By Neil Schmidt
The Cincinnati Enquirer

COLUMBUS - Champions live charmed lives, and so one comes to expect Kentucky's last-second shots to fall.

Which led us to Sunday, and to Gerald Fitch spotting up for a 3-pointer with three seconds left and the season on the line.

"I thought it was good," teammate Cliff Hawkins said.

Said teammate Ravi Moss: "I thought we won."

PHOTO GALLERY

Photos from UK game

Then the ball skipped off the rim, and suddenly two Wildcats had tips, neither one landed, and now a season's worth of karma had come crashing down in a heap. Gerald Fitch walked over and sat on the end of the scorer's table, wearing a look of disbelief. America shared that shock: Alabama-Birmingham 76, Kentucky 75.

The Wildcats retreated to the locker room and hardly heard coach Tubby Smith's words of consolation. "I wasn't paying attention," Antwain Barbour said.

After winning all seven games in which the outcome was decided by five points or fewer, after playing its way into the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, UK (27-5) fell from grace quickly here in the second round. A rash of late turnovers and spotty defense allowed the Blazers (22-9) to rally into the lead, and UK's Hollywood finish never materialized.

UAB advances to its first Sweet 16 since 1982 and will face Kansas in the St. Louis regional semifinals.

"I don't know what happened," Barbour said. "It ended so quick. It's over. We let it slip away again."

Said teammate Kelenna Azubuike: "This is a tough pill to swallow. I'm still in shock right now."

Unlike last season, when Marquette's nearly perfect outing and an injury to All-American Keith Bogans conspired to keep UK from the Final Four, this was a loss that begged for answers.

The Wildcats fell to a No. 9 seed, the lowest to beat them in March since 1987. Of the nine times since seeding began in 1979 that they held a No. 1 seed, this was their earliest exit.

They committed 16 turnovers, were outshot (although just 44.8 percent to 44.3), allowed the smaller Blazers 18 offensive rebounds, and struggled to convert inside.

"I guess they wanted it more than us," Fitch said. "They just made bigger plays than us."

Then there was the damning finish. UK had the ball and a 71-67 lead with 2:19 left, but three consecutive turnovers paved the way for UAB.

First, UK was whistled for five seconds when Chuck Hayes couldn't find anyone to inbounds to.

After Demario Eddins (CQed) missed a shot, UK's Erik Daniels rebounded but was trapped along the baseline, and his pass was stolen by Carldell (CQed) Johnson. Johnson whistled a pass to Eddins for a layup.

UK raced upcourt, but Azubuike was called for charging into Gabe Kennedy. Seconds later, UAB's Mo (CQed) Finley drained a 3-pointer, and the Blazers led 72-71 with 1:38 left.

"Those (turnovers) just broke our back," Smith said. They were three straight - three turnovers that just crushed us."

UK answered with a Hawkins 17-footer for the lead. UAB fed Kennedy inside for a 5-foot jumper. Then UK got the lead one final time when Azubuike dunked in an offensive rebound: 75-74 with 29 seconds left.

UAB got penetration by Johnson, and UK's defenders collapsed, so he kicked it outside to an open Finley. Finley ducked under a charging Hayes and nailed the 19-footer for the lead with 12.2 seconds left.

Finley came out of the game for a defensive substitution and buried his face on the bench, too nervous to watch.

Hawkins came off a screen, penetrated the lane and kicked it out. Fitch, who has had game-saving or game-tying shots in his career against North Carolina, Florida and Tennessee, squared up cleanly.

"I had a pretty good look," he said. "That's the shot I was supposed to make. I just didn't make it."

Said Finley: "When I didn't hear the crowd erupt, I knew we had won."

UAB had carved the upset in part by taking a 13-point first-half lead, the largest deficit UK had faced all year. Several Wildcats said the team was lethargic before halftime.

UK still trailed by 10 points with 12 minutes left, but a 23-7 run put it up by six with five minutes left.

Yet the Blazers never buckled.

"Nobody besides the 15 guys in this locker room thought we'd win," Johnson said.

UAB	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Kennedy	30	6	13	1	2	8	2	1	1	13
Eddins	35	4	12	1	2	5	0	1	1	9
Ball	13	0	3	0	0	4	0	2	0	0
C.Johnson	26	3	5	0	0	1	5	4	4	9
Finley	21	5	8	4	4	0	2	4	2	17
D.Taylor	17	6	10	0	1	1	1	3	2	13
R.Taylor	23	3	8	0	1	5	7	3	0	7
Lewis	10	1	2	2	3	1	0	0	0	4
T.Johnson	21	2	3	0	0	3	2	1	1	4
Jones	1	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	1	0
Broom	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Tobias	2	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Totals	200	30	67	8	13	29	19	19	12	76

Team rebounds - 4.

Kentucky	M	FG	Att	FT	Att	R	A	F	TO	TP
Daniels	24	5	6	1	2	10	4	4	3	12
Hayes	33	2	4	2	2	11	3	3	4	6
Hawkins	26	3	10	3	3	2	2	1	4	9
Fitch	38	5	16	3	4	7	1	2	2	17
Azubuike	37	5	11	2	3	5	3	3	2	12
Moss	9	2	2	0	0	2	0	1	0	6
Carrier	2	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
Alleyne	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Thomas	3	1	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	2
Barbour	26	4	11	3	4	2	0	1	1	11
Totals	200	27	61	14	18	40	13	16	16	75

Team rebounds - 1.

UAB	42	34	-76
Kentucky	33	42	-75

3-pointers - UAB 8-18 (Ball 0-1, C.Johnson 3-4, Finley 3-4, D.Taylor 1-3, R.Taylor 1-5, Lewis 0-1), UK 7-20 (Daniels 1-1, Hawkins 0-2, Fitch 4-9, Azubuike 0-3, Moss 2-2, Barbour 0-3). Technicals - None. Officials - N/A. Attendance - 19,588.

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E-mail nschmidt@enquirer.com