Utah Is Newest Kentucky Plaything

The Kentucky Wildcats turned another game into a statement, made another quality opponent look like a Boys’ Club team, used 12 players in a first-half show of extravagance and knocked the wind out of Utah and maybe this Midwest Regional.

The final score Thursday night was Kentucky 101, Utah 70, before a crowd of 30,331 at the Metrodome, but you got the feeling it could have been any score the Wildcats desired.

“I’m not even going to look at it on film,” Utah Coach Rick Majerus said afterward. “Sometime this summer, when I’m feeling good, I’ll pull it out.”

Kentucky (31-2) has won three NCAA tournament games by margins of 38, 24, and 31 points and faces Wake Forest, a 60-59 winner over Louisville, in Saturday’s regional final.

Utah (27-7) knew it was going to be a long night when Kentucky point guard Anthony Epps, who averages 6.5 points per game, made three three-point shots in the first three minutes of the game.

What, was this a joke?

Walter McCarty, the Wildcat’s second-leading scorer, picked up his second foul with 16:56 remaining and sat out the rest of the half. Starting center Mark Pope picked up his second with 7:58 left.

Kentucky missed them like you miss a hangnail.

The Wildcats were leading, 11-5, when McCarty left and 56-34 when he returned to start the second half.

You clock Kentucky like race cars at Indianapolis . . . by the lap.

The Wildcats led by 10 points, 21-11, on Allen Edwards’ layup with 14:15 left in the half. They accelerated the lead to 20, 44-24, with 6:24 left on Derek Anderson’s two free throws.

In this stretch, freshman forward Oliver Simmons, who averages 4.7 minutes per game, came off the bench and made a three-point shot to make the score 36-17.

After a halftime break to discuss their mistakes--there was a disconcerting lane violation on a Utah free-throw attempt with 2:33 left--the Wildcats opened the second half with an 8-0 run on a basket by McCarty and two three-point baskets by the “slumping” Tony Delk, then spent the rest of the half trying to avoid injury.

After Antoine Walker’s basket put Kentucky up by 30, 66-36, with 17:55 left, Coach Rick Pitino relaxed enough to stomp the floor every other time down the court.

In the end, no Wildcat played more than 25 minutes, none scored more than 19 points. Ten Kentucky players played 13 minutes or more. Utah had two players--Keith Van Horn with 23, Ben Caton with 22--who scored more than Kentucky’s leader, Antoine Walker, who finished with 19.

But with Kentucky, it’s never one or two players.

“I substituted early because I just thought we could wear them out,” Pitino said. “We thought we could wear Van Horn out, because he was sick.”

San Jose State trailed Kentucky by six at the half, Virginia Tech by eight. Utah was down by 22.

Watching the Utes suffer was sad, but predictable. They put on brave faces and went head-first into the gantlet. Their early game strategy of trying to beat Kentucky back down the court after Wildcat baskets was ineffective.

The Utes ultimately withered under the up-tempo pressure.

Majerus thought he had to try to break Kentucky’s feared full-court press. He said it was the wrong decision.

“If I had to do it all over, I’d slow the game down totally,” Majerus said. “I probably made a major error in judgment, and put my team in peril, by trying to attack the press.”

Pitino lauded Majerus’ straight-forward approach. Sure, the Wildcats surrender a few easy baskets. But that’s all part of the trap.

“If you’re going to deny, you have to give up some layups,” Pitino said. “That’s part of the press.”

Majerus said he erred in telling his players not to guard Epps on the perimeter. So, of course, Epps scores 14 points, making three of six three-point attempts.

“There were too many holes in the dike to fill tonight,” Majerus said.

Or any night, for that matter. Majerus waited for his players to leave the postgame interview area before saying, “We were intimidated, I think.”

Majerus couldn’t bear to have his players near when he added: “If we played them 90 more times, we’d probably lose 89. They’re very athletic, and very focused.”

And very rested.