Kentucky Dominates St. Louis 88-61

March 15, 1998 / 5:08 PM EST / CBS/AP

Take that, everyone who thinks the NCAA tournament is a four-team race.

Kentucky, which failed to get a No. 1 seed for the first time since 1994, certainly looks like it deserves to be considered the equal of North Carolina, Duke, Arizona and Kansas.

The second-seeded Wildcats (31-4) extended their month of domination with another double-figure victory Sunday, routing No. 10 seed Saint Louis 88-61 in the second round of the South Regional.

"Ever since the season started, we haven't really gotten respect. We haven't been seen as a great club with a marquee name," Allen Edwards said. "In the Southeastern Conference tournament and the NCAA tournament, we've been playing really good ball and basically blowing teams out."

"If (other teams) don't take it as a message, they might be next."

Saint Louis got the message, loud and clear.

Kentucky scored the first 10 points of the game, then destroyed the Billikens (22-11) with a five-minute stretch later in the half that was a thing of beauty.

After Saint Louis cut the deficit to 19-11 on Ryan Luechtefeld's baseline jumper, Kentucky reeled off the next 19 points, displaying all of its myriad weapons.

Like the 3-pointer? Three different players Allen Edwards, Jeff Sheppard and Wayne Turner connected from outside the arc.

Are dunks your thing? Nazr Mohammed and Michael Bradley wound up with rim-rocking slams when teammates threaded dazzling passes to them under the basket.

A fan of in-your-face defense? There were plenty of examples Kentucky had six steals and six blocks in the first half but one particular sequence summed up the plight facing a Saint Louis team that didn't seem to have as many players on the court as the Wildcats.

Jamal Magloire forced a jump ball by blocking a shot under the basket, but the possession arrow favored the Billikens. Not to worry: Kentucky got the ball on a five-second call when Saint Louis couldn't inbound.

"If they keep playing like that, we already know one of the teams that's going to be in the Final Four," Luechtefeld said. "I haven't seen the other four (top-seeded) teams play. But they can't be any better than Kentucky was today and the last few weeks."

By the end of the spurt the game just 13 minutes old Kentucky had a 38-11 lead and the Billikens were thoroughly demoralized. The Wildcats stretched their lead to 30 points late in the first half before settling for a 46-18 lead at halftime.

Kentucky shot 59 percent (19-of-32) in the first half and hit nearly as many attempts from 3-point range (5-of-10) as Saint Louis did from anywhere on the court. The Billikens made only 6-of-31 shots (19 percent) in that dismal opening period.

"We're always trying to play the perfect game, the perfect haf," said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith, whose team advanced to the regional in St. Petersburg, Fla., to play the winner of Michigan-UCLA. "We were really clicking on all cylinders today."

Larry Hughes, the Billikens' fabulous freshman, was held to 11 points, 10 below his season average. Basically a one-man team, he simply couldn't escape the swarming Wildcats, who knew Saint Louis had no one else on the court who could beat them. Hughes made just 4-of-17 from the field.

"He got around the first of defense, but then he ran into good players around the goal and couldn't finish the thing off," Saint Louis coach Charlie Spoonhour said. "Kentucky always covers, they're always guarding. The main thing is they're good athletes, and they really know how to play."

"If you're not coaching against them, it's a pleasure to watch them play."

Sheppard, who has an hideous bruise on his left leg stemming from an ankle sprain in the Southeastern Conference tournament, showed no lingering effects, leading the Wildcats with 18 points. All five starters were in double figures.

Chris Heinrich paced Saint Louis with a career-high 16 points.

An overwhelming victory was nothing new for the Wildcats, who have won nine games in a row all by at least 11 points, with an average margin of 20.1.

"It can be 2-0 and the next time you look up, we're up by 12 or 14," said Edwards, who had 12 of his 17 points in the first half. "It all happens before you know it. We're just trying to play hard so coach won't yell at us."

The Wildcats excelled in the NCAA tournament under coach Rick Pitino and show no signs of letting up in Smith's first year, reaching the final 16 for the fourth straight season. Of course, Smith has had plenty of postseason success himself this is the third different school in four years he has taken to the regional semifinals.

Saint Louis was playing in the tournament for the third time in five years, but has yet to get past the second round.

"You'd rather not lose by 27 in your final game," Luechtefeld said. "Maybe we learned that we're a little bit farther away than we thought."

Or maybe Kentucky is just a little bit better than everyone thought.

BACK TO MARCH MAYHEM