New Orleans ? Kentucky’s Tubby Smith and Xavier’s David West were honored Friday as The Associated Press coach and player of the year.

Smith was a runaway winner, receiving 58 votes from the 72-member national panel that selects the weekly AP Top 25. Skip Prosser of Wake Forest was second with seven.

Smith led the Wildcats to a 32-4 record and the No. 1 ranking in the final AP poll of the season. Kentucky lost to Marquette, 83-69, in the Midwest Regional final, ending the Wildcats’ 26-game winning streak.

“This team played as a great group,” Smith said. “They functioned as one. That’s the ultimate in coaching, getting everybody on the same page. They did that as well as any team I’ve ever been around.

“Our leadership within the team was a great group of guys who trusted one another, trusted the coaching staff and believed in what we were doing.”

Smith won the national championship with Kentucky in 1998, his first season in Lexington, following stints with Tulsa and Georgia. Smith is the second Kentucky coach to win the AP award, joining Eddie Sutton (1986).

West received 30 votes as player of the year, ahead of Texas sophomore guard T.J. Ford (19) and senior forward Josh Howard of Wake Forest (10). Kansas’ Nick Collison received three votes.

West, also the leading vote-getter on the AP All-America team, is the first Xavier player to receive the Adolph Rupp Trophy.