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ST LOUIS (Ticker) -- Tayshaun Prince was the thoroughbred that Kentucky rode to victory. Prince made 14-of-21 shots for a career-high 41 points as the fourth-seeded Wildcats held on for an 87-82 victory over No. 12 Tulsa in the second round of the East Region. The wispy 6-9 Prince caused matchup problems all game for the Golden Hurricane (27-7), which fell to 0-5 all-time against Kentucky. It was the highest-scoring game by a Wildcat since Jack Givens scored 41 in the 1978 championship game victory against Duke. "Forty-one points with just 21 shots is, to me, impressive," Prince said. "I was just glad to see no turnovers with all the minutes I played." "I can't explain that," guard Keith Bogans said. "I was just trying to get him the ball every time I had it in my hands." Ironically, Givens' performance was also in St. Louis at the Checker Dome. Bogans also had a strong game with 19 points to continue his resurgence in the NCAA Tournament. He scored 21 in the first-round victory over Valparaiso. "Tayshaun had a great game today," Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. "Thank goodness those two men (Prince and Bogans) both had great games and kept us in the ballgame." Freshman Chuck Hayes and Prince each had three-point plays as Kentucky (22-9) opened a 74-66 lead with just over seven minutes left. It stretched the margin to 11, but Tulsa never quit. Greg Harrington's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 82-80 with 56 seconds left. Prince made four foul shots and Gerald Fitch added one to help seal Kentucky's seventh trip to the regional semifinals in eight years. Prince's display had the Wildcats' bench excited as they yelled for guys to pass the ball to him, according to Smith. "Their team did a good job of getting him the ball," Harrington said. "He made shots from everywhere. It was frustrating to see him knock down deep three and inside shots." Prince made 6-of-8 from beyond the arc as Kentucky made 9-of-20. He recorded just the 16th game of 41 points or more in the Wildcats' illustrious history and joined such names as Dan Issel, Cliff Hagan and Louie Dampier. Prince's 3-pointer at the buzzer gave Kentucky a 43-42 halftime lead. He proceeded to score 27 points in the second half. "Prince made an unbelievably tough shot at the end of the half," Tulsa coach John Phillips said. "For the most part, he made tremendous shots the whole game. You take 21 shots and get 41 points, that's incredible." Smith improved to 2-0 with Kentucky against Tulsa, the school where he received his first head coaching job in 1992. Kevin Johnson and Antonio Reed each scored 18 points for the Golden Hurricane, who shot 51 percent (31-of-61). Harrington finished with 14 and closed out his career as the winningest basketball player in school history after reaching the South Region final two seasons ago and winning the National Invitation Tournament last year. "This has been the most fun I've had in my whole life," Harrington said. "This has been a great group of guys to play with. Maybe they can make me prouder and go even farther next year." The Wildcats will play Maryland or Wisconsin on Friday in Syracuse, New York. |
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