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UNIONDALE, N.Y. (AP) – For most of Thursday's NCAA tournament
opener, Kentucky played keepaway with Holy Cross, tantalizing the
gallant Crusaders before beating them 72-68.
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Tue, May
2
Tayshaun Prince took over for Tubby Smith's team in crunch time.
With the score tied at 58, Prince hit a pair of 3-pointers. Prince also made the big
runner in the lane with 30 seconds left which helped lock up the hard-fought W.
Give Holy Cross credit for playing hard and hitting the three to stay in the game. In the
end, Smith's team got to the winner's circle thanks to Prince and Keith Bogans.
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Then, when Holy Cross tied the score at 58 with a 14-4 run with
6:28 to play, Kentucky went to the safest strategy.
The Wildcats gave the ball to Tayshaun Prince.
Prince hit consecutive 3-pointers inside of a minute to restore
a six-point lead for Kentucky.
"We showed poise down the stretch," the 6-foot-9 junior said.
"When they tied the game up, the guys looked at me to make some
things happen. I knocked a shot down."
Several shots.
Prince scored 12 of his team's final 14 points. But the Wildcats
never shook off gallant Holy Cross and it was still a 3-point game
at 68-65 with about a minute left.
Then Prince dribbled away all but three seconds of the 35-second
shot clock before scoring to make it 70-65. Ryan Serravalle of Holy
Cross hit a 3-pointer, but then the Crusaders fouled Prince.
|  | | Tayshaun Prince hit 10 of 17 for 27 for Kentucky on Thursday. |
He hit two free throws with 7.2 seconds remaining to seal the
victory for the Southeastern Conference champions.
Prince finished with 27 points, hitting 10 of 17 from the field.
Keith Bogans scored 17 and Jason Parker 10 for Kentucky (23-9),
which will play Iowa in the second round. The Hawkeyes beat
Creighton 69-56.
Giving the ball to Prince was a no-brainer for coach Tubby
Smith.
"Even in high school, Tayshaun had the ability to focus and
take the game over," he said. "He's been a go-to guy for a long
time. Tayshaun has done it for us a number of times."
"We never thought they'd beat us," Bogans said. "If you do,
that's when you'll go home."
Holy Cross had other ideas. For a long time, it appeared the
Patriot League champions might pull an upset.
After trailing 36-27 at the half, they came out firing
3-pointers, and narrowed the gap. Jared Curry hit two 3s after Tim
Szatko opened the second half with one, and suddenly, it was a
two-point game.
Curry, who also had consecutive 3s in the run that tied the
score, led Holy Cross (22-8) with 16 points, while Josh Sankes
scored 13 and grabbed 10 rebounds. Tim Szatko had 11 and Serravalle
scored 10.
Coach Ralph Willard had the Crusaders convinced this was a
winnable game.
"I told them at out pregame meal that if we did certain things,
I thought we had the opportunity to win," he said. "We did most
of them. As good as Kentucky has been playing, if we take away
offensive rebounding and transition opportunities, we have a
chance."
With Sankes anchored under the basket, Holy Cross gave it a run.
There was plenty of physical play underneath and the 7-footer said,
"The play inside was like a WWF match."
Holy Cross was not intimidated by Kentucky.
"We came to win," Curry said. "We're disappointed we lost."
The Crusaders knew their situation – longshot underdogs against
a major conference champion.
"We were saying before the game, `Let's shock the world,'"
Szatko said. "And we almost did. Maybe being this close, we did
shock the world."
In the first half, Kentucky went on runs of 9-0 and 8-0 and
finished the half with a 10-4 burst to lead 36-27. The Wildcats
never could shake Holy Cross, though, until the end.
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ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Somebody has to go home losers and Kentucky's Tayshuan Prince is glad to be still playing.
wav: 165 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Ralph Willard's Crusaders played well, but not well enough to knock off Kentucky.
wav: 128 k
RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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