By the time the University of Kentucky was finished manhandling the University of Utah Sunday afternoon in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in Nashville, Tenn. - score it 83-62 - this is what we knew:
That the Wildcats might well be the best team in the land at the moment; that Jamal Mashburn - a.k.a. Monster Mash - is coming soon to an NBA arena near you; that other than possessing a superior offense, defense and bench, the 'Cats had nothing over on the Utes; that there really is no substitution for athletes - lots of them; that the grand era of Josh Grant and Jimmy Soto had come to a humble end.For the record, the rout began when Kentucky opened the game with a 23-6 run. "That set the tone," said Utah forward Josh Grant. "They never looked back." The Utes managed to cut the gap to 12 points, 32-20, late in the half, after Grant and Byron Wilson made three-point shots, but the Wildcats ran off the last seven points of the half for a 39-20 halftime lead.
The Wildcats were never even mildly threatened again. They stretched their lead to 29 points in the second half before going to the end of their bench.
The Utes could find solace in the fact that the Wildcats, who have lost only three times all season, are on top of their game. "We cannot play any better on both ends of the court than we are right now," said UK coach Rick Pitino. "We are playing spectacular half-court defense and outstanding half-court offense."
"We could play them 20 times and they'd beat us 19," said Utah coach Rick Majerus. "Kentucky is a better team. They're the one, two or three team in the country."
Thus, Kentucky, 28-3, will move on to Charlotte, N.C., where it will meet Wake Forest in the semifinals of the Southeast Regional. Utah, 24-7, will begin the off-season knowing it will have to look far and long to find replacements for its four seniors, Grant, Soto, Byron Wilson and Larry Cain.
The Utes never seemed to have a chance on Sunday. They were outmanned on and off the court. Earlier in the week it was believed that some 7,500 Kentucky fans would make the three-hour drive from Lexington to attend the game. By game time, more than 10,000 of the 15,317 seats were filled by Kentucky fannies.
Such considerations aside, the Utes lost primarily for two reasons: They could not stop Mashburn, and they could not shake the Wildcats' man-to-man defense for an open shot.
The Utes employed a variety of defenders to stop Mashburn, UK's junior All-American, but to no avail. How do you guard a 6-foot-8, 235-pound power forward who can post up, shoot the trey, dribble, drive, pass, leap, run and possibly fly? In just 25 minutes of play, Mashburn totaled 19 points - 16 in the first half, when it mattered - nine rebounds, three assists, one steal and four three-point baskets.
The Utes were helpless against him. They originally planned to alternate the 6-2 Wilson and 6-5 Phil Dixon to defend Mashburn, but then the Wildcats made a lineup change that changed all that. They started 6-5 Jeff Brassow in place of 6-9 Jared Prickett, who was reduced to part-time duty by a toe injury. Brassow's quickness and size forced Majerus to moved Cain onto Mashburn and the quicker Dixon onto Brassow.
Cain was no match for the versatile, athletic Mashburn. "Cain would run back to the paint, as he always does, but Mashburn would spot up at the three," said Majerus. "We've never faced a big guy who could spot up at the three."
In the second half, Majerus started reserve guard Darroll Wright to free up Wilson and Dixon for double duty on Mashburn, but by then it was too late.
"We spent so much time trying to help on Mashburn that the other guys hurt us," says Majerus. Seven Kentucky players scored seven or more points, as the Wildcats shot 54 percent.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the court, what shots the Utes got were taken off-balance or hurried or with a hand in their face, and rarely were they on the money. The Wildcat defenders were too quick and fast to escape, even beyond the three-point arch.
"They're such good athletes," said Majerus. "We had very few open shots. They defend the three better than anyone we've faced."
That explained the Utes' shooting performance: 40.7 percent. They managed nine 3-point shots and made just two. If all that wasn't enough, Majerus's substitutions - which were made to defend Mashburn - complicated the offense.
"I called plays, but we had never done it with that lineup," said Majerus. "We had so many players playing out of position."
Only three players managed to score for Utah during the game's first 26 minutes - Grant, Wilson and Wright. Of Utah's 62 points, Grant and Wilson accounted for more than half of them . Wright had nine points. Two nights after a marvelous 22-point outing against Pitt, Dixon was scoreless on five shots. Cain had four points.
Whither Jimmy Soto? He went head-to-head with another little guard - 5-foot-9 Travis Ford - and they neutralized each other for the most part. Soto took just four shots and made his only field goal with 4:19 left. He finished with four points and three assists. Ford had eight points and six assists.
"Jimmy did a good job on Ford and Ford did a good job on Jimmy," said Majerus. "He took Jimmy out of the game a little. He wore out Jimmy. He's our best scorer after Josh, and he was occupied setting screens and playing defense and trying to get open."
The Utes had no chance to rest him. Their thin bench was never more evidence than against the Wildcats, who play 10 players 10 or more minutes per game. "We were fatigued," said Majerus. "We got all the blood out of the turnip." Meanwhile, the Wildcats ran waves of fresh players onto the court with no difference in the performance. Ten players scored for Kentucky.
"When I was at Ball State I was very excited about (recruiting Kentucky reserve) Aminu Timberlake," said Majerus. "He was very highly recruited. And he never gets off their bench."
Near the end of the game, Majerus began to pull his starters from the game. At one point he called Grant to the bench, but then Grant's wife, Tina, sent word via cheerleader to assistant coach Jeff Judkins that Grant needed just two more points to reach the 2,000-point mark for career scoring. Judkins passed to the word to Majerus, who put Grant back in the game. Grant made a pair of free throws before leaving the court for good with 37 seconds left in the game.
Later, Majerus was informed that Grant's points had been miscounted. He had 1,998 points. "You're kidding," said Majerus. "Oh, man, darn. I would've left him in."
There will be no more chances to play Grant, or, for that matter, Soto, Wilson and Cain, who all ended their collegiate careers on Sunday. An era passed. In three years, they were the heart and soul of a team that won 78 games, two conference championships and two NCAA berths.
"It's so sad," said Majerus. "I don't know if I'll ever have a group like this again. They are a special group of guys."
But no sooner had Majerus said that than he was looking toward the future. "I'm going to recruit (today)," he said. "I'm going to find myself a big boy . . . Maybe we can get back here again."