SAN JOSE, Calif. - The sulking was short-lived. When this Kentucky basketball season hit its lowest ebb following Derek Anderson's midseason knee injury, even coach Rick Pitino allowed that a Final Four trip felt far-fetched.
Saturday, two months to the day after hearing about Anderson's injury, those woes were just as distant. The defending NCAA champions won the West Regional and clinched a return trip to the Final Four with a 72-59 victory against Utah at San Jose Arena, earning an unlikely spot in Wildcat lore.
''This is about the proudest moment in my life as a basketball coach,'' Pitino said. ''This team is unbelievable, overcoming every kind of adversity. And the fun's just starting now.''
UK (34-4) advanced to play Minnesota (31-3) in a national semifinal next Saturday at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis. Minnesota, the Midwest Regional's top seed, advanced to its first Final Four with an 80-72 victory against UCLA on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.
This is UK's 12th Final Four appearance and the third in Pitino's eight seasons. UK has six national championships, second only to UCLA's 11.
Pitino marked the occasion by scrawling the following message in on the locker room blackboard: ''Two more to history - you've deserved everything!''
The way these Wildcats redoubled their efforts after graduations and injuries robbed them of eight of last year's players is what will make this season stand out. Six of the eight Wildcats who played Saturday were non-factors last season.
Jared Prickett was redshirting. Scott Padgett was academically ineligible. Cameron Mills and Nazr Mohammed starred only on the JV team. Wayne Turner was a little-used
reserve. Jamaal Magloire was in high school.
The only Wildcats playing Saturday who saw significant time last season were senior guard Anthony Epps and sophomore forward Ron Mercer, and Mercer was a reserve last year.
''We never said die,'' Mills said. ''We never said no. We kept fighting. We kept playing basketball, and we kept getting better.''
Utah (29-4) entered on a 1
14-game winning streak, but this was its first Elite Eight appearance since 1966. UK had eliminated it from two of the past four NCAA tournaments, including a 101-70 beating in a regional semifinal last season.
UK had a 34-20 lead just before halftime behind Mercer's 15
first-half points. But then Utah put the clamps on Mercer and its guards started solving UK's pressure defense. In a lengthy Utah surge, junior guard Andre Miller scored seven straight points and junior backcourt mate Drew Hansen made a three-pointer with 9:40 left to tie the game at 43.
Pitino called a timeout.
''You can leave this huddle a winner, or you can go home, say we had a nice run and wonder, 'What if,' '' Pitino said.
He challenged Mercer to respond.
''We can't win without you,'' Pitino said. ''I know you're tired, but you can rest tomorrow.''
Pitino ran UK's ''X'' set, which calls for Mercer to curl off a screen for an 18-foot jumper. He made it, and UK was back in the lead.
Mohammed blocked Keith Van Horn's shot, and Mercer made a 15-footer on another ''X'' set. Prickett scored on a pair of lob passes and Epps hit a three-pointer, and UK was back up 54-47 with 6:53 left.
Utah couldn't answer. Epps hit seven free throws down the stretch to seal the win, pumping his fist to the crowd after the last.
Mercer finished with 21 points and was named the region's Most Outstanding Player. Epps scored 15, and Turner had 12 points, five steals, four assists and no turnovers.
Even Anderson got into the act, dashing onto the court with Epps dribbling out the clock with six seconds left. Anderson streaked over to Turner and hugged him, then was the first player to cut down the nets.
UK even bore good news in its locker room. Junior forward Allen Edwards, declared out for the season last Wednesday with a hairline fracture in his right ankle, has now been cleared to play this week.
''When we lost to Clemson (in the season opener), I thought with the teams on our schedule we'd be lucky to go .500,'' Pitino said. ''We've come a long way. It all stems from defense. If you play great defense, you always have a chance to win.''
It's time to dream bigger.
''I'd be lying if I said we expected to be here,'' Mills said. ''But I don't think there's anything stopping us now. We can win this thing.''
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WAYNE
DAUGHERTY COLUMN
GOPHERS DIG OUT OF HOLE
MARCH MADNESS PAGE
UTAH (59)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Hansen 33 2-4 0-0 1-3 4 5 6
Van Horn 38 5-12 4-4 2-8 1 2 15
Doleac 29 4-10 4-4 2-4 1 3 13
Caton 35 4-7 1-2 0-2 3 0 9
A Miller 33 4-9 2-2 0-3 5 1 11
Mctavish 3 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
Mottola 13 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 2 2
J Johnsen 7 0-0 0-0 1-2 0 2 0
Jackson 9 1-4 0-0 0-2 1 2 3
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 21-50 11-12 6-25 15 18 59
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.420, FT-.917. 3-Point Goals:
6-15, .400 (Hansen 2-3, Van Horn 1-2, Doleac 1-2,
Caton 0-1, A Miller 1-4, Jackson 1-3). Team
rebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 1 (Van Horn).
Turnovers: 17 (Doleac 4, A Miller 3, J Johnsen 3,
Mottola 2, Van Horn 2, Caton, Jackson, Mctavish).
Steals: 6 (Hansen 2, A Miller, J Johnsen,
Jackson, Van Horn).
KENTUCKY (72)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Mercer 38 10-17 0-0 1-3 2 2 21
Padgett 21 4-10 2-2 3-5 2 2 11
Magloire 13 0-0 0-0 0-1 0 2 0
Turner 35 6-12 0-3 0-3 4 2 12
Epps 33 2-5 9-10 1-3 6 0 15
Mills 14 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 3 0
Prickett 28 4-8 0-2 3-10 4 3 8
Mohammed 18 2-6 1-2 3-7 0 0 5
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 200 28-59 12-19 11-33 19 14 72
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.475, FT-.632. 3-Point Goals:
4-15, .267 (Mercer 1-2, Padgett 1-6, Turner 0-1,
Epps 2-5, Prickett 0-1). Team rebounds: 2.
Blocked shots: 2 (Padgett, Mohammed). Turnovers:
9 (Epps 4, Mercer 2, Prickett 2, Mohammed).
Steals: 8 (Turner 5, Epps, Mercer, Prickett).
__________________________________
Utah 24 35 - 59
Kentucky 34 38 - 72
__________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 18,543. Officials: Ted
Valentine, Tom Oneil, Art Mcdonald.
Previous NCAA Tournament stories
KENTUCKY THE UNDERDOG?
MILLS BECOMES MR. BIG
DAUGHERTY COLUMN
KENTUCKY 83, ST. JOSEPH'S 68 March 21, 1997
WITH ANDERSON OR WITHOUT, UK KEEPS ROLLING Daugherty column, March 21, 1997
ST. JOE'S ASSUMES 'ROCKY' ROLE March 20, 1997
WILDCATS SUDDENLY DEPLETEDMarch 20, 1997
DECISION BELONGED TO ANDERSON Daugherty column, March 20, 1997
UK ROLLS DICE WITH ANDERSON March 19, 1997
ANDERSON RETURNING TO WILDCATS March 18, 1997
BUCKLE UP, UK FANS; ANOTHER TOUGH ONE COMING March 17, 1997
UK 75, IOWA 69 March 16, 1997
UK'S DEPTH NOT JUST PERCEPTION, IT'S REALITY March 16, 1997
PITINO PAINTS SCARY PICTURE March 15, 1997
TURNER, MILLS EMERGING March 15, 1997
UK 92, MONTANA 54 March 14, 1997
PITINO URGES UK TO KEEP FOCUS March 13, 1997
NCAA DROPPED WHOPPER ON MONTANA March 12, 1997
PITINO: SEEDING COMMITTEE 'BLEW IT' March 11, 1997
WILDCATS SIGHT BIGGER GOALS March 10, 1997
MONTANA SHEEP FOR SLAUGHTER March 10, 1997
SEC Tournament stories
UK 95, GEORGIA 68 March 10, 1997
UK 88, MISSISSIPPI 70 March 9, 1997
UK 92, AUBURN 50 March 8, 1997
PITINO SEEKS BETTER SHOOTING, FEWER FOULS March 7, 1997
CATS START TOURNEY AS PAPER TIGERS March 6, 1997
CATS HAVE NINE LINEUPS March 5, 1997
SEC FINAL: UK-CAROLINA? March 3, 1997
