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By TOM WITHERS
AP Sports Writer

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The NCAA tournament’s top seed got sent back to its ol’ Kentucky home.

Mo Finley made a 17-foot jumper with 12.2 seconds left and ninth-seeded Alabama-Birmingham hung on to stun the heavily favored Wildcats 76-75 Sunday in the second round of the St. Louis Regional.

Kentucky’s Gerald Fitch missed a 3-pointer with 2.2 seconds left and Kelenna Azubuike’s tip rolled off the rim just before the final horn.

The Blazers (22-9) advanced to the round of 16 for the first time since 1982 with their second big upset of Kentucky in the NCAA tournament.

UAB’s win came almost exactly 23 years to the day that the Blazers beat Kentucky in the second round of the 1981 tournament – a victory the school had claimed as the turning point in its basketball program, which is celebrating its 25th anniversary this season.

This one might just top it.

Using a “40 minutes of Hell” attack that their coach Mike Anderson learned under Nolan Richardson at Arkansas, the Blazers took it to the Wildcats from the outset.

Official Basketball Box Score

  Official Basketball Box Score UAB vs Kentucky 3/21/04 4:57 PM ET at Nationwide Arena, Columbus, Ohio ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- - VISITORS: UAB (22-9) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 04 KENNEDY,Gabe........ f 6-13 0-0 1-2 4 4 8 1 13 2 1 0 0 30 23 EDDINS,Demario...... f 4-12 0-0 1-2 2 3 5 1 9 0 1 0 0 35 32 BALL,Sidney......... f 0-3 0-1 0-0 3 1 4 2 0 0 0 0 0 13 00 JOHNSON,Carldell.... g 3-5 3-4 0-0 1 0 1 4 9 5 4 0 3 26 10 FINLEY,Mo........... g 5-8 3-4 4-4 0 0 0 4 17 2 2 0 1 21 01 TAYLOR,Donell....... 6-10 1-3 0-1 1 0 1 3 13 1 2 1 1 17 02 TAYLOR,Ronell....... 3-8 1-5 0-1 1 4 5 3 7 7 0 0 2 23 03 LEWIS,Marques....... 1-2 0-1 2-3 1 0 1 0 4 0 0 0 0 10 21 JOHNSON,Tony........ 2-3 0-0 0-0 1 2 3 1 4 2 1 0 2 21 31 JONES,Richard....... 0-1 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 42 BROOM,Derrick....... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 44 TOBIAS,Brandon...... 0-2 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 TEAM................ 3 1 4 Totals.............. 30-67 8-18 8-13 18 15 33 19 76 19 12 1 9 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 16-34 47.1% 2nd Half: 14-33 42.4% Game: 44.8% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 6-11 54.5% 2nd Half: 2-7 28.6% Game: 44.4% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 4-8 50.0% 2nd Half: 4-5 80.0% Game: 61.5% 2 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- HOME TEAM: Kentucky (27-5) TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS ## Player Name FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF TP A TO BLK S MIN 14 DANIELS,Erik........ f 5-6 1-1 1-2 5 5 10 4 12 4 3 0 0 24 44 HAYES,Chuck......... f 2-4 0-0 2-2 3 8 11 3 6 3 4 2 0 33 01 HAWKINS,Cliff....... g 3-10 0-2 3-3 1 1 2 1 9 2 4 0 2 26 04 FITCH,Gerald........ g 5-16 4-9 3-4 3 4 7 2 17 1 2 0 2 38 24 AZUBUIKE,Kelenna.... g 5-11 0-3 2-3 4 1 5 3 12 3 2 2 0 37 02 MOSS,Ravi........... 2-2 2-2 0-0 1 1 2 1 6 0 0 0 0 9 05 CARRIER,Josh........ 0-0 0-0 0-0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 21 ALLEYNE,Shagari..... 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 23 THOMAS,Sheray....... 1-1 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 2 0 0 0 0 3 33 BARBOUR,Antwain..... 4-11 0-3 3-4 1 1 2 1 11 0 1 0 0 26 TEAM................ 1 1 Totals.............. 27-61 7-20 14-18 20 21 41 16 75 13 16 4 4 200 TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 12-28 42.9% 2nd Half: 15-33 45.5% Game: 44.3% DEADB 3-Pt. FG% 1st Half: 3-9 33.3% 2nd Half: 4-11 36.4% Game: 35.0% REBS F Throw % 1st Half: 6-9 66.7% 2nd Half: 8-9 88.9% Game: 77.8% 3,1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Officials: Reggie Greenwood, Karl Hess, Gary Maxwell Technical fouls: UAB-None. Kentucky-None. Attendance: 19588 Score by Periods 1st 2nd Total UAB........................... 42 34 - 76 Kentucky...................... 33 42 - 75 Points in the paint-UAB 30,UK 34. Points off turnovers-UAB 21,UK 14. 2nd chance points-UAB 19,UK 20. Fast break points-UAB 6,UK 3. Bench points-UAB 28,UK 19. Score tied-8 times. Lead changed-14 times. Last FG-UAB 2nd-00:12, UK 2nd-00:29.