Kentucky forward Terrence Jones (3) drives to basket past Western Kentucky guard Jamal Crook (14) in the first half of their NCAA tournament second-round college basketball game in Louisville, Ky., Thursday, March 15, 2012.LOUISVILLE, Ky. — With 8:42 to play in its NCAA tournament opener Thursday night, No. 1 Kentucky watched star freshman Anthony Davis throw down a dunk for a 32-point lead on outmanned Western Kentucky.
At that point, everything was clicking for the Wildcats about as well as it has all season, their offense and defense seemingly in perfect rhythm to repeat last season’s Final Four run.
Then it stopped. Almost completely. Still ahead by 30 with six minutes to go, UK was nearly shut out down the stretch, outscored 16-1 the rest of the way in winning 81-66. Kentucky will face the Iowa State-UConn winner in Saturday’s round of 32.
Western Kentucky coach Ray Harper had some pointed advice for Big Blue: “If they want to advance and win a national championship, they’re going to have to shoot the ball better from the perimeter.”
For the record, Kentucky shot it marvelously overall. It hit 55 percent from the floor (30-of-54), knocked down 72 percent of its free throws, outrebounded the shorter Hilltoppers 39-30 and blocked nine shots.