Laura Mae Edwards died Feb. 26 after battling breast cancer since
her
son's sophomore year. That began an 11-day roller coaster of emotions
for Edwards, who missed the final regular-season game, rejoined
the team
for Friday's quarterfinal, then left again for the funeral. Kentucky's
hottest player, Jeff Sheppard, sprained an ankle in the 99-74
semifinal
victory over No. 16 Arkansas and wasn't able to play in the title
game.
Edwards took his spot in the backcourt and scored 15 points, doled
out
five assists and came up with three steals, combining with tournament
MVP Wayne Turner to thoroughly outplay South Carolina's backcourt
of BJ
McKie and Melvin Watson.
Turner scored 18 points as Kentucky (29-4) added another SEC
championship to its collection. After capturing their 39th
regular-season banner, the Wildcats tacked on their 21st tournament
title -- 15 more than any other school. Kentucky gained the SEC's
aut
omatic bid to the NCAA tournament. South Carolina was assured
of an
at-large NCAA bid.
"When they put on those Kentucky jerseys, the guys believe they
can do
anything," first-year coach Tubby Smith said. "We have a great
tradition
and we have some pretty good players, too."
"That was a very focused Kentucky team," Gamecocks coach Eddie
Fogler
said. "That team can play with anybody in the country. When they're
shooting like that (30-of-62, including 13 3-pointers), they are
going
to be awfully hard for anybody to beat."
Turner clinched the MVP award by shooting 7-of-17, including a
couple of
3-pointers. He also had four assists, leading the tournament with
an
average of 6.3 per game.
McKie scored only 12 -- all on 3-pointers -- and Watson managed
just
eight points. Watson was 2-of-3 from the line against Kentucky
and McKie
never got there.
In all, the Gamecocks hit 10 of 16 free throws and were further
hampered
by 19 turnovers, leading to 28 Kentucky points. LeRon Williams
led South
Carolina with 19 points.
(7) Kentucky 86, (15) South Carolina 56
SOUTH CAROLINA (56)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Williams 6-8 7-11 19
Grant 0-3 0-0 0
Stack 3-8 0-0 6
McKie 4-11 0-0 12
Watson 3-11 2-3 8
Nix 0-1 0-0 0
Johnson 1-1 0-0 2
Davis 1-6 0-0 2
Gallman 3-7 1-2 7
Rouse 0-1 0-0 0
---------------------------------
Totals 21-57 10-16 56
KENTUCKY (86)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Edwards 3-7 7-8 15
Turner 7-17 2-2 18
Mohammed 4-8 0-0 8
Evans 4-6 1-2 11
Padgett 3-9 0-0 9
Mills 2-3 0-0 6
Smith 1-2 0-0 3
Bradley 1-1 0-0 2
Magloire 0-3 1-2 1
Anthony 3-3 1-1 7
Hogan 0-1 0-0 0
Masiello 2-2 1-2 6
---------------------------------
Totals 30-62 13-17 86
Halftime-Kentucky 40, South Carolina 30. 3-Point goals-South
Carolina 4-16 (McKie 4-7, Watson 0-1, Rouse 0-1, Grant 0-2, Davis
0-5), Kentucky 13-27 (Padgett 3-5, Evans 2-3, Mills 2-3, Edwards
2-5, Turner 2-7, Smith 1-2, Masiello 1-2, Hogan 0-1). Fouled
out-None. Rebounds-South Carolina 36 (Williams, Stack 9),
Kentucky 39 (Mohammed 7). Assists-South Carolina 10 (Grant,
Watson 4), Kentucky 18 (Edwards 5). Total fouls-South Carolina
16, Kentucky 18. A-24,545.