Jeff Sheppard added 11 points while Scott Padgett pulled down eight rebounds for Kentucky, which improved to 4-0 all-time against Tulsa, although the schools were meeting for the first time since 1948.
"I want to first compliment Tulsa on the great job they did tonight," Smith said. "They came out ready to play. Nazr played well and I thought Scott played well. We picked up the intensity in the second half. We were able to get into our press after we made some shots."
Tulsa (7-3), which had its four-game winning streak snapped, received 17 points from Jonnie Gendron. The Golden Hurricane lost for the first time since falling to Houston, 61-57, on Nov. 29. Kentucky connected on 45 percent (9-of-20) of its shots in the first 20 minutes and trailed 29-28 at halftime. But the Wildcats used a 19-4 spurt during a seven-minute span of the second half to take a commanding 57-41 lead with 8 1/2 minutes to go. They hit all five of their 3-pointers (5-of-15) in the final 20 minutes.
The Wildcats, who held a 33-30 rebounding advantage, would eventually extend their lead to 28, 73-45, with just over three minutes remaining.
"I think in the second half, Kentucky was denying our guards much more," said Gendron. "I know personally, I couldn't get open. They were very good on the press, but we made some mental mistakes. Once we cut that out, I believe we will be a very good team."
The pressure defense of the Wildcats forced 21 turnovers which resulted in 24 Kentucky points. Edwards dished out five assists while making two steals, and Wayne Turner added 10 points. Kentucky won its 28th consecutive home game in December and has outrebounded opponents in all 10 games this season.
Michael Ruffin was the second-leading scorer with nine for Tulsa, which shot a poor 33 percent (18-of-55) from the field. The Golden Hurricane did, however, connect on 6-of-18 3-pointers.
(4) KENTUCKY 74, Tulsa 53
TULSA (53)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Coley 35 3-8 1-2 1-4 4 2 8
Ruffin 33 2-5 5-6 5-10 0 2 9
Bennett 23 3-5 0-2 3-4 0 3 6
Gendron 34 7-13 0-0 2-2 3 1 17
Thompson 35 1-14 2-2 1-5 3 3 5
Spurlock 15 1-3 2-2 0-2 0 3 4
Hill 11 1-4 0-0 0-0 0 3 3
Williams 4 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Cornwell 4 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 1 1
Gillin 4 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bell 2 0-1 0-0 1-1 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 18-55 11-16 13-28 10 18 53
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.327, FT-.688. 3-Point Goals:
6-18, .333 (Coley 1-1, Gendron 3-6, Thompson 1-6,
Hill 1-3, Cornwell 0-1, Gillin 0-1). Team
rebounds: 2. Blocked shots: 5 (Coley, Bennett,
Ruffin, Spurlock, Bell). Turnovers: 21 (Gendron
5, Thompson 5, Coley 3, Bennett 2, Hill 2, Ruffin
2, Spurlock). Steals: 10 (Bennett 3, Ruffin 3,
Coley 2, Gendron, Hill).
KENTUCKY (74)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 28 4-7 0-0 1-5 5 0 9
Padgett 23 3-3 0-0 1-8 2 1 8
Magloire 15 3-6 1-2 2-4 0 4 7
Turner 27 5-6 0-0 1-3 2 1 10
Sheppard 28 3-8 4-4 1-4 3 1 11
Smith 15 1-1 1-2 0-1 4 2 3
Mills 15 1-3 0-0 0-0 2 0 3
Mohammed 19 6-10 5-7 1-3 0 3 17
Evans 10 0-1 3-4 0-0 0 4 3
Anthony 6 0-3 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Bradley 11 0-0 3-5 0-1 1 0 3
Hogan 2 0-2 0-0 2-2 0 0 0
Masiello 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 26-50 17-24 9-31 19 16 74
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.520, FT-.708. 3-Point Goals:
5-15, .333 (Edwards 1-3, Padgett 2-2, Sheppard
1-6, Mills 1-2, Anthony 0-2). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 10 (Magloire 2, Sheppard 2,
Edwards, Padgett, Turner, Mohammed, Evans,
Bradley). Turnovers: 17 (Edwards 4, Padgett 4,
Sheppard 2, Turner 2, Bradley, Evans, Masiello,
Mohammed, Smith). Steals: 12 (Edwards 2, Mills 2,
Mohammed 2, Padgett 2, Sheppard 2, Smith 2).
__________________________________
Tulsa 29 24 - 53
Kentucky 28 46 - 74
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 24,082. Officials:
Raymond Styons, R.T. Day, Reggie Cofer.
