Kentucky Dumps Iowa, Tourney Streak Hits 8

Kentucky, the team that coach Rick Pitino keeps insisting has no depth, showed plenty Saturday in a gritty 75-69 victory over Iowa in the second round of the NCAA West Regional.

The defending champion Wildcats (32-4) won their eighth consecutive tournament game to advance to a regional semifinal matchup against St. Joseph’s, but the victory wasn’t secure until the final seconds.

Andre Woolridge, who scored 29 points in his final game for the Hawkeyes, sank a 3-pointer with 49.2 seconds to play to cut Kentucky’s lead to 72-69.

But sophomore Scott Padgett, who had a crucial 3-pointer with that put Kentucky up by six with 3 1/2 minutes to play, scored on a short jumper with 28 seconds left to give the Wildcats a 74-69 lead that Iowa couldn’t overcome.

With All-American Ron Mercer in foul trouble and Anthony Epps misfiring, Padgett, Wayne Turner and Nazr Mohammed, all sophomores, took over.

Turner scored all 13 of his points in the second half, including a critical basket that put the Wildcats up 72-66 with 1:32 left after Iowa had missed three chances to narrow the gap.

The 6-foot-10, 240-pound Mohammad scored eight of his 10 after halftime, six of them on rebounds. He had 10 rebounds, six on the offensive boards.

Jared Prickett, who sat out as a redshirt with an injured knee while Kentucky won the national championship last season, scored all 15 of his points in the first half on 7-for-8 shooting.

Ryan Bowen scored 14 and Guy Rucker 10 for the Hawkeyes (22-10).

In a game that featured two teams that rely on an intense, full-court press, Kentucky had the best of it.

Iowa, which had three turnovers in its first-round win over Virginia, had 20 against the Wildcats. Kentucky had 12.