Champions two years ago and runners-up to Arizona last year under
Rick
Pitino, the Wildcats' return to the title game came with a team
that
Tubby Smith inherited but shaped into his own.
Down by as many as 10 points in the second half, Kentucky, the
No. 2
seed out of the South Region, stepped up the defensive pressure
with
Smith screaming on the sideline and rode the outside shooting
of
Sheppard and the inside muscle of Nazr Mohammed to victory.
"We kept our composure throughout and hung in there when things
weren't
going well for us," said Smith, the first black basketball coach
at a
school where Adolph Rupp built an all-white dynasty with 876 wins
and
four NCAA titles.
Sheppard scored six of his points in overtime, and Mohammed bounced
back
from foul trouble and a scoreless first half to score 18 points.
Arthur Lee, the hero of third-seeded Stanford's victory over No.
8 Rhode
Island in the Midwest Regional final, led the Cardinal with 26
points,
while backcourt teammate Kris Weems scored 17. Lee hit five of
eight
3-pointers and all nine of his free throws to finish 35-of-35
from the
line for the tournament.
Kentucky (34-4) trailed most of the game but scored the first
five
points in overtime, all by Mohammed and Sheppard, to jump to a
78-73
lead. Stanford never recovered.
"This team has gone through a lot this year," Sheppard said. "It's
been
fun to pull together. We are like a family, like brothers out
there."
In its first Final Four since winning the title in 1942, Stanford
(30-5)
got within a point three times down the stretch but saw its chance
of an
upset fade when Peter Sauer missed a long heave at the buzzer.
Stanford turned the ball over only twice in the first half, but
Kentucky's pressure in the second half and overtime forced the
Cardinal
to make 13 turnovers.
Weems sank 3-of-11 shots, all 3-pointers, in the first half. But
he was
just 6-for-23 overall.
"I don't know what more I could ask of these kids," Stanford coach
Mike
Montgomery said. "It was an unbelievable season. If anybody anywhere
had
any doubts about this team, they were answered by these kids.
"We made some critical errors. Maybe it was fatigue, maybe it
was youth.
But we answered the call every time we were down."
Stanford took a 13-3 lead in the first five minutes of the game,
and led
throughout the half. Staying in a man-to-man defense and keeping
Kentucky's fast break contained with good position under the boards,
Stanford rode 3-pointers by Weems and Lee for a 37-32 halftime
lead.
Stanford kept answering Kentucky's inside shooting with 3-pointers,
including one by Sauer that gave the Cardinal its biggest lead
of the
second half, 46-36.
Kentucky stayed close but couldn't grab the lead until Scott Padgett
sank two free throws to put the Wildcats ahead for the first time,
54-53, with 10:04 left.
Kentucky made it 72-66 on two 3-pointers by Sheppard, but a rebound
and
layup by Mark Madsen, and a 3-pointer by Lee with 26 seconds left
after
a Kentucky free throw tied the game 73-73.
Kentucky 86, Stanford 85 (OT)
STANFORD (85)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Sauer 4-5 0-0 10
Madsen 4-5 1-1 9
Young 5-11 0-0 10
Weems 6-23 2-3 17
Lee 6-12 9-9 26
Mosely 0-3 2-2 2
Mendez 1-4 0-0 3
Jar. Collins 1-3 5-7 7
McDonald 0-1 0-0 0
Van Elswyk 0-1 1-2 1
Seaton 0-0 0-0 0
---------------------------------
Totals 27-68 20-24 85
KENTUCKY (86)
fg ft tp
-- -- --
Edwards 4-10 2-3 11
Padgett 2-8 6-6 10
Mohammed 7-14 4-6 18
Turner 2-8 4-9 8
Sheppard 9-15 5-7 27
Evans 2-7 0-0 4
Magloire 2-3 2-2 6
Smith 0-1 0-0 0
Mills 1-1 0-0 2
Bradley 0-0 0-0 0
---------------------------------
Totals 29-67 23-33 86
Halftime-Stanford 37, Kentucky 32. End of Regulation-Stanford 73,
Kentucky 73. 3-Point goals-Stanford 11-28 (Lee 5-8, Weems 3-11,
Sauer 2-3, Mendez 1-4, Mosely 0-2), Kentucky 5-15 (Sheppard 4-8,
Edwards 1-2, Evans 0-2, Padgett 0-3). Fouled out-Madsen, Young.
Rebounds-Stanford 45 (Madsen 16), Kentucky 40 (Padgett, Evans,
Sheppard 6). Assists-Stanford 13 (Lee 5), Kentucky 16 (Turner,
Sheppard 4). Total fouls-Stanford 23, Kentucky 22. A-40,509.