Arizona will play fourth-ranked Duke in the championship game on Wednesday. Arizona lost to Kentucky in the championship of the 1993 Maui Invitational.
Scott Padgett scored 16 points and Jeff Sheppard, Allen Edwards and Nazr Mohammed scored 14 points apiece for Kentucky (2-1), which lost for the first time under first-year coach Tubby Smith. Kentucky will play Missouri for third place Wednesday.
The defending champs set the tone right off the tip as Bibby lofted a 25-foot alley-oop pass to Bennett Davison for a dunk 10 seconds into the contest.
Kentucky never found an offensive rhythm in the early going. After a transition layup by Sheppard tied the game at 4-4, Bibby stepped up. He slapped the dribble of a Kentucky player from behind to Eugene Edgerson, who lobbed it ahead to Bibby for a two-handed dunk. After Edgerson sank a free throw, Bibby had a steal and 15-foot jumper to give Arizona a 9-4 lead less than four minutes into the game. Arizona refused to relent as Simon buried a 3-pointer from the left wing, and Bibby had a steal off a sloppy outlet pass and threw down another two-handed dunk to push the lead to 14-4 with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
Twenty-six seconds later, Simon was called for a technical foul after protesting a foul call. That gave him three personal fouls and a seat on the bench for the remainder of the first half.
"Our other guys stepped up," said Arizona coach Lute Olson. "I was unhappy with the foul. People aren't here to watch referees call technicals."
Arizona maintained the double-digit lead throughout most of the half and led 42-28 at the break. Kentucky finally tried to put together a run in the second half, closing within 48-37 on a layup by Heshimu Evans. But Arizona went on a 12-4 run to take a 60-41 lead with 2:15 left in the third quarter. Kentucky came no closer than 12 in the fourth quarter.
"In the second half, I knew I had to come out and play hard," said Simon. "I had to put up a lot of intensity. We're definitely a lot better (than last year)."
(1) Arizona 89, (7) Kentucky 74
ARIZONA (89)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Bramlett 32 5-9 6-8 2-11 0 4 16
Dickerson 31 4-11 5-8 4-8 2 2 13
Davison 13 2-4 0-0 1-2 0 3 4
Simon 25 5-10 2-2 1-2 3 4 15
Bibby 37 7-18 2-3 0-4 8 3 20
Edgerson 20 2-5 3-6 5-6 1 3 7
Terry 26 5-10 2-2 1-2 2 0 14
Harris 13 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 3 0
Tebbs 3 0-1 0-0 0-0 2 0 0
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TOTALS 200 30-69 20-29 15-36 18 22 89
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Percentages: FG-.435, FT-.690. 3-Point Goals:
9-28, .321 (Dickerson 0-5, Simon 3-5, Bibby 4-12,
Terry 2-5, Tebbs 0-1). Team rebounds: 3. Blocked
shots: 3 (Dickerson, Bramlett, Harris).
Turnovers: 9 (Dickerson 3, Simon 2, Bramlett,
Davison, Edgerson, Harris). Steals: 11 (Bibby 4,
Edgerson 2, Bramlett, Dickerson, Harris, Simon,
Terry).
KENTUCKY (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Padgett 31 5-13 4-4 4-7 0 4 16
Edwards 29 5-11 3-10 2-2 1 4 14
Magloire 14 2-4 0-1 4-8 0 2 4
Sheppard 32 5-12 2-2 1-4 4 2 14
Turner 21 0-2 0-0 0-1 4 5 0
Mohammed 22 4-7 6-6 7-16 1 1 14
Smith 22 2-7 0-0 1-2 2 1 4
Mills 8 0-2 2-2 1-1 0 3 2
Evans 21 3-9 0-1 3-5 1 1 6
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TOTALS 200 26-67 17-26 23-46 13 23 74
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Percentages: FG-.388, FT-.654. 3-Point Goals:
5-22, .227 (Padgett 2-6, Edwards 1-5, Sheppard
2-6, Smith 0-2, Mills 0-2, Evans 0-1). Team
rebounds: 7. Blocked shots: 4 (Mohammed 2,
Turner, Padgett). Turnovers: 18 (Padgett 4,
Sheppard 3, Turner 3, Edwards 2, Mills 2,
Mohammed 2, Magloire, Smith). Steals: 3 (Padgett
2, Mohammed).
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Arizona 42 47 - 89
Kentucky 28 46 - 74
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Technical fouls: Arizona 1 (Simon). A: 2,500.
Officials: Tim Higgins, Joe DeMayo, Carl Hess.