West Virginia daily

LEXINGTON - After playing two games against lightly regarded opponents, Kentucky will face two straight top 20 teams in the Guardians Classic Monday and Tuesday. Yet UK coach Tubby Smith says his team likely won't learn any more in those games than it did against lesser competition.

"It's about practice at this time of year. You can learn as much in a competitive game no matter who you are playing," said Smith. "You do the best you can. If you come up short, you hope you learn from it. You want to play your best, but a lot of times you are not at your best this early. If you just improve, that's a positive at this time of year."

The eighth-ranked Wildcats play No. 20 Iowa Monday at 9 p.m. If they win, they'll play either No. 2 Texas or No. 14 West Virginia Tuesday at 10 p.m. If they lose Monday, they'll play the Texas-West Virginia loser Tuesday at 7 p.m.

"This is a big test for our team," Kentucky junior forward Sheray Thomas said. "We can't play the way we did the first two games and win. Iowa is a team that will exploit us if we don't play well. We've been disappointed in the way we've played, but it is still early in the year."

Thomas could play a key role in Monday's game because the Cats know they must contain 6-7 Iowa forward Greg Brunner, who is averaging 16 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Smith compared him favorably to former UK standout Chuck Hayes except that he's a better outside shooter than Hayes.

"Both are about the same build. He (Brunner) is very versatile and can guard a lot of people," Smith said. "His ability to rebound is pretty impressive."

"It's going to be a big challenge for our post players," Smith said. "When you look at Shagari (Alleyne), Jared (Carter) and Lukasz (Obrzut), they are not as physical as we would like them to be."

That's why Thomas knows he has to be able to hold his own with Brunner and/or Hansen depending on whether Smith plays him at power forward or center as he did much of the second half in Monday's win over Lipscomb.

"I've got to step up big," Thomas said. "I am looking forward to paying a big, physical dude (like Brunner) to see where I am. It will be good competition. Obviously, I've got to play better and play to the level of the competition."

Thomas is averaging 4.5 rebounds per game. Teammate Rekalin Sims, a forward, is pulling off 5.5 per game. However, the leading rebounder is guard Rajon Rondo (9.5) and another guard, Ravi Moss, is fourth (4.0).

Smith says part of the problem is that UK's centers are not as quick as Hayes or Erik Daniels, an undersized center who rebounded well. "Our post players cannot rebound except when the ball comes off directly to them. We need to just go get the ball," Smith said.

* Kentucky guard Patrick Sparks is third nationally in consecutive starts by an active player. He started his final 47 games at Western Kentucky and has now started 36 in a row at Kentucky to push his streak to 83 games.

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