They Let The 'cats Out Of The Bag

Then Douglas forced an ill-timed shot, and Guyette fired again. This time he launched an air ball, but Grevey raced in from midcourt, caught his teammate's shot knee-high under the basket and curled the ball in to make the score 78-73.

After an Alabama time-out, Cleveland scored on a rebound and Douglas blocked another Guyette shot, but that was the big fellow's last gasp. He wanted out, and with him went the game.

With 45 seconds remaining and the score 78-77, Kentucky worked the ball carefully until Grevey could get open. He wheeled in the lane, faked, went high in the air and lofted in the basket that meant the most.

As competitive as it has become, the Kentucky-Alabama rivalry is not of the you-kick-my-guts-in-before-I-cut-your-throat kind. The teams took turns sweeping the series the past two seasons. But even when the games were close, there was never an incident.

The friendliness began long ago with the coaches. Hall and Newton both played at Kentucky, and the 'Bama coach spent 12 years in Lexington, Ky. as head man at tiny Transylvania College. Hall became an assistant at UK during that time, and they saw each other often enough to build a jovial relationship.

Asked last week where 'Bama's weaknesses lay, Hall said, "They start with the dumb coach."

Newton countered with, "I figured we had that advantage."

Any attempt to stir up Alabama meets with stiff resistance anyway, because of the team's steely demeanor. After Kentucky's 74-69 decision over the Tide at Lexington, Robey said he was more impressed with Indiana than Alabama and that the Hoosiers' Kent Benson had been much more effective than Douglas.

"What do you think of that?" The Tuscaloosa News' Mike McKenzie asked Douglas, who had managed a measly 27 points and 25 rebounds against Robey and his substitutes.

"Awwww, nothin'," said Douglas.