INDIANAPOLIS - A year ago, Kentuckians were still stuck in their version of the Great Depression. Their Kentucky Wildcats hadn't won an NCAA basketball championship in 18 years and owned just one title the previous 38 seasons.
But by Tuesday morning, UK could crown itself kings for the second time in 365 days. With a lineup bearing only a distant resemblance to the championship crew of last season, the Wildcats have used guts and grace to will themselves to the brink of another title.
Outrunning third-ranked Minnesota in a 78-69 victory in the semifinals Saturday night in the RCA Dome, fifth-ranked UK (35-4) advances to face Arizona (24-9) for the title at 9:16 p.m. Monday.
''We're not last year's team,'' UK coach Rick Pitino said. ''But I've never coached a team with this much heart. We're tired, we're in foul trouble, we're banged up, and these guys keep digging in. I'm blown away from their grit.''
UK will be seeking its seventh NCAA title and second in a row. The only other school in the past 24 years to successfully defend its title is Duke (1991-92). UK's six titles are second only to UCLA's 11, and UK stands 6-2 in championship games.
Arizona, ranked 15th, reached the finals with a 66-58 victory against North Carolina, snapping the Tar Heels'
16-game winning streak. Arizona is a fourth seed in this tourney, and no fourth seed has yet won a title.
For a UK team which lost six players from its team last year and then saw star senior Derek Anderson tear knee ligaments Jan. 18, it's hard not to consider this a march of destiny.
''When we lost our superstar (Anderson), lot of people started to second-guess us,'' senior guard Anthony Epps said. ''But we kept a lot of faith in this locker room.''
Said sophomore center Nazr Mohammed: ''We don't have many big names: Ron Mercer, and it pretty much ends there. But we have great players who step up when their number is called.''
Saturday, all 10 of UK's scholarship players scored. That included Allen Edwards, who hit a big
three-pointer and gave 12 valuable minutes as Mercer suffered from leg cramps. And that even included Anderson, who offered an emotional lift when he entered the game in the second half to shoot two technical-foul free throws, which he made.
''You have to give this team a lot of credit for what it has overcome,'' Anderson said. ''I felt like I was still a part of the team by scoring those points. And my coming back after my setback showed if I can do it, the team can do it.''
The Wildcats did it with defense. UK shot just 38.3 percent, including a 7-of-21 night by Mercer (19 points), but it held Minnesota (31-4) to 42.2. And it wrung 26 turnovers from a team known for its backcourt.
UK sophomore guard Wayne Turner was everybody's star of the game, totaling eight points, six assists, five steals, four rebounds and just one turnover in 39 minutes of play.
''I don't know how he did it,'' Pitino said. ''He took on all that pressure, and then turned it around and gave pressure, penetrated when we needed it. He gave a remarkable performance.''
After UK took a 36-31 lead into intermission, it turned into a speed duel perhaps better suited for the brickyard across town. The Golden Gophers used an 8-4 run in the first three minutes to close the deficit to 40-39.
With 14:31 left, Minnesota coach Clem Haskins was called for a technical foul for arguing a call. With the crowd still buzzing about the call, Anderson made his first appearance since his Jan. 18 injury, calmly burying both shots as UK's crowd roared.
''That was very emotional for us watching him do that,'' Epps said.
Said Pitino: ''I'm just glad he had the opportunity to score two more points as a Wildcat.''
With UK up eight at 51-43 with 13:49 left, Minnesota charged back. Senior guard Bobby Jackson scored seven straight points, capped by a three-pointer, in a 9-0 run that gave Minnesota its only lead at 52-51.
But the defending champs answered with a 9-2 run of their own, with four different players scoring, to go ahead 60-54 with 7:48 left.
UK junior guard Cameron Mills, a former walk-on, made two free throws to push a four-point lead back to six. Sophomore guard Scott Padgett, academically ineligible for 18 months before returning to the team in December, made a huge three-pointer - his third of the game - to make it 65-57.
With 4:18 left, Mills made a three-pointer from the right corner to up the edge to 11 at 68-57.
Minnesota made one last push. Charles Thomas scored on an eight-foot jumper, James and Jackson each made a free throw, and the lead was down to 68-61. UK's Nazr Mohammed scored, but James answered with 2:15 left.
But Minnesota couldn't come closer, as UK added eight free throws in the final minutes as its fans chanted, ''Repeat.''
UK fifth-year senior forward Jared Prickett was jumping around in the locker room, thanking his teammates for giving him a chance for a title. He redshirted last season.
''It's a dream come true, but there's one more dream to go,'' he said.
Another blue-collar win for the Big Blue had Pitino beaming.
''Your best player has an off night, he's cramping up and you still beat a great team,'' Pitino said. ''It's unbelievable.''
No. It's the Unbelievables.
ANDERSON RETURNS, TECHNICALLY SPEAKING
BOX SCORE
ARIZONA GAME STORY
Final Four stories
'CATS, GOPHERS HUNGRY FOR MORE March 29, 1997
EPPS: FROM WALK-ON TO CO-CAPTAIN March 29, 1997
WILDCATS BOMBING AWAY March 28, 1997
FOND MEMORIES FOR PITINO March 27, 1997
PRICKETT GETS HIS CHANCE March 26, 1997
PITINO MASTER MANIPULATOR March 25, 1997
39 MINUTES? NO PROBLEM FOR MERCER March 24, 1997
NCAA Tournament stories
UK: 'TWO MORE TO HISTORY' March 23, 1997
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WAYNE March 23, 1997
DAUGHERTY COLUMN March 23, 1997
KENTUCKY THE UNDERDOG? March 22, 1997
MILLS BECOMES MR. BIG March 22, 1997
DAUGHERTY COLUMN March 22, 1997
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
