GAME REPORT: ARIZONA 84, KENTUCKY (OT) 79 : Mohammed Slims Down

Stuck in a half-court offense, Kentucky got huge production out of a huge player--6-foot-10, 240-pound sophomore backup center Nazr Mohammed.

Mohammed rebounded and scored a team-leading eight points in the first half, and finished the game with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

“I’m really proud of Nazr Mohammed,” Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino said. “If you could have only seen him a year and a half ago. [When] I went to watch him play in high school, I could never watch him cross half-court to evaluate him.

“I saw a gentleman of 315 pounds turn into such a marvelous player as a sophomore. And he’ll get better and better.”

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Apparently to avoid the publicity surrounding his rocky relationship with his son, Mike, the star point guard for Arizona, USC Coach Henry Bibby left Indianapolis this weekend and did not watch Mike play in the national title game Monday night.

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Arizona was already a favorite to win next season’s national championship.

How will this team that played no seniors handle the chance to go back-to-back?

“I was going to try to win one for him while I was here,” Bibby said of Coach Lute Olson, who made a point after the game to note how young this team was. “I’m just so happy we won my first year, and we’re going to try to repeat next year.”