From the Associated Press
Arizona Daily Wildcat
November 26, 1997

Duke's next

Associated Press Arizona Daily Wildcat Mike Bibby (10) dunks against Kentucky during the first quarter of last night's semifinal game in the Maui Invitational, in Lahaina, Hawai'i. Bibby scored 20 points and dished out eight assists without committing a turnover.

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) - No overtime needed. In fact, it was no contest.

In last year's national championship game Arizona had to go overtime to win the title last season and keep Kentucky from repeating. In last night's rematch top-ranked Arizona beat No. 8 Kentucky 89-74 in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational.

Arizona (3-0) faces No. 3 Duke in the championship game tonight at 8 p.m. Tucson time on the ESPN network.

Arizona coach Lute Olson didn't waste any time in deflecting attention away from his team.

"I haven't seen anyone play better than Duke right now," he said. "That freshman class is great."

"With them, every pass is a challenge, every dribble is a challenge. They test you every way they can test you."

The Wildcats set up that test with the convincing victory over Kentucky.

"Kentucky did a good job of coming after us and we responded," Olson said. ''The key was the cushion we got from the good start.

"Mike's (Bibby) steals and dunks got me excited. That did it."

Arizona didn't waste anytime taking control of the game. After two early ties, the last at 4-4, the Wildcats ripped off a 10-point run with Bibby placing an exclamation point on the spurt with a thunderous slam dunk.

During the stretch, he scored seven points and by halftime, he had 15.

Bibby finished with 20 points, eight assists and had four of Arizona's 11 steals.

The margin was up to 35-15 before Kentucky (2-1) made a mild run, thanks to some poor free throw shooting by Arizona.

That enabled Kentucky to move within 13 points, but Michael Dickerson scored Arizona's final five points of the half to make it 42-28.

Kentucky tantalizingly inched closer over the final two quarters, managing to get within 11 points, but, this time, A.J. Bramlett took charge, getting 14 points, including six critical free throws down the stretch.

With Kentucky scrambling to catch up, it resorted to fouling, which resulted in Arizona scoring only one field goal over the final six minutes while making 10 consecutive free throws.

Olson praised his bench, in particular, Jason Terry, who finished with 14 points, and Eugene Edgerson.

"I'm proud of our bench, especially with our immediate foul trouble," he said. "No one did better than Terry tonight. He and Bibby did a good job of taking care of the ball."

"Edgerson also gave us a great first half (seven points and six rebounds, five offensive)."

Arizona had its top eight players back from the championship team, while Kentucky had two starters back and a new coach as Tubby Smith replaced Rick Pitino, who left for the Boston Celtics.

The change was a factor, said Arizona's Miles Simon, the MVP of the Final Four.

"There's a gap from last year's team and we exploited it," he said. "Last year's team was better. There was a loss in quickness."

Smith said the failure to hit open shots hurt Kentucky's chances.

"We battled pretty strong, but we couldn't make shots - lots of open looks that wouldn't drop. When we made a run, they hit 3-pointers," he said.

Scott Padgett, one of the Kentucky returnees, said, "Bibby is tough. He takes control out on the court."

"Arizona is shooting better this year. Their shooting is really improved," he said. "We thought we could exploit the press, get transition baskets, but we really didn't attack it."

Simon, who played only six minutes in the first half because of foul problems after being charged with a technical foul, finished with 15 points for Arizona, while Dickerson 13.

Maui Invitational Championship Game

Arizona vs. Duke

(3-0, 0-0) (4-0, 0-0)

When: Tonight at 8.

TV: The game will be televised live on ESPN.

What: Doubters of Arizona's No.1 ranking will get their answer as the Wildcats face their second top-10 team in two days. (Duke was tabbed No. 1 by Sports Illustrated)