''But the Duke game gave us confidence, knowing after we came back on them that we could do it tonight. It was just a matter of when.'' It took 45 minutes. The first 30 of those, Stanford led.
Though the Cardinal (30-5) held a 10-point lead 2 ï minutes into the second half, UK clawed back and took its first lead at 54-53 when Padgett sank two free throws with 10:04 left.
Buckle up. There would be nine lead changes in the next 7:04. With 2:54 left, UK fifth-year senior guard Jeff Sheppard heated up. He made a three-pointer to give UK a 69-68 lead, then hit another three with 1:11 left to make it a four-point lead.
Arthur Lee drove and missed a 15-footer, but Mark Madsen calmly grabbed the rebound and stuck it in.
Down 72-70, Stanford fouled. Wayne Turner sank the second of two free throws with 43.1 seconds left.
Stanford worked the ball to Lee, who put up a three-pointer over Turner. With 26.8 seconds left, the game was tied 73-73.
UK ground down the clock, and Turner drove the right side. He tried to bank in a shot shot over Lee with 4.5 seconds left. It banked off the glass, then off the front iron, and landed in Madsen's hands. Stanford had one last shot in regulation, taking the ball out of bounds with 1.1 seconds left, but Weems' 30-footer fell short. ''We weren't rattled,'' Evans said. ''It was a new ballgame. We just needed five minutes of hard work.''
UK seized momentum, scoring five quick points for a 78-73 lead. By the 2:05 mark, when Lee made three straight free throws, Stanford was within a point. Sheppard hit another three-pointer: 82-78. When Stanford reserve guard Ryan Mendez hit a three-pointer with 44 seconds left, UK's lead was just 83-82.
Turner made two free throws. Then Mendez, Weems and Lee all missed three-point tries, and Madsen fouled out trying to grab Sheppard. Sheppard made one of two free throws, giving him a career-high 27 points. With 15.4 seconds, it was an 86-82 lead.
Stanford raced upcourt, and forward Peter Sauer hit a three. Down one, Stanford called time with 9.2 seconds left.
After a tie-up - possession arrow: UK - Allen Edwards tossed long downcourt to Turner, who ran the clock down to 2.5 seconds left before being fouled.
He missed both free throws, but when Sauer rebounded, turned around and fired upcourt, it was just a harmless 80-foot shot that fell short.
''Just give us five more seconds, that's all I was asking for,'' Sauer said.
''Everyone was saying, 'This is our game, they're not going to take it from us. We want it more,' '' Edwards said.
UK is 6-3 in NCAA title games. Looking for an omen? Three of those titles came in 1948, 1958 and 1978.
''I don't know if this is destiny or not,'' Edwards said, ''but we've been working hard toward a goal. Now we're only one step short.''
Box score
STANFORD (85)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Sauer 22 3-4 0-0 1-7 0 2 8
Madsen 34 5-6 1-1 6-16 0 5 11
Young 28 5-11 0-0 4-7 2 5 10
Weems 41 6-23 2-3 1-1 4 1 17
Lee 41 6-12 9-9 0-3 5 4 26
Mosely 15 0-3 2-2 0-1 0 1 2
Mendez 11 1-4 0-0 0-1 0 1 3
Jar Collins 20 1-3 5-7 2-5 0 3 7
Mcdonald 4 0-1 0-0 0-1 1 0 0
Van Elswyk 3 0-1 1-2 0-0 0 1 1
Seaton 6 0-0 0-0 2-2 1 0 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 27-68 20-24 16-44 13 23 85
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.397, FT-.833. 3-Point Goals:
11-28, .393 (Sauer 2-3, Weems 3-11, Lee 5-8,
Mosely 0-2, Mendez 1-4). Team rebounds: 1.
Blocked shots: 5 (Madsen 2, Sauer, Young, Weems).
Turnovers: 13 (Lee 5, Madsen 2, Mosely 2, Seaton
2, Sauer, Weems). Steals: 2 (Jar Collins, Van
Elswyk).
KENTUCKY (86)
fg ft rb
min m-a m-a o-t a pf tp
Edwards 26 4-10 2-3 1-3 1 1 11
Padgett 38 2-8 6-6 2-6 2 3 10
Mohammed 24 7-14 4-6 2-5 0 4 18
Turner 35 2-8 4-9 1-2 4 2 8
Sheppard 33 9-15 5-7 0-6 4 3 27
Evans 28 2-7 0-0 2-6 2 2 4
Magloire 19 2-3 2-2 1-4 1 2 6
Smith 14 0-1 0-0 1-2 2 2 0
Mills 7 1-1 0-0 0-2 0 2 2
Bradley 1 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 1 0
_______________________________________________
TOTALS 225 29-67 23-33 10-36 16 22 86
_______________________________________________
Percentages: FG-.433, FT-.697. 3-Point Goals:
5-15, .333 (Edwards 1-2, Padgett 0-3, Sheppard
4-8, Evans 0-2). Team rebounds: 4. Blocked shots:
7 (Mohammed 3, Magloire 2, Evans, Turner).
Turnovers: 6 (Turner 3, Evans, Mills, Sheppard).
Steals: 8 (Padgett 3, Sheppard 2, Turner 2,
Mohammed).
_______________________________________
Stanford 37 36 12 - 85
Kentucky 32 41 13 - 86
_______________________________________
Technical fouls: None. A: 40,509. Officials: Tim
Higgins, Robert Donato, Larry Rose.
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