Kentucky 80, Mississippi 40

Feb 22, 2006, 10:19 pm

LEXINGTON, Ky. (AP) -- Joe Crawford had 17 points and Preston

LeMaster added a career-high 12 as Kentucky solidified its NCAA

tournament chances with an 80-40 victory over Mississippi Wednesday

night.

The blowout guarantees the Wildcats at least an 8-8 Southeastern

Conference record in a rocky season that has included two

three-game losing streaks.

Despite the impressive win, Kentucky (18-9, 8-5) will know soon

exactly where is stacks up among conference elites. It concludes

the season with games against the SEC's only three ranked teams --

No. 24 Louisiana State, No. 10 Tennessee and No. 12 Florida.

The Rebels (14-12, 4-9) were playing without their best player,

center Dwayne Curtis, who left for Chicago earlier this week to

attend the funeral of his brother, who died from injuries suffered

in a car accident.

It was a game in which coach Tubby Smith emptied his bench,

playing 14 different Wildcats, and 13 of them scored.

Many of Crawford's points came from Rajon Rondo's dazzling

assists -- including two alley-oop passes that Crawford dunked home.

Rondo finished with a career-high 12 assists, three short of Travis

Ford's team record of 15 set Dec. 8, 1993, against Eastern

Kentucky.

Two quick 3-pointers by LeMaster helped ignite an early 17-2 run

for the Wildcats, who led 40-17 at halftime. LeMaster also got his

first rebound in almost three months, then promptly traveled.

No Mississippi player reached double figures. Londrick Nolen and

Clarence Sanders had nine points each.