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Cats do it Again For the third time this season, the Kentucky Wildcats defeated a conference opponent by a single point, as they edged out South Carolina, 65-64, to take sole possession of first place in the SEC East. The gritty Wildcats won despite being without the services of their leading scorer, Gerald Fitch, who was out with an injured finger on his shooting hand. Erik Daniels, the reigning SEC Conference Player of the Week, led the Cats with 17 points, on 7 of 11 shooting. Chuck Hayes also shot the ball well, 4 of 7, for 15 points, to go along with a team-high 11 rebounds. Kentucky led only once in the first half, 6-5, though they managed to even the score 27-27 at the break. In the second half, neither team could maintain an advantage for long, with 7 lead changes and 5 ties. Kentucky's 6-point lead with 11:33 remaining was the largest deficit of the half. With two minutes to go, South Carolina took a one-point lead, 60-59. At the other end of the court, Antwain Barbour slipped in the lane, but avoided the travel, pitching the ball out to teammate Kelenna Azubuike, who calmly drained a three-pointer, giving the Cats a 62-60 lead. As they had all afternoon, South Carolina answered, as Mike Boynton connected from downtown, and the Gamecocks led 63-62. But Barbour came up big again, completing a three-point play to put the Cats up 65-63. Carolina had a shot to tie the score, but Carlos Powell made only one of two free-throws. They got another chance after a turnover by Cliff Hawkins, but the Cats' defense forced them into a bad shot by Kerbrell Brown, giving Kentucky the game and first place. South Carolina out-shot the Cats (46%-41%), and made twice as many threes, but the Cats owned the glass, outrebounding the Gamecocks 41-26. Azubuike and Daniels helped Hayes on the glass, each pulling down 9 boards, while Cliff Hawkins did his part with 6. Antwain Barbour played a huge role, taking full advantage of his first start of the season with 10 points and two assists in 28 minutes, while turning it over only once. Box Score