Tubby Smith called a timeout, because even with the game already tucked into the win column, the opportunity was too good to pass up.
With 88 seconds left, Kentucky’s coach took out his stars and inserted the scrubs, five guys whose names are familiar to only the most rabid Wildcats fans. Only then did Saturday’s matchup seem even.
For most of the game, No. 10 Notre Dame (14-3) was thoroughly outplayed, falling to the No. 16 Wildcats 88-73 in front of 22,778 at Rupp Arena.
Matt Carroll again played superbly for the Irish. His game-high 29 points included 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. But it wasn’t nearly enough.
Notre Dame could find no one to counter the waves of big bodies the Wildcats (13-3) kept sending at them, yielding 54 points in the paint.
Marquis Estill led the charge, collecting a team-high 18 points on a series of jump hooks and layups in the lane over Irish freshman forward Torin Francis.
“We were defending them pretty well, actually,” Francis said. “They weren’t easy shots. They were turnaround hook shots, but today I think they made all of those.”
It just seemed that way. The Wildcats shot 52 percent.
That efficiency carried over to the defensive end, with white Wildcats jerseys clogging the arteries of Notre Dame’s offense all afternoon. The Irish hit only 34 percent of their shots.
“Sometimes we let the other team dictate how we play offensively because we kind of take quick shots,” Francis said. “We could have moved the ball around a little bit more down low, swung it around the perimeter.”
Added Notre Dame coach Mike Brey: “We couldn’t get open looks, we couldn’t get stuff around the basket, nothing in transition.”
With the Wildcats challenging almost every shot around the rim, Notre Dame couldn’t even get the open dunks.
Kentucky sophomore forward Chuck Hayes notched career highs with 17 points, 16 rebounds and five assists. Most important, he had three of the Wildcats’ eight blocks.
“The blocked shot is as demoralizing a defensive play as there is in basketball . . . especially when you think you’ve got an open shot at the rim,” Smith said.
And open shots were few and far between for Notre Dame. Francis’ leaning layup 2 minutes 27 seconds into the game gave the Irish a 5-3 lead–their last of the game.
Kentucky answered Francis’ shot with a 14-2 run to take a 17-7 edge and led 38-30 at halftime. When play resumed, Erik Daniels blocked a layup on the rim by Francis, and Estill converted at the other end to again push Kentucky’s lead to double digits.
When the Irish cut it to six on Chris Thomas’ baseline layup three minutes into the second half, the Wildcats went on a 10-2 run to pump their lead to 14.
“We can’t get down early in the game, especially in away games,” Carroll said. “It’s tough to come back and play catch-up.”
Kentucky led by as many as 21 before Notre Dame scored seven of the game’s last eight points against the Wildcats’ lineup of reserves.
“We just need to work on our confidence, to be able to come out and make the first couple of shots of the game,” Thomas said.
“If we come back and move the ball on offense and make shots at the beginning of the game [Tuesday night] at Providence, we’ll be fine.”
Even against the first team.
