Wednesday, December 29, 2004

Contact: Stan Cole

Number-Eight Kentucky Defeats Campbell 82-50

LEXINGTON, KY. (AP) — Tubby Smith won his 200th game as Kentucky's basketball coach and the eighth-ranked Wildcats routed Campbell 82-50 on Wednesday night.

Freshman center Randolph Morris led Kentucky with a career-high 25 points on 11-of-14 shooting and Kelenna Azubuike added 14 points as the Wildcats (9-1) won their fifth straight game.

Kentucky will begin Southeastern Conference play next Wednesday against South Carolina and has one non-conference game remaining, at home against No. 2 Kansas on Jan. 9.

The loss was Campbell's third of the season to a major conference opponent. The Fighting Camels (2-7) also lost by 55 points to No. 17 North Carolina State and by 41 points to Tennessee.

Campbell has lost 39 of its last 40 road games.

Smith is 200-53 in eight seasons at Kentucky and 324-115 in 14 seasons overall with the Wildcats, Georgia and Tulsa. He is the fourth coach to win at least 200 games at Kentucky, joining Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall and Rick Pitino.

Kentucky made 10 of its first 11 shots and never trailed. The Wildcats led 24-4 9 minutes into the game, as Morris went 5-of-5 from the field during that stretch.

Campbell made only two of its first 21 shots and shot 16.7 percent from the field in the half. The Camels didn't reach double digits on the scoreboard until 1:05 before halftime. Kentucky led 45-11 at the half.

"Unfortunately, there are two halves in college basketball, and we do have to acknowledge the first half," said second-year Camel head coach Robbie Laing. "We played a great basketball team tonight, there's no denying that. They are very capable of playing extremely intense defense and they did. They simply did not let us see the basket. It was probably in the single digits, minute-wise, before we got a clean look at the basket. It wasn't that we were off tonight. They made us miss, it's plain and simple."

Campbell's point total was the lowest by a Kentucky opponent in a first half since Dec. 20, 1983 - before the shot clock era began - when the Wildcats led Cincinnati 11-7.

Campbell used a 20-3 run — highlighted by a four-point play by Anthony Atkinson — to pull within 51-33 with 10:36 left, but came no closer after Kentucky's starters re-entered the game.

"I've got to compliment Campbell," said Kentucky coach Tubby Smith. "I thought, in the second half, they didn't stop playing. They didn't give up. I think our players thought the game ended at half time. They really came out and made some shots and did some good things. We started to turn the ball over because Campbell got a little more aggressive. They showed a lot of pride and a lot of heart, which players are going to do."

Atkinson led Campbell with 14 points, going 5-of-10 from the field, and Comerlee Poole had nine points and 10 rebounds. Dominique Klein added six points and a season-high 10 boards. The Camels shot 28.6 percent from the field.

"Dominique was inserted into the lineup because he has played with more energy than anybody on our basketball team the last couple of weeks. He has rebounded the ball extremely well, and that's a point of emphasis," said Coach Laing.

Patrick Sparks had eight points and seven assists for Kentucky, while Chuck Hayes added nine points and 11 rebounds.

The Camels, who play in the Atlantic Sun Conference, are 1-26 all-time against current SEC teams.

"I think that playing in front of such a big crowd affected some of our guys," said Camel sophomore Anthony Atkinson. "We have played in big arenas before, but nothing compares to Kentucky fans. There is so much tradition here and die-hard fans, we haven't faced an opponent like that before. It was a good experience for our team."

Campbell opens A-Sun play Monday at home in an 8:00 p.m. tip-off against Belmont.

"I prefer to play the big games like Louisville and North Carolina," said Kentucky's Kelenna Azubuike. "Campbell is a good team, and they played well in the second half. We (Kentucky) have to respect every opponent and play them the same way."

Wednesday's attendance of 22,411 was the largest crowd ever to see Campbell play a basketball game, topping the 15,800 who saw the Camels face Duke in the 1992 NCAA East Regional at Greensboro, N.C. [Box Score]