At some point, you just knew North Carolina would make a run at Kentucky.In fact, it wasn’t just one run. The Tar Heels, behind star freshman Harrison Barnes and Tyler Zeller, repeatedly came at UK, mounting rally after rally and severely testing the will of the fourth-seeded Wildcats.In the face of adversity, Brandon Knight, DeAndre Liggins and a bevy of Cats simply would not wilt, leading UK to a 76-69 Elite Eight victory and a long-awaited return trip to the Final Four next weekend in Houston. It’s the program’s 14th Final Four appearance and first since 1998.Every time North Carolina threatened, UK answered with a big shot.”The resiliency this team showed was unbelievable,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “It got late, they tied it up and we didn’t back away.”That resiliency came in the form of cold-blooded shot-making right when it looked as if the Tar Heels might just complete another comeback, something that has been a hallmark of their runs in both the NCAA and Atlantic Coast Conference tournaments.Coming out of halftime trailing 38-30, the Heels wasted no time in testing the Wildcats, scoring consecutive baskets to close within four. However, Liggins was there for the first of many answers, draining a 3-pointer with 17:18 remaining. After a stop, Knight quickly followed with a trey of his own to extend the lead to double digits.For the remainder of the second half, UNC continually came at UK, but Knight, Liggins, Darius Miller, Josh Harrellson and Terrence Jones all hit clutch shots that might have been back-breakers for a lesser team, but the Tar Heels would not go down without a final fight.Barnes led the way for UNC’s last stand. He scored eight straight, slicing UK’s lead to 67-65 before Tyler Zeller hit a pair of free throws with 3:18 remaining to create the game’s first tie since early in the opening half. UK was in for another last-minute nail-biter to match the Wildcats opening three NCAA Tournament games, but Calipari had faith in his team.”There were a couple times I thought about calling timeouts and I did not want my guys to think I didn’t believe in them,” Calipari said. “I wanted them to play through it.”With two buzzer beaters already in his tournament highlight reel, Knight also believed. Knight, the East Region’s Most Outstanding Player, was right to be confident, drilling a 3 on a Miller pass to give UK a three-point cushion.Although Knight will received deserved attention for his clutch play and game-high 22 points, plenty of Wildcats hit big shots on this day and it was someone other than Knight hit the biggest of all.”It wasn’t only me that hit big shots,” Knight said. “I think DeAndre hit the biggest shot of the game, you know, when we were up by one to put us up by four. It shows how not only me, but the rest of our team can really make big-time shots.”
After consecutive empty possessions with UK up one, it was Liggins, known more for his defense than his offense, that delivered the final Wildcat answer with 35 seconds remaining. On another Miller feed, Liggins made a corner 3-pointer to make it a two-possession ballgame.”Darius drove the ball, they collapsed on him, he kicked it out and I had confidence to make it,” Liggins said.In closing out the game, Liggins reminded everyone why his reputation comes from his defense, heavily contesting a pair of the Heels’ desperation 3-point attempts, prompting Calipari to pull the junior aside and kiss him on the forehead. Though Liggins appreciated his coach’s sentiment, he was more focused on the fact that time was still on the clock.”We still had a game to play,” said Liggins, who scored 10 of his 12 points in the second half. “The game wasn’t over.”Wildcat fans were likely thankful for that attitude, bearing in mind that Kentucky had dropped two previous regional finals against UNC and was in the midst of a 13-year Final Four drought.  Thirteen years is not a great deal of time in the grand scheme of things, but when it comes to Kentucky basketball, going that long without making a Final Four can make that amount of time feel like an eternity. These Wildcats have not been around for all of that time, but they have an understanding of what it means to have the program back on the game’s biggest stage and the fact that they did it after some early season struggles makes it even sweeter.”We got Kentucky back, and a lot of people doubted us this year,” Harrellson said. “We know we really struggled early in the season, lost a few games we should have won. We really pulled it together as a team and, you know, we’re back now.”