Wally’s World Finally Spins Out of Control

And then there’s Wildcats’ World.

The new-found fame and long-ago-established talents of Wally Szczerbiak collided with an entire galaxy on Friday night with predictable results, a 58-43 victory for the depth and composure of Kentucky in the Midwest Regional semifinals at the Trans World Dome over the one shining light of Miami of Ohio.

Defending national champion Kentucky plays in the regional final on Sunday against Michigan State, a team that regularly labors to victory, but a team nontheless. As opposed to overmatched Miami, which got a game-high 23 points from Szczerbiak and 20 from everyone else, after he had accounted for 53.6% of the scoring in the RedHawks’ first two tournament outings.

The other four Miami starters, in fact, managed seven points, with the final seven points coming from one reserve, Anthony Taylor. The Kentucky starters had 38.

“You’re not going to stop Wally Szczerbiak from scoring,” Wildcat Coach Tubby Smith said. “He’s too good a player. He’s too versatile. He’s too multidimensional. What you’ve got to do is make sure another player doesn’t beat you.”

Another player didn’t.

“Just an unbelievable defensive effort on our part,” Smith said.

Miami arrived here on the wave of victories over Washington and Utah in New Orleans and a sudden spotlight that eclipsed even those victories. Szczerbiak, of course, came as This Year’s Model, supposedly made into a star by this tournament, no matter the reality that NBA scouts had been tracking him long before the female population of greater Oxford, Ohio--some that would call his apartment and scream into the phone that they love him.

The dreaded problems of starring at a school that lists its enrollment as 56% female aside, Szczerbiak handled the rush as if it was just another defense. He attacked: he did a diary for the Cincinnati Enquirer; he fielded the countless interview requests; he went to a wrestling match in Ohio, was called into the ring and took a curtain call.

The only bad part about all this for Miami was that its coach, Charlie Coles, got lost somewhere in Wally-mania. It was an undeserving role considering Coles was actually a better feel-good story than Wally’s World, as it had come to be known. Coles, after all, was in the Sweet 16 about 54 weeks after suffering a heart attack during the first half of the Mid-American Conference quarterfinals at Western Michigan, when physicians worked on him for 20 minutes on the court to keep him alive before transporting him to the hospital.

The lack of limelight was the least of Coles’ problems. He had to deal with Kentucky, finally in sync after struggling for much of the season.

“I think about Big Blue,” Coles had said the day before the game. “They can scare you too. I don’t want another one of those.”

Or:

“You think about the Wildcats, and maybe I didn’t do the right thing by coming back.”

For a while Friday, it didn’t look like such a bad idea. Four of the RedHawk starters combined for two points in the first half, but Szczerbiak had 15, singlehandedly outscoring the Kentucky starters by three, so Miami trailed by just seven at the break. Problem was, the Wildcats had fresh legs at the ready.

The 10th-seeded RedHawks (24-8) hung around until midway through the second half, still down by seven despite having to go with their starters the entire game while Kentucky (28-8) sent in reinforcements Coles didn’t even bother to try and recruit. That’s where the ride ended.

Kentucky went on a 14-4 run during which Scott Padgett accounted for 12 of his team-high 17. After Padgett made two free throws with 7:13 remaining, the Wildcats led 49-32.

“I think it shook us,” Coles said.