Kentucky survives without Bogans

? Keith Bogans stood in front of the bench and cupped his hands together, silently pleading for his Kentucky teammates to pull through without him.

As they have throughout a remarkable winning streak, the Wildcats showed their balance and power Thursday night and gave the injured Bogans his wish.

With Bogans out because of a sprained left ankle, Marquis Estill scored a career-high 28 points and the Wildcats ran their winning streak to 26 games, holding off scrappy Wisconsin 63-57 in the Midwest Regional semifinals.

Bogans, the Wildcats’ top scorer and floor leader, was hurt late in the first half. The star guard’s status for Saturday was uncertain.

“We’re not sure about the extent of Keith’s injury,” coach Tubby Smith said. “We know it’s a high ankle sprain. They took an X-ray, so there’s no crack or anything of that nature. It’s just something he’s going to have to get treatment on and hopefully he’ll be ready Saturday.”

Top-seeded Kentucky (32-3) will try for another trip to the Final Four when it meets Marquette Saturday.

“Keith is a big part of the team, but we’ve got a lot of guys who can step up their roles. It was a prime example tonight,” Wildcats guard Gerald Fitch said.

“That’s our leader. We just had to win this one without him,” Kentucky’s Chuck Hayes said. “He’s been there vocally the whole year. That’s your family member right there.”

If Bogans can’t play, the Wildcats will need another big game from the 6-9, 240-pound Estill, who hit 12 of 18 shots.

Kentucky's Keith Bogans, right, drives against Wisconsin's Freddie Owens. The Wildcats survived a scare from the Badgers and won, 63-57, Thursday in Minneapolis.

“My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball,” Estill said. “I knew they would keep doing what they did in the first half. I knew they wouldn’t change. We kept our composure. We knew they’d have a lot of fans here.”

Bogans sprained his ankle with 3:32 left in the first half. Wisconsin’s Kirk Penney lost the ball under the basket, turned around to run back down the floor and fell over the Kentucky star.

“I made an up-and-under move. I kind of went into him and I think he fell awkwardly. Then I was coming back on defense, didn’t see him and tripped over him, so it was kind of a double whammy,” Penney said.

Bogans winced on the bench during a timeout, lobbied to get back in and then limped on the court with just under two minutes left. But hampered and in obvious pain, he headed to the locker room with 53 seconds to go in the half.

He didn’t take part in warmups before the second half but finally limped to the Kentucky bench five minutes in.

When Bogans finally rejoined the bench, the Wildcats went on a 12-4 run and held Wisconsin without a field goal for more than six minutes, taking a 50-44 lead with 9:19 left and looking as if they were ready to pull away.

But the fifth-seeded Big Ten champs, bolstered by thousands of thundering red-clad fans who had an easy drive across the Wisconsin state line to the Metrodome, wouldn’t go away.

“We let a close game slip away against the top team in the country,” said Wisconsin’s Freddie Owens, whose last-second three-pointer had beaten Tulsa in the second round. He was only 1-of-8 from the field Thursday night.

Kentucky’s defense also tightened up in the second half on Penney, who had 17 first-half points and then just three the rest of the way.

“We got killed in the paint. It really stings. If a couple of those late shots go down, it could have been totally different. It’s eating me up,” Owens said.

The Badgers (24-8) made their last surge when Mike Wilkinson had a layup and Devin Harris made two spectacular driving baskets to cut the lead to two with just under seven minutes left.

Again the Wildcats went inside and Estill muscled in for another basket and then hit two free throws as the Wildcats regained a six-point lead.

“Our whole game plan was to get Marquis the ball. They’re a very small team, especially in the post,” Fitch said. “We knew they would guard him 1-on-1. We don’t think anyone can guard him 1-on-1.”