, big basket," Prince said. "I thought it was
a big, big shot and boost of confidence."
Kentucky's Keith Bogans added 19 points, following up a 21-point
outing in the first round. Bogans took only 10 shots, deferring to
Prince.
"He was knocking everything down, so get him the ball," Bogans
said. "When a guy is that hot, you have no choice but to get him
the ball."
Reed and Kevin Johnson each had 18 points for Tulsa. Johnson was
8-for-12 and had eight rebounds, and Harrington had 14 points and
six assists. | 
