Smith, Virginia upset No. 15 Kentucky at Maui Invitational

Published 12:00 am Thursday, November 28, 2002

LAHAINA, Hawaii

-- Devin Smith hit three 3-pointers in the final 6 minutes -- one more than Kentucky managed in the game against the Cavaliers' matchup zone, and Virginia upset the No. 15 Wildcats 75-61 in the Maui Invitational.

"I'm not a zone coach but sometimes you have to put your ego in your pocket,'' Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. ''We kept it basic, changed a couple of things.''

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Smith, a 6-foot-5 junior college transfer, was 2-for-7 from 3-point range in the Cavaliers' first two games of the season but he made three of four from beyond the arc in the last 6 minutes.

''Luckily, every time I was open I hit the shot,'' he said.

Kentucky (1-1) went 2-for-22 from 3-point range, missing its first 17 attempts from there.

''We had some good looks, but I think we settled for outside shots,'' Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said. ''Virginia did a good job going to the zone and then you miss a couple and get tight and the basket gets smaller.''

Brandon Stockton hit Kentucky's second 3-pointer with 7:05 left to make it 56-53 but after Elton Brown scored down low for Virginia, Smith scored the Cavaliers' next nine points on long range shots. His last one made it 67-59 with 1:24 to play, and Virginia closed it out from the free-throw line.

Smith and Todd Billet led Virginia with 15 points each, while Keith Jenifer had 13 points and six assists.

''Devin had the courage to take those shots,'' Gillen said. ''It wasn't designed by the coach.''

Marquis Estill, Jules Camara and Bogans each had 12 points for Kentucky, which shot 37 percent overall. Estill had his points in a foul-plagued 13 minutes. He picked up his third and fourth fouls in the opening two minutes of the second half.

''Marquis was giving us some excellent play, but he had to be smarter about how he played,'' Smith said. ''He has to learn to play with three fouls because he will be in that situation again.''