"I know this was a tough loss for South Carolina," Kentucky coach
Tubby
Smith said. "It's always tough to lose on Senior Day, but I wish
them
well the rest of the way. I thought we did a good job of challenging
shots today, contesting on defense and containing their guards."
Sheppard, the team's leading scorer at 12.6 points per game, led
the
team in scoring for the fourth time in eight games. He was coming
off a
career-high 25-point performance against Auburn. The Wildcats
swept the
season series from South Carolina and improved to 17-1 away from
Rupp
Arena this season. Kentucky leads the all-time series against
the
Gamecocks, 42-15.
"Congratulations to Kentucky," South Carolina coach Eddie Fogler
said.
"I thought they played with excellent poise. They are the best
ball-handling and passing team in the conference. They were really
good
against us in our two games."
B.J. McKie scored 21 points while Melvin Watson and Ryan Stack
contributed nine apiece for South Carolina (21-6, 11-5), which
swept the
series from the Wildcats last season.
Sheppard netted 16 first-half points as Kentucky built a 34-29
lead.
McKie scored 13 for the Gamecocks in the opening half.
Antonio Grant converted a pair of free throws with 12:13 to play
in the
game, drawing the Gamecocks within 42-40, but Kentucky responded
with a
12-0 run to open up a 54-40 lead with 8:34 left. Sheppard's 3-pointer
from the top of the key ignited the burst and Wayne Turner capped
it
with a 19-footer. Evans had seven points during the spurt.
South Carolina would get no closer than five points, 56-51, on
a free
throw by McKie with 4:02 remaining.
Kentucky shot 48 percent (26-of-54) from the field, including
9-of-17
from 3-point range while South Carolina shot 38 percent (20-of-52)
from
the floor and connected on just 4-of-24 from beyond the arc. The
Wildcats held a 40-29 rebounding advantage.
The Wildcats and Gamecocks will be the East Division's top two
seeds in
next week's SEC Tournament and receive first round byes into Friday's
quarterfinals.
(8) Kentucky 69, (11) SOUTH CAROLINA 57
KENTUCKY (69)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Padgett 37 5-11 3-4 1-5 2 3 14
Evans 37 9-14 3-4 6-12 2 2 22
Mohammed 27 0-2 0-0 2-7 4 2 0
Turner 18 3-4 0-0 0-5 5 3 7
Sheppard 37 9-19 0-1 1-4 3 1 24
Smith 16 0-2 2-2 0-2 2 4 2
Mills 9 0-1 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Anthony 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Bradley 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Magloire 15 0-1 0-0 0-4 0 2 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-54 8-11 10-40 18 21 69
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.481, FT-.727. 3-Point Goals:
9-17, .529 (Padgett 1-2, Evans 1-2, Turner 1-1,
Sheppard 6-10, Smith 0-1, Mills 0-1). Team
rebounds: None. Blocked shots: 10 (Magloire 4,
Mohammed 3, Evans, Padgett, Sheppard). Turnovers:
14 (Evans 3, Sheppard 3, Smith 3, Turner 3,
Mills). Steals: 9 (Padgett 4, Turner 3, Magloire,
Sheppard).
SOUTH CAROLINA (57)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Grant 30 2-6 3-4 1-2 1 0 7
Stack 31 3-6 3-5 0-5 3 3 9
Formanek 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
McKie 40 7-17 4-7 0-2 4 2 21
Watson 28 3-8 2-4 0-2 2 5 9
Davis 7 1-2 0-0 0-0 1 0 2
Gallman 26 1-2 0-0 0-5 0 1 2
Johnson 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Nix 15 2-7 0-0 1-2 0 0 4
Williams 20 1-3 1-3 3-6 0 2 3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 20-52 13-23 5-24 11 13 57
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.385, FT-.565. 3-Point Goals:
4-24, .167 (Grant 0-3, Stack 0-2, McKie 3-11,
Watson 1-4, Davis 0-1, Nix 0-3). Team rebounds:
5. Blocked shots: 1 (Williams). Turnovers: 9
(Watson 5, McKie 3, Stack). Steals: 7 (McKie 3,
Watson 2, Gallman, Williams).
__________________________________
Kentucky 34 35 - 69
South Carolina 29 28 - 57
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 12,129. Officials:
Curtis Shaw, Tom Lopes, Gene Monje.