Padgett played only three minutes before aggravating a back injury
he
first hurt during practice on Friday. He said he does not expect
to miss
any time.
"I thought it felt pretty good before the game," Padgett said.
"Then, on
one of the first or second trips down the court, I got kneed on
my side
and it sort of twisted me. I hurt my back a little, so it was
just hard
for me to run. I'll be fine."
Villanova (9-12), which suffered a 93-56 loss to Kentucky at Lexington
last season, kept it respectable this time. A hook by Rafal Bigus
capped
a 7-0 burst that brought Villanova within 46-39, but a layup and
a
3-pointer by Evans triggered the spurt that enabled Kentucky to
break
the game open.
Kentucky did not miss Padgett on the boards as it turned 14 offensive
rebounds into 18 second-chance points and outrebounded Villanova,
37-28.
"They just hammered us on the glass," said Villanova coach Steve
Lappas.
"Even in the first half when we shot well, we just could not stay
with
them inside on the glass."
Mohammed had a career-high 11 rebounds and shot 7-of-13 from the
field
as Kentucky outscored Villanova, 46-28, in the paint.
Howard Brown and Jermaine Medley each had 15 points for Villanova,
which
faced its second straight top-10 opponent. Villanova lost to
seventh-ranked Connecticut, 80-65, on Monday and has dropped seven
of
its last nine.
Kentucky improved to 79-31 all-time against Big East teams, including
seven straight wins. The Wildcats have struggled somewhat of late
--
managing a pair of two-point victories sandwiched around a loss
to
Florida -- but improved to 14-1 away from Rupp Arena.
Kentucky increased its lead in the series to 5-1. Villanova's
only win
was an 80-74 victory in the 1988 NCAA Tournament. (9) Kentucky
79, VILLANOVA 63
KENTUCKY (79)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 17 2-4 0-3 0-2 6 3 4
Padgett 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Mohammed 30 7-13 4-7 3-11 1 2 18
Turner 27 2-4 1-2 0-2 3 2 5
Sheppard 33 7-15 2-4 1-2 4 1 18
Evans 33 6-10 4-8 5-9 2 3 17
Smith 23 2-4 4-4 0-2 3 1 8
Magloire 6 1-4 0-1 2-3 0 4 2
Anthony 18 2-6 0-0 3-6 0 1 5
Bradley 8 1-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 2
Hogan 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Masiello 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 30-61 15-29 14-38 20 18 79
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.492, FT-.517. 3-Point Goals:
4-11, .364 (Edwards 0-1, Turner 0-1, Sheppard
2-6, Evans 1-2, Anthony 1-1). Team rebounds: 15.
Blocked shots: 3 (Mohammed 2, Anthony).
Turnovers: 19 (Edwards 4, Mohammed 4, Turner 4,
Anthony 3, Smith 2, Evans, Sheppard). Steals: 16
(Mohammed 5, Edwards 2, Evans 2, Sheppard 2,
Smith 2, Turner 2, Anthony).
VILLANOVA (63)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Brown 39 6-14 1-2 5-9 7 3 15
Caouette 15 1-4 1-2 0-1 1 3 4
Allen 21 1-3 1-3 2-4 0 2 3
Medley 33 6-10 0-0 0-2 2 3 15
Lynch 19 2-6 0-0 0-1 0 2 4
Penn 23 1-6 4-4 1-4 2 4 6
Bigus 21 3-5 1-4 1-2 1 4 7
Celestand 27 4-9 0-0 0-4 2 2 9
Noone 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
Jackson 1 0-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 24-58 8-15 9-27 15 23 63
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.414, FT-.533. 3-Point Goals:
7-23, .304 (Brown 2-8, Caouette 1-2, Medley 3-5,
Lynch 0-2, Penn 0-3, Celestand 1-3). Team
rebounds: 6. Blocked shots: 2 (Brown, Allen).
Turnovers: 19 (Celestand 6, Medley 5, Lynch 4,
Allen, Bigus, Caouette, Penn). Steals: 12 (Penn
3, Bigus 2, Brown 2, Medley 2, Allen, Caouette,
Lynch).
__________________________________
Kentucky 40 39 - 79
Villanova 32 31 - 63
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 15,551. Officials:
John Cahill, Curtis Shaw, John Clougherty.