Kentucky Narrowly Beats No. 15 Holy Cross
U N I O N D A L E, N.Y., March 15 -- For most of today's NCAA tournamentopener, Kentucky played keep away with Holy Cross, tantalizing thegallant Crusaders before beating them 72-68.
When Holy Cross tied the score at 58 with a 14-4 run with 6:28to play, Kentucky went to the safest strategy.
The Wildcats gave the ball to Tayshaun Prince.
Prince hit consecutive 3-pointers inside of a minute to restorea six-point lead for Kentucky.
"We showed poise down the stretch," the 6-foot-9 junior said."When they tied the game up, the guys looked at me to make somethings happen. I knocked a shot down."
Several shots.
Prince Goes 10-for-17
Prince scored 12 of his team's final 14 points. But the Wildcatsnever shook off gallant Holy Cross and it was still a 3-point gameat 68-65 with about a minute left.
Then Prince dribbled away all but three seconds of the 35-secondshot clock before scoring to make it 70-65. Ryan Serravalle of HolyCross hit a 3-pointer, but then the Crusaders fouled Prince.
He hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining to seal thevictory for the Southeastern Conference champions.
Prince finished with 27 points, hitting 10 of 17 from the field.Keith Bogans scored 17 and Jason Parker 10 for Kentucky (23-9),which will play Iowa in the second round. The Hawkeyes beatCreighton 69-56.
Kentucky’s Go-To Guy
Giving the ball to Prince was a no-brainer for coach TubbySmith.
"Even in high school, Tayshaun had the ability to focus andtake the game over," he said. "He's been a go-to guy for a longtime. Tayshaun has done it for us a number of times."
"We never thought they'd beat us," Bogans said. "If you do,that's when you'll go home."
Holy Cross had other ideas. For a long time, it appeared thePatriot League champions might pull an upset.
After trailing 36-27 at the half, they came out firing3-pointers, and narrowed the gap. Jared Curry hit two 3s after TimSzatko opened the second half with one, and suddenly, it was atwo-point game.
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