Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 28, 1993 TAG: 9303280182
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Long
Kentucky had a great game, period.
So what else is new?
The second-ranked Wildcats continued to roar through the NCAA Tournament bracket, advancing to next weekend's Final Four with a 106-81 romp over the Seminoles at the soldout Charlotte Coliseum.
Kentucky (30-3) will play a West Region champion to be determined today - Michigan or Temple - in next Saturday's national semifinals at the Superdome.
Florida State coach Pat Kennedy isn't sure the Wildcats are beatable.
"We've played Indiana, Temple, North Carolina - teams that are left," said Kennedy, whose 11th-ranked team finished 25-10. "Right now, the way this Kentucky team is playing, they're going to be difficult for anyone.
"I think maybe Kentucky has a few more weapons than those other teams."
Wildcats coach Rick Pitino lauded the Seminoles' offensive game plan that solved Kentucky's press. Florida State's attack looked like it may have been drawn up by football coach Bobby Bowden.
Wiry Seminoles center Rodney Dobard was a defensive star against Kentucky's All-America forward, Jamal Mashburn, and Pitino's club had foul problems in the backcourt of Travis Ford and Dale Brown.
So, freshman Jared Prickett wrote his name into Kentucky basketball lore. The 6-foot-9 forward scored 22 points and pulled down 11 rebounds - taking advantage of a size mismatch on Seminoles swingman Bob Sura.
"Kentucky is a very deep team," said Florida State guard Sam Cassell. "That No. 32, I don't know his name [Prickett], but he did a great job, especially getting offensive rebounds.
"They just kept throwing weapons at us."
Prickett, the West Virginia High School player of the year 12 months ago, was making his 11th start. And he barely did that.
"I was trying to decide whether to start Jared or [6-5] Jeff Brassow," Pitino said after Kentucky's 10th straight victory. "I knew we had to stop Sura. I went with Jared. I made a good guess."
Prickett used a 4-inch height advantage to give the Wildcats rebounding dominance. It didn't help the Seminoles when inside force Doug Edwards picked up three fouls in the first 6 1/2 minutes.
Kennedy's plan was to go over Kentucky's press rather than through it. Early, the Seminoles scored when Charlie Ward - conveniently Florida State's Heisman Trophy hopeful at quarterback - completed long inbounds passes behind the flat-footed Wildcats.
"That's the best anyone has attacked our press in a long time," Pitino said. "We watched about a dozen tapes, and we never saw the alignment they gave us. They changed the inbounds passer, too."
When Ward wasn't making like it was third-and-long, his team went deep from the receiver of the inbounds pass.
"We had some brilliant plays," Ward said. "I was excited to see Rodney running down the field - I mean the court. We beat their press. Then, in the second half they took it off."
That's because the Wildcats didn't need the pressure, nor could they afford it in a 51-foul game in which the only flow was between the free-throw lines.
The Wildcats watched Florida State use an 11-point run to take its only lead, 28-27, midway through the first half. It was another 11-0 spurt that finished the Seminoles' season, however.
After a 3-pointer by Edwards trimmed Kentucky's lead to 66-56 with 15:40 to play, the Wildcats turned their 22nd appearance in a region final into another rout.
While the Seminoles didn't score in seven possessions, the Wildcats methodically pushed the score to 77-56 with 10:26 to play. It wasn't closer than 17 points again.
The Seminoles, who were the ACC regular-season runners-up, knew their Final Four bid began to slip away in the final three minutes of the first half, after they had sliced a Kentucky lead to 44-43 on Cassell's two free throws.
"We were going to take the momentum into the half," said Cassell, who struggled offensively for the second straight region game. "We had it down to one, and we switched to a zone.
"It was a good call by Coach Kennedy. He thought maybe we needed to catch our breath, that we were getting a little tired."
However, Kentucky increased the lead with a 3-pointer by backup guard Junior Braddy with 2:50 left, then another 3-pointer by Rodrick Rhodes with 1:23 on the clock. Suddenly, the lead was nine.
In the second half, Florida State couldn't play catch-up with 32 percent shooting. For the game, the guard trio of Cassell, Sura and Ward was a combined 9-for-31. In the two region games, Cassell hit only six of 25 shots.
"Kentucky was just too powerful for us," Kennedy said. "When we got behind in the second half, it wasn't demoralizing. Kentucky just has great depth. I think that's the key."
The Wildcats will be making their 10th Final Four appearance. Only UCLA, with 13, has more, although North Carolina could reach its 11th national semifinals date with a win over Cincinnati in the East Regional final today.
Ford was voted the region's outstanding player. He was joined on the all-tournament team by Prickett, Mashburn, Dobard and Western Kentucky's 5-8 Mark Bell.
"I was kind of nervous before the game," Prickett said. "To go to the Final Four as a freshman, you can't ask for much more than that."
\ see microfilm for box score
by CNB