March 30, 1998
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – Kentucky found the winning edge for another nationaltitle right on its own bench.
Reserves Heshimu Evans, Cameron Mills, and Jamaal Magloire gave the Wildcatsthe spark they needed to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit in a 78-69victory over Utah in the NCAA championship game Monday night.
“Everyone said at the beginning of the season that our bench wouldn’t bethat strong,” said Mills, whose first 3-pointer tied the game 58-58 with 7:41left. “But our confidence during the season kept building and building. Wedeveloped into one of the best benches in the nation.”
Kentucky’s bench, led by Evans’ 10 points, outscored Utah’s reserves 25-7 asthe Wildcats won their second national title in three years and seventhoverall.
“Everybody looked at all the starters on both teams but deep down inside weknew it had to come from the bench,” Wayne Turner, Kentucky’s starting guard,said.
Kentucky became the first team to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit,trailnig 41-31 at the break. It also marked the 10th time in 12 games that theWildcats rallied after trailing at the half.
In the second half, when Kentucky needed it the most, the Wildcats’ benchhad an 18-2 edge over the Utes’ subs.
Kentucky missed all six of its shots from 3-point range in the first half,and trailed 47-37 with 16:35 left after Utah’s Hanno Mottola hit two freethrows.
Evans then drilled a 3-pointer to end Kentucky’s drought, and followed withanother from the left wing as the Wildcats trimmed the deficit to 50-43 with15:15 left. He came back 20 seconds later with a driving layup after a Utahturnover to close the gap to five points.
“When he shot that first 3, I knew it was going in,” Turner said. “Thenhe started rebounding. He did so much out there. I think he’s one of the bettersmall forwards in the country.”
Mills, a former walk-on who saw limited playing time in the tournament,connected on a 3-pointer from the corner as Kentucky finally pulled even at58-all with 7:41 to go.
Utah, despite showing signs of wearing down in the final minutes, managed togo up 64-60 on Alex Jensen’s layup at 5:52. But Mills came to the rescue again,hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key to cut the lead to one point. Upuntil the title game, Mills connected on two 3s in five tournament games.
Magloire, who had the task of stopping Utah’s tough inside game after NazrMohammed picked up his fourth foul, added two free throws to put the Wildcatsahead 67-64 with 4:16 to go.
“I feel my defense helped stop their momentum,” Magloire said.
Mills finished with eight points, Magloire had seven points, three blockedshots and two rebounds. Evans, meanwhile, had a team-high six rebounds.
Magloire, a starter in last year’s loss to Arizona in the championship game,predicted several weeks ago that the Wildcats were on course to win anothertitle.
“I thought all along that we would be the national champions,” saidMagloire, whose three blocks tied a championship-game record shared by sevenother players. “This team has worked too hard not to wear the crown. I said wewould win and we did.”
With a lot of help from the bench.
