Kentucky Continues Past Duke, 86-84
Just like 1992, Kentucky erased a big second-half lead in its NCAA regional final against Duke. Only this time, the Wildcats erased the memory, too.
The Wildcats, haunted for six years for losing to Duke in perhaps the greatest college game ever played, rallied from an 18-point deficit to beat the top-seeded Blue Devils 86-84 Sunday in the South Regional final.
Just like six years ago in Philadelphia, Duke (32-4) trailed in the final seconds and had a chance to win it with a buzzer-beater. But freshman William Avery couldn't replicate Christian Laettner's shot-heard-round-the-world jumper that ended Duke's 104-103 victory that year, missing a running 30-footer off the backboard as time expired.
Kentucky (33-4), the No. 2 seed, plays Stanford in the Final Four on Saturday in San Antonio. A win would send the Wildcats to their third consecutive national championship game, this time against either Utah or North Carolina, but their first under new coach Tubby Smith.
The hottest team in college basketball with 11 consecutive victories, the Wildcats fell behind by 18 points -- 38-20 -- after a 17-0 Duke run and trailed 69-52 with just over 10 minutes left.
But the Wildcats then started doing everything they hadn't until that point - making their outside shots, denying Duke at the defensive end and limiting the Blue Devils to just one shot.
Wayne Turner, outplayed badly by Duke's gritty Steve Wojciechowski in the first half, led the comeback, scoring 11 of his 16 points in the second half. Jeff Sheppard had 18 points and nine rebounds and Scott Padgett had 12 points, including the biggest 'Cat basket, a go-ahead 3-pointer from well beyond the arc that broke an 81-all tie with 40 seconds to play.
Cameron Mills's 3-pointer with 2:15 to play had given Kentucky its first lead at 80-79.
Duke, led by roshown McLeod's 19 and Trajan Langdon's 18, scored only 13 points in the final 9:38 after Chris Carrawell's putback had made it 71-54. But the Wildcats, with Turner repeatedly setting up open shots with his penetration, went on a 17-1 run keyed by 3-pointers from Padgett, Heshimu Evans and Allen Edwards to pull to within 72-71.
Duke twice had chances to tie it or go ahead after Padgett's 3-pointer from beyond the top of the key, but McLeod missed a jumper with 17 seconds remaining and Turner followed by making one of two free throws.
McLeod did hit a 3 after that, making it 85-84, and Avery got the chance to win it after Edwards made one of two free throws with 4½ seconds to go.
Duke, which had been 7-0 in regional finals under coach Mike Krzyzewski, started out like it wouldn't need any Laettner-like magic to win, going on an 18-0 run to seize a commanding 38-20 lead.
To create open shots for their slumping stars -- Langdon and McLeod were a combined 4-for-22 Friday against Syacuse -- the Blue Devils repeatedly took the ball inside without looking first to shoot, waited for the Wildcats' defense to collapse, then kicked it back outside.
All but four of Duke's points during the run, Carrawell's driving layup and two free throws, came from the outside.
But Kentucky, on the verge of falling so far behind that it might need one of the greatest comebacks in NCAA history to recover, answered with a 12-0 run finished off by two Sheppard baskets to make it 38-32.
The Blue Devils, held scoreless for exactly four minutes, ended the run with Carrawell's follow off Langdon's miss. Shane Battier later made two free throws, then drove the baseline to dunk over 6-foot-10 Jamaal Magliore as Duke pushed the lead 49-39 at halftime.
But Magliore got his revenge, starting Kentucky's postgame celebration by jumping on the scorer's table after Avery's desperation shot missed and running the length of it over startled reporters. He then ran to an open basket and hung off it as thousands of Kentucky fans jammed inside 40,589-seat Tropicana Field whooped it up, the school fight song playing in the background.
Duke, which had beaten Kentucky four times in a row, lost for only the third time in 15 regional finals.