updated 2:58 a.m. ET March 17, 2007

CHICAGO - Tubby Smith was walking off the floor when a fan called out, “Yeah, Tubby! You rock!”

Nothing like another Kentucky win in the NCAA tournament to get the critics off of Smith’s back. For one day, at least.

Randolph Morris finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds, and eighth-seeded Kentucky flexed its muscle in the second half for a 67-58 victory over ninth-seeded Villanova in the West Regional on Friday night.

Jodie Meeks (12), Ramel Bradley (11) and Joe Crawford (10) also finished in double figures.

“I always felt we have an unbelievable amount of talent, it’s a matter of playing together,” Smith said. “There can be those negative things that will send you into a tailspin if you allow them. I think because of some of the tight losses and games we’ve had, that’s been the case. Randolph has taken it on himself to be a focal point and accept the responsibility of being a leader.”

Villanova (22-11) doesn’t have the firepower of last season’s team, and it didn’t have the consistency to pull off the victory. Mike Nardi, playing on a badly sprained left ankle, missed two wide-open 3-pointers in the last 2 minutes, one of which would have pulled Villanova within two.

Scottie Reynolds, Big East rookie of the year, came up big in his first NCAA tournament appearance with 23 points, including 8-of-12 shooting from the line. Curtis Sumpter added 19 in his first tournament game in almost two years.

“We didn’t think we played great,” ’Nova coach Jay Wright said. “You’ve got to give Kentucky credit. I told (Villanova) it’s tough finishing when you don’t think you played great.”

Kentucky (22-11) advanced to the second round for the 16th straight year and will play top-seeded Kansas on Sunday.

MEN’S NCAA TOURNAMENT RESULTS Friday’s games SOUTH REGIONAL Memphis 73, North Texas 58 Virginia 84, Albany 57 Tennessee 121, Long Beach St. 86 Nevada 77, Creighton 71, OT MIDWEST REGIONAL UNLV 67, Georgia Tech 63 Winthrop 74, Notre Dame 64 Wisconsin 76, Texas A&M C.C. 63 Oregon 58, Miami of Ohio 55 Purdue 72, Arizona 63 Florida 112, Jackson State 69 WEST REGIONAL Kansas 107, Niagara 67 Virginia Tech 54, Illinois 52 Kentucky 67, Villanova 58 Southern Illinois 61, Holy Cross 51 EAST REGIONAL Texas 79, New Mexico State 67 Southern California 77, Arkansas 60

“It means a lot, to get our confidence back and show what a good team we are,” Crawford said. “Once we got one game under our belt, I think the next game’s going to be a lot better.”

The last few weeks haven’t been easy for Kentucky. The team came into the tournament with losses in six of its last nine games, and Smith has been criticized so heavily that athletic director Mitch Barnhart felt compelled to give him a vote of confidence earlier this week.

Though players insisted they haven’t been distracted, they looked sluggish for much of the first half and fell behind early in the second. But Crawford, who made only one basket in the first half, drained a 3-pointer to put Kentucky up 40-36, and the southern ’Cats were off and running.

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Meeks hit a pull-up jumper, and Bobby Perry followed with a hook shot to give Kentucky a 44-37 lead. Sumpter halted the Kentucky spurt with a layup, but Meeks came right back and buried a 3.

When Morris converted a pair of free throws to push the lead to 49-39 with 8:26 left, the Kentucky fans were on their feet and cheering like it was the good old days.

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“I think we got on the boards, rebounded real well and started sharing the ball,” Sheray Thomas said. “That led to easy baskets, we started making free throws and got the lead boosted up to 10 points.”

Smith won a national title his first year at Kentucky, has been to the NCAA tournament in each of the last 14 years and has a winning percentage that most coaches would envy.

But the expectations are different at Kentucky, the winningest program in college basketball. NCAA appearances are nice, but the Kentucky faithful want — make that expect — the team to contend for a national title every year.

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