Wildcats put down RedHawks at buzzer

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Kentucky's John Wall goes between Miami of Ohio's Julian Mavunga (4) and Nick Winbush (20) for a basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Wall had 19 points in Kentucky's 72-70 win.

AP Photo Kentucky's John Wall goes between Miami of Ohio's Julian Mavunga (4) and Nick Winbush (20) for a basket during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game in Lexington, Ky., Monday, Nov. 16, 2009. Wall had 19 points in Kentucky's 72-70 win.

By Pete Conrad, Staff Writer Updated 11:03 AM Tuesday, November 17, 2009

LEXINGTON, Ky. — There were exultant cheers and high fives at Rupp Arena after freshman guard John Wall made the shot that saved the hides of the fourth-ranked Kentucky Wildcats.

But it seemed that the 23,337 fans, mostly clad in blue and white, didn’t really exhale on Monday, Nov. 16, until Miami University’s Nick Winbush and Kenny Hayes physically stepped away from the basketball court.

As one Wildcats fan exclaimed while the game still was in progress, “Nobody expected this.”

Winbush scored a career-high 26 points, Miami hit a school-record 15 baskets from the 3-point arc and Hayes drilled a dramatic 3-point basket to tie the game with 6.0 seconds remaining, but it was Kentucky which got to celebrate a 72-70 victory when Wall hit an outside jumper with five-tenths of a second left.

It was a night of extreme unreality for everyone involved.

“I never saw anyone shoot 15-out-of-26 threes,” said the highly-touted Wall, who led the Wildcats with 19 points, five assists and three steals in his first collegiate game. “Most people thought we’d come in and blow this game out by 30 points.”

“That was a good game. I enjoyed it,” said Miami coach Charlie Coles, whose team (0-2) shocked everyone in the arena by taking a 36-18 lead following a 22-2 run in the first half. “I didn’t enjoy the outcome, but I did enjoy that basketball game.”

He especially liked the parts when Winbush was launching 3-point shots. Winbush made eight of his 10 shots from behind the arc.

Kentucky, however, did not blink after falling behind by 18 points in the first half.

“I was ecstatic we got down 18,” said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose team improved to 2-0. “I wanted to see what we were made of, and when (the RedHawks) wouldn’t go away, the thing I loved was that every time we were in a huddle the guys kept saying we’re not losing this, we’re not losing this.”

The Wildcats stormed back with a 15-0 run late in the first half, but the RedHawks led at halftime 39-36 after Winbush drilled a 3-pointer.

Miami led for most of the second half as well, but UK matched Miami with points on key possession after key possession.

DeMarcus Cousins put Kentucky ahead 69-67 when he hit a layup with 1:26 remaining, but he missed a free throw. With 19.5 seconds to go, Wall made the first of two free throws but missed the second, giving Hayes a chance to tie the score.

Hayes finished with 16 points, nailing 4-of-6 shots from the arc.

Next game

Who: Miami RedHawks (0-2) vs. Louisiana Tech Bulldogs (1-0) in Basketball Travelers Tournament
When: 8 p.m. Friday
Where: University Arena (18,018), Albuquerque, N.M.
Radio: WMOH-AM (1450)

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