Seawolves March out
THERE WILL be no glass slipper for the Stony Brook Seawolves, any hope of a Cinderella run dissipating quickly against one of the behemoths of college hoops.
In t hei r f i r s t- e ver NCA A Tou r na ment appearance, the No. 13 Seawolve s were sent packing from Des Moines, Iowa Thursday night by No. 4 Kentucky in an 85-57 drubbing in a first-round, East Region matchup.
“Seeing them live, they’re better than I thought,” Stony Brook coach Steve Pikiell said of Kentucky. “They can overwhelm you.”
Seeming nervous tangoing with a national powerhouse i n the big dance, the America East champions were abysmal from the field, sinking just seven of 37 attempts in the first half, missing all five 3-point attempts, as they couldn’t connect on easy l ooks inside the paint. They f i n ished 20 -for76 (26%) from the field. Kentucky (27-8) was just as bad early but picked up steam after the midway point of the first half, going on an 18-3 run to take a 28-13 lead. At one point, Stony Brook went more than eight minutes without a field goal before Rayshaun McGrew’s jumper with 5:39 left in the first half cut the deficit to seven.
Stony Brook never led in the game and was last tied at 10-10 midway through the first half. It trailed by 14 at halftime and less than eight minutes into the second half it found itself down 60-30. The Wildcats were red hot coming out of the intermission, making 12 of their first 15 shots of the second half, converting their first three 3-point attempts of the period.
“Once you get on the court with (Kentucky) you see how talented they are,” said senior Jameel Warney, who had 23 points and 15 rebounds. “They’re going to be in the Final Four.”