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Kentucky coach Tubby Smith believes his team is at its best when it's playing unselfishly.
The second-ranked Wildcats (7-0) put on a clinic of unselfish play on Tuesday night, piling up a season-high 28 assists in a 101-72 win over Eastern Kentucky.
``We were sharp,''
Smith said. ``We have an excellent passing team and that's a key to taking good
shots. When we take good shots, we're going to make them.''
Gerald Fitch scored 26 points on 10-of-16 shooting. He went five for seven from
3-point range -- getting mostly wide-open looks from teammates' pinpoint passing.
Fitch did his share of distributing, too, finishing with six assists. Erik Daniels had 15 points, seven rebounds and a career-high eight assists. Cliff Hawkins added 16 points and six assists as Kentucky won its 27th consecutive regular-season game.
Many of the assists were dazzling -- from alley-oops to no-look passes to the behind-the-back variety.
``Passing is what this team does best,'' Daniels said.
Kentucky's active, swarming defense was just as impressive, generating 18 steals and 25 Eastern Kentucky turnovers.
Michael Haney scored 15 points to lead the overmatched Colonels (3-5).
``Everything we did poorly was because of them,'' said Eastern Kentucky coach Travis Ford, who played point guard for Kentucky from 1992-94.
Kentucky was playing its first home game since Nov. 28 and dominated from the start, taking a 12-2 lead in the first five minutes. The Colonels committed four turnovers and missed seven of their first eight shots in that span, while the Wildcats started 6-of-8.
Jon Bentley scored on an inbound play, but consecutive 3-pointers by Azubuike and Fitch kept the Wildcats rolling.
Smith pulled all five starters -- Fitch, Daniels, Hawkins, Kelenna Azubuike and Chuck Hayes -- with 14:03 left in the opening half and the Wildcats already up 18-4.
Kentucky has trailed only 67 seconds this season and hasn't faced a deficit in four games.
``We have gotten off to some good starts this year,'' Smith said. ``That has been a big key to us being able to control tempo and the flow of the game.''
Smith substituted freely for the rest of the half, tinkering with different lineups and getting minutes for nearly all his reserves.
He wasn't happy with his bench's play after the game, noticing immediately that reserves committed 15 of Kentucky's 22 turnovers.
``When you go into a game, you're expected to play hard, play smart and take care of the ball,'' Smith said. ``When you don't get in that much, it's not that easy. They (the reserves) get a little nervous and try to do some things they're not used to doing.''
The Wildcats still shot 66 percent (21 of 32) in the first half and built a 48-32 lead at the break.
Kentucky's starting five opened the second half with an 11-0 burst, forcing four Eastern Kentucky turnovers in the first two minutes.
Fitch could hardly contain a smile after sinking his fifth 3-pointer of the game with 9:45 left.
``Once I saw him make a couple, I just kept looking for him,'' Daniels said. ``I wanted some more assists.''
Smith yanked the last of his starters with 5:41 left and the Wildcats ahead 97-60.
Kentucky was coming off a more lopsided 80-41 victory over Indiana last weekend, but Smith said his team showed more intensity against the Colonels.
``It's something we really stressed after the Indiana game because we got beat in a lot of hustle areas,'' Smith said. ``We wanted to set the tone tonight to play more physical.''