Monday, March 22, 1999
Blue note ends season for UK fans
BY KEVIN ALDRIDGE
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ST. LOUIS — It was like the parting of the “Blue” sea.
With their team down by five points with five seconds left to play Sunday against Michigan State, thousands of University of Kentucky fans were heading toward the exits. The season was about to end for the defending national champions.
“It's disappointing,” said Joe Ford of Louisville as he watched MSU players cut down the nets after the game. “You get used to going to the Final Four every year, and to lose like this is disappointing. We could very easily have won this game ...
they just wanted it more than we did at the end.”
Stunned UK fans stood motionless as the waning seconds ticked away in the NCAA Midwest Regional Final. The Wildcats' 73-66 loss to the region's top-seeded Spartans meant no rematch with Duke, no fourth consecutive trip to the Final Four, and most important, no repeat as national champions.
“I don't know if we could've beaten Duke anyway,” said Jeff Turner of Louisville.
Earlier Sunday, downtown St. Louis looked more like downtown Lexington and the Trans World Dome seemed more like Rupp Arena. The thousands of UK blue bloods in attendance outnumbered MSU fans by about 4 to 1.
UK fans entered the arena with their traditional swagger, brandishing “We Want Duke” signs and chanting “Let's go, Big Blue.”
Some fans predicted a double-digit victory. Others were making plans to travel to St. Petersburg, Fla., site of the coming weekend's Final Four.
But as the game wore on and UK's big lead dwindled — then vanished — the fans' swagger became a stagger and their cheers turned to tears. Some fans refused to comment as they stormed out of the arena, with the stinging sound of MSU fans chanting “Final Four!” driving them to the exits.
“I'm sorry to see Kentucky lose,” said Todd Creek of Louisville. “But if you would have asked me before the SEC Tournament, I would have told you I would've been happy if we made it this far in the NCAA Tournament.”
The loss snapped Kentucky's nine-game NCAA Tournament winning streak. The Wildcats finished the season with a 28-9 record.
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