NCAA Tournament: Knight's drive propels Kentucky past Princeton

Associated Press

Published: Thursday, March 17 2011 3:48 p.m. MDT

View 3 photos »

Players on the Princeton bench celebrate as they tie the score during the first half of an East Regional second round NCAA tournament college basketball game against Kentucky in Tampa, Fla., Thursday, March 17, 2011. (AP Photo/John Raoux)

Associated Press

Summary

Freshman Brandon Knight, held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift No. 4 seed Kentucky to a 59-57 win over 13th-seeded Princeton in the second round of the NCAA tournament Thursday.

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Freshman Brandon Knight, held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift No. 4 seed Kentucky to a 59-57 win over 13th-seeded Princeton in the second round of the NCAA tournament Thursday.

Knight missed his first seven shots and even found himself on the bench in the closing minute. But coach John Calipari, who proclaimed, "You can't count on freshmen" a day earlier, put the ball in Knight's hands with the game on the line.

Knight delivered, and Big Blue advanced to face West Virginia in the third round Saturday.

It was the biggest contribution Kentucky got from its trio of talented newcomers. Fellow freshman Terrence Jones finished with 10 points, and Doron Lamb added seven.

Upperclassmen carried the Wildcats most of the way. Darius Miller scored 17 points, and lone senior Josh Harrellson added 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Comments