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Sunday, May 19
The Indiana Daily Student

sports

What did Mike Davis get for finally beating Kentucky?

A 6-foot-8, 268-pound victory cloak named Marco Killingsworth.

INDIANAPOLIS -- As the final seconds ticked off the scoreboard in the RCA Dome Saturday, Davis found himself shrouded by his star forward who just finished "his best game," according to Davis. \nThe senior transfer assembled another killer stat line, scoring 23 points on 7-of-8 shooting, grabbing 11 rebounds and even managing a respectable 9-for-14 free throw performance. \nBut to Killingsworth, no number stood more important than the 79-53 final score against Kentucky. After the game, Killingsworth certainly wasn't shy about sharing his sentiments on the Wildcats.\n"If you play basketball and you play on the college level, you ain't going to like Kentucky," he said. "They're one of those teams where you're either going to love them or you're going to hate them -- and I hate them. I'm being straight-forward with you. I don't like them."\nKillingsworth recalled a moment late in the game when a Kentucky player sarcastically told Killingsworth, "It's about time you beat us." To which Killingsworth replied, "Well, you can say whatever the hell you want, but you've got to go home five hours with a loss."\nIf the senior's talk wasn't enough to frustrate the Wildcats, his ability to draw fouls certainly helped. Killingsworth toed the free-throw line 14 times -- doing his part to give four different Wildcats four fouls.\n"If they are playing him man-to-man, I feel like he can score on just about anyone in the country," Davis said. "For us to have that presence in the paint ... We go as Marco goes."\nSome of that Kentucky frustration first boiled over with about 6:40 remaining in the first half. Killingsworth missed a free throw but rebounded his own miss. He took a quick drop step toward the hoop, pivoted, plowed over a Kentucky player in the process and finished with a gentle lay-in. As Kentucky quickly turned the ball up the court, the downed Wildcat grabbed Killingsworth's leg and the two continued to scrap until a charge was called on the opposite end.\nAnd again, five minutes into the second half, senior Marshall Strickland had to pull Killingsworth from another scrum along the sideline after a loose ball rolled out of bounds amid contact. \nAs frightening as a raging 268-pound Killingsworth might be, the potential for IU's offense when sophomore D.J. White returns might be even scarier to future opponents. Killingsworth said he hopes to see his counterpart in the post as soon as the next game.\nWhen White finally returns, he will join the man sophomore guard A.J. Ratliff described as "the biggest presence in the country right now."\nAs for what White's addition will mean to the team, Ratliff said, "that will just be gasoline to the fire, baby"

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