The Associated Press

Lexington, Ky.

Friday, December 24, 1999

Lexington, Ky. – Michigan State fans will remember Andre Hutson missing a baseline drive as time ran out.

According to coach Tom Izzo, though, the seeds of the fifth-ranked Spartans’ 60-58 loss to Kentucky were planted much earlier Thursday night.

”It seems like it was there for almost a layup, but the game wasn’t lost on that play,” Izzo said. ”It was a lot of little things early. We missed some free throws and fouled too much.”

Instead of going to the basket, Hutson put up a short jumper that was blocked by Kentucky’s Tayshaun Prince. Morris Peterson’s tip-in attempt was no good as time expired.

Since dropping out of the top 25 for the first time in nine years at 4-4, Kentucky (6-4) has won consecutive games over Louisville and Michigan State (8-3).

”It was a good win for us because they were a ranked team and they were a great team,” said Kentucky center Jamaal Magloire, who had his third straight double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds. ”We’re trying to be considered one of the great teams. Right now, I think we’re a good team, but we keep winning games like this, we’ll be right there with the rest of them.”

Reserve guard J.P. Blevins provided a defensive spark that rallied the Wildcats from a 15-point first-half deficit – and made a childhood dream come true.

”I can remember when LSU came in here with Shaquille and Chris Jackson, I remember the noise that was made that game,” he said, recalling a famous 1990 upset pulled by Rick Pitino’s first Kentucky team. ”I said, ‘One day, I’m going to be in there, playing in front of 24,000 roaring fans.”’

This time, the Rupp Arena roar was for Blevins, none louder than after he hit the third of three 3-pointers, putting Kentucky ahead 50-49 with 7:18 left.

”After I hit my second 3, I started feeling it a little bit, so I knew the next time I got any kind of a look to just throw one up,” he said.

The Wildcats widened the margin to 58-51 before Michigan State rallied to make it 60-58 on a 3-pointer by A.J. Granger and two field goals by Charlie Bell.

Izzo said Hutson’s final shot was not the one he wanted.

”I had so many guys in foul trouble and so many guys that played a lot of minutes that I wanted a 3-point shot,” he said. ”We passed up a couple of shots that maybe I would have taken.”

Peterson finished with 18 points for Michigan State. Tayshaun Prince had 17 points for the Wildcats.

Last spring, Michigan State kept Kentucky from reaching its fourth straight Final Four, eliminating the Wildcats 73-66 in the NCAA tournament Midwest Region final.

The rematch featured very different teams. Kentucky was without four starters from last season, while Michigan State was missing star guard Mateen Cleaves, sidelined with a broken foot.

The Spartans were playing their third tough road game in three weeks, following a win at North Carolina and a loss at Arizona.

With 6:13 left in the first half, Michigan State seemed to have the game well in hand after an 11-0 run put the Spartans up 26-11.

The Rupp crowd, buzzing at the game’s start, was quiet as the Wildcats appeared to have no answers on defense and seemed helpless to score against the Spartans’ zone.

Slowly, Kentucky worked its way back, tightening its defense and limiting Michigan State to Peterson’s two free throws for the remainder of the half.

Blevins, averaging 2.2 points coming in, energized his teammates with frenetic defense and timely shooting. He hit a 3-pointer to make it 26-18 with 3:23 left, then stole the ball on Michigan State’s next possession.

”J.P. has been gaining confidence every day with his ballhandling, and I was impressed with the aggressiveness he showed,” coach Tubby Smith said.

Suddenly, it was Kentucky on a 16-2 run to close the half, closing to 28-27 at the break.

Michigan State threatened to pull away again at the start of the second half, scoring the first six points. Again, Kentucky rallied behind Blevins.

Entering the game with 13:51 left and the Wildcats trailing 39-32, Blevins hit a 3-pointer with 10:25 left, closing the gap to 46-45.

Seconds later, when Peterson got the ball on a breakaway, Blevins chased him down and knocked away a slam-dunk attempt.

After Magloire’s basket reduced Michigan State’s lead to 49-47, Blevins made his third and final 3, giving the Wildcats their first lead since 2-0.