March 30, 1998
SAN ANTONIO (AP) – They’ve been called Rupp’s Runts, the Fiddlin’ Five andthe Fabulous Five.
Now they’re called the Comeback ‘Cats – and NCAA champions, too.
Kentucky capped a truly maddening March with an unprecedented second-halfrally, beating Utah 78-69 Monday night to win its second NCAA championship inthree years. The Wildcats did it this time with a new coach and without starsin their lineup.
In its third straight comeback of the tournament, Kentucky overcame thelargest halftime deficit – 10 points – in a championship game and won itsseventh national title.
“We always played poised and know never to give up,” forward Heshimu Evanssaid. “We just come back. We’re a fighting team. We’re the Comeback Cats.”
With Tubby Smith working the sideline instead of Rick Pitino and with formerstars Antoine Walker, Ron Mercer and Derek Anderson in the NBA, Kentucky movedone trophy closer to UCLA’s record total of 11.
It was the third straight year the Wildcats were in the championship game -they lost to Arizona in overtime last season – and the third straight year theyended Utah’s season in the NCAA tournament.
“We were so close last year and not too many teams get a chance to play inthe championship game three years in a row,” said Scott Padgett, who missedthe last national title while sitting out with academic problems. “But duringthe tournament I thought we were going to get it the whole time.”
Utah’s impressive run to what would have been the school’s second titleended because Kentucky did what No. 1 seeds Arizona and North Carolina couldn’tdo against the Utes – shoot well and wear them down.
Kentucky fell behind in the first half and trailed 41-31 at halftime.Thedeficit was as many as 12 points in the opening minutes of the second halfbefore Kentucky started hitting its shots and Utah lost the edge it had thelast two games.
“I just think it was fatigue,” Utah coach Rick Majerus said. “I thoughtKentucky made some difficult shots and I applaud them because we had a hand intheir face on those shots. We take our hats off to Kentucky because theywhipped us and they are number one but my guys are 1a.”
In the South Regional final, the Wildcats (35-4) battled back from a17-point second-half deficit against Duke and in the national semifinal theyfell behind by 10 before rallying to beat Stanford.
“There are three points to the comebacks and coach Smith has stressed themall season,” said Final Four MVP Jeff Sheppard, who sat out last season as ared-shirt. “The first is positive attitude then hard work and then teamwork.That’s about as simple as it gets, but it got us a national championship. Wedidn’t have to be flashy, just fundamental and look where it got us.”
Comeback ‘Cats is just the latest nickname for Kentucky. The 1948championship team was called the Fabulous Five and the 1958 champions were theFiddlin’ Five. Perhaps the most famous of them all were Rupp’s Runts, AdolphRupp’s 1966 team that lost to Texas Western (later Texas El-Paso) in the titlegame.
Kentucky’s comebacks were just part of what made the NCAA tournament specialthis year. It was filled with overtime games, buzzer beaters and surprises fromthe likes of Valparaiso and Rhode Island, Stanford and Utah.
But the Utes, who won the championship in 1944, couldn’t pull off one moreupset in the title game.
Utah, the second-best defensive team in the country this season, had heldits five tournament opponents to 39 percent shooting and an average of 62.5points.
Kentucky, which finished 29-for-57 from the field (51 percent), chipped awayat the lead in the second half by scoring on seven of 10 possessions.
The Wildcats went on a 9-0 run and took the lead for the first time sinceearly in the first half at 60-58 with 7:16 to play. Sheppard capped the rallywith a breakaway dunk after he stole the ball from Hanno Mottola.
Utah got the lead back at 62-60 on a driving layup by Andre Miller with 6:16left and even extended it by two more points when Miller fed Alex Jensen for alayup 23 seconds later.
But a 3-pointer by Cameron Mills, Kentucky’s fifth of the game – all in thesecond half – and a driving jumper by Sheppard with 4:53 left gave the Wildcatsthe lead for good.
Sheppard’s jumper was Kentucky’s last field goal until the a dunk by WayneTurner with 12 seconds to play. The Wildcats went 11-for-12 from the foul linedown the stretch and Utah’s solid offensive game went to pieces as it scored onjust two of its last 10 possessions.
“They did a good job defensively,” Utah center Michael Doleac said. “Ihad a hard time finding the open man and I had my shot blocked a couple oftimes and I knew that would happen. They are a solid team and a good programand well coached.”
Padgett led the Wildcats with 17 points, while Sheppard had 16.
Miller led the Utes with 16 points, while Mottola and Doleac each had 15 andJensen 14.
As the trophy was presented by Selection Committee chairman C.M. Newton, whoalso happens to be the athletic director at Kentucky and the man who pickedSmith to succeed Pitino, the crowd chanted “Tubby, Tubby.”
It seemed implausible that any coach could be more popular in Kentucky thanPitino had been in leading the program back from one of its lowest pointsfollowing probation. But Smith may have topped him in the one year since Pitinoleft to coach the Boston Celtics.
Smith was asked if he thought as the final seconds ticked away about thedoubters who questioned his hiring.
“It never crossed my mind,” he said. “I was happy for my players, mystaff and our fans. This program is more than a basketball program. It isreally a way of life, and people live and breath Kentucky basketball. I’m justhappy to be a small part of it.”
Kentucky is now 7-3 in NCAA championship games, and its record over Utah inthe last three seasons is 3-0 with a regional semifinal win two years ago and aregional final victory last season.
Utah (30-4) had beaten defending national champion Arizona in the WestRegional final in a 25-point laugher. The Utes had to hang on to beat NorthCarolina in the Final Four, but they couldn’t do it against Kentucky as theWildcats wore down the nation’s top rebounding team.
Utah finished with a 39-24 advantage on the boards, but in the laterpossessions Kentucky didn’t miss many shots.
In the first half, Utah went on a 10-0 run that Jensen started and endedwith layups off long passes to take a 34-23 lead. Kentucky did get within37-31, but the Utes scored the final four points of the half for the 10-pointlead.
The largest halftime deficit overcome in a title game had been eight points.Loyola (Ill.) beat Cincinnati 60-58 in overtime in 1963 after trailing 29-21 atthe half.
