Kentucky 74, Utah 54

NASHVILLE, March 23 (UPI) -- Hoping to celebrate the 100th anniversary of Kentucky basketball with a national championship, the top-seeded Wildcats used Utah as a punching bag again in the NCAA Tournament, rolling to a 74-54 victory Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Region.

Kentucky (31-3) extended its winning streak to 25 games, the school's second-longest since 1966, and will play fifth seed Wisconsin in the regional semifinals Thursday night at Minneapolis. The Wildcats are in the Sweet 16 for the ninth time in 11 years.

"It's always special to make it to the Sweet 16, but the roll we're on right now and the season that we've had so far, it feels extra good right now," Kentucky guard Keith Bogans said.

Bogans and Marquis Estill had 18 points apiece for the Wildcats.

Utah (25-8) has been knocked out of the NCAA Tournament five times in the last 11 years, all with Rick Majerus as coach. Ironically, the first one came in the second round in Nashville in 1993 and the last one was a heartbreaking 78-69 defeat in the 1998 national championship game.

The Wildcats raced to a 17-7 lead in the first seven minutes, increased the advantage to 37-23 at halftime and led by as many as 24 points in the second half.

"They have the look of being a Final Four team, if not a national championship team," Majerus said. "They took it to us. We would've liked to have had several days of practice to prepare."

It also did not help Majerus that most of the sellout crowd at the Gaylord Entertainment Center was clad in Kentucky blue. Utah's only highlight was a 12-4 run in the second half. Reserve Marc Jackson ignited it with a pair a free throws and a three-pointer and Tim Frost capped it with a layup and a three-pointer, pulling the Runnin' Utes within 51-42 with 10:48 left.

However, the Wildcats scored the next 11 points. Bogans had a three-pointer and a pair of free throws and Gerald Fitch added a basket and two free throws as Kentucky opened a 62-42 lead with 5:45 left

"Keith kept us going when they tried to make a run at us and made a big three," Kentucky Coach Tubby Smith said.

A pair of free throws by Cliff Hawkins increased the advantage to 72-48 with 3:08 remaining.

Kentucky outrebounded the Utes, 35-22, and held them to under 40 percent shooting.

Jackson led Utah with 19 points and Nick Jacobsen added 14. But the 6-10 Frost had fits inside with the 6-9 Estill, making just three of 11 shots for seven points.

"I like to play against guys taller than me," Estill said. "It's kind of a challenge to me."

Utah especially missed 6-9 Britton Johnsen, who is suffering from mononucleosis. Johnsen started in the 1998 title game.

"Obviously, it was difficult," Johnsen said. "I wanted to be on the court. No one wants to sit out, and it's something I don't really understand why it happened and why this time."

Kentucky pounded the ball inside for its first five baskets, three of them by Estill. That opened it up for Bogans, who hit a three-pointer, and Hawkins, who made a jumper, to give the Wildcats a 17-7 lead.

"Coach told us our game plan was to get the ball inside first," Bogans said. "We always play inside-out and once Marquis gets going and you don't trap down on him, he's hard to stop."

A 9-0 run later in the half, which featured two layups by Estill and a three-pointer by Fitch, increased the lead to 33-15 with 4:27 left.

After Utah pulled within 35-23, Bogans closed the half with a layup.