Coming off of the Mardi Gras Miracle, Kentucky seemed to be rejuvenated. They went into inhospitable Memorial Gym and beat a Vanderbilt team that was fighting like mad to get off the bubble. The 77-69 win was not as close as the score indicated, and everybody thought that the Cats could carry the momentum of the last two wins into Tennessee, where the Knoxville jinx was still in effect. But something strange happened in the second half of that Vanderbilt game that nobody noticed until long after the game was over. At one point in that half, with the Commodores making a run and Kentucky in the one and one, Vanderbilt committed a foul on Andre Riddick, who despite being my boy, was the worst FT shooter in recorded history. As Riddick walked to the line, Travis Ford point at him and Walter McCarty, then did some kind of cryptic gesture, which resulted in McCarty shooting the free throws and hitting them. Later in the half, a Vanderbilt player went over the back of Jared Prickett, and after Kentucky got out of the huddle, Gimel Martinez shot the free throws.

It was revealed that McCarty and Riddick were just doing what Ford told them to do, while Prickett and Martinez agreed to do the FT switch, so Ford, Prickett and Martinez did not make the trip to Knoxville. This meant that Kentucky would only dress EIGHT (8) players against the last place Vols. Of course, Tennessee was in last place for a reason: Wade Houston was a lame duck coach who was awful at X’s and O’s and not that much better at recruiting. The former Louisville assistant was part of a package deal that sent his son Allan to Knoxville with the hopes of NCAA Tournaments and SEC titles. The best Tennessee did with Allan Houston was an appearance in the NIT in 1991. The 1994 Volunteers actually had two players, Steve Hamer and Ed Gray, who would have brief stints in the NBA. Still, the team was bad. Unfortunately for the good guys, winning in Knoxville was rough for Joe Hall and Eddie Sutton, and up to this point, it was rough for Rick Pitino. Heck, Tennessee even beat the awesome 1993 team in Knoxville, so even though the Volunteers were in last place, with Kentucky dressing eight players and starting Chris Harrison of all people, this game was up for grabs to say the least. From Thompson-Boling Arena in Knoxville, Tennessee, our announcers are Tom Hammond and Larry Conley, who are rooting for their alma mater as always.

There was a UK fan majority in the arena on this night, which is always cool for a road game. Kentucky abandoned its full court press for a 2-3 zone to conserve energy. Tennessee pressed Kentucky on the defensive end in the hopes that fatigue would set in, but these guys had to practice the ungodly conditioning exercises of Rock Oliver, so that didn’t matter much. The two teams traded baskets early on, as the Kentucky zone seemed to bother Tennessee. Kentucky was cold throughout the first half, as Tennessee slowly began to take advantage of the zone, which the Cats were obviously uncomfortable playing. The biggest offender in orange was Cortez Barnes, who made three quick threes. No, I do not know who Cortez Barnes is. Tennessee could have gone up by as many points as LSU did had they not been such a horrible team. Kentucky wasn’t hitting anything, but they were forcing a lot of turnovers. The lead remained in the 8-10 point range after the 4th three of the game for Barnes. The lone highlight of the half for Kentucky was the vicious gorilla dunk that Andre Riddick threw down off a missed three. Still, the offense was too out of sync to chip into the lead, as both teams pretty much went basket for basket for the rest of the half. Tennessee had a distinct advantage inside because Kentucky only had Riddick and McCarty inside. Rod Rhodes had to play some spot minutes at power forward, as I wonder why he and Pitino didn’t get along. The half ended as Anthony Epps found Riddick wide open on a busted play for another gorilla dunk, but the bad guys led 35-28.

Tennessee came out with guns blazing to open the second half. Cortez Barnes picked up where he left off, scoring five quick points to give Tennessee a 42-20 lead. A driving bucket by LaMarcus Golden made it 44-30, the biggest lead of the day for Tennessee. Unlike the LSU game, Kentucky’s comeback began immediately. Jeff Brassow hit a three, Tony Delk hit two FTs and then a runner, and the lead was trimmed in half in about a minute. After the 4th three by Barnes, Kentucky abandoned the zone and went back to the press, which proved to be more effective at preventing the Vols from getting good looks. Riddick was the most energized Wildcat, blocking Tennessee shots left and right and negating the once-dominant advantage Tennessee had in the paint. Delk cramped up and had to take a breather, and the offense struggled to get over the hump without him. A Brassow three triggered the next run for the big blue. Delk reentered the game and immediately hit a three, as you could tell that Kentucky was going to win this one based on the body language of everybody in orange.

However, it wasn’t over just yet. After a timeout, UT was still up 48-45, and there were still 11 minutes remaining. Barnes hit his 6th and final three to double the Tennessee, but Anthony Epps answered right back with a three that made UK fans go “No, no, no, YES!” It was one of the first times Epps took a big shot in his career, and like most of those shots, it was pure. Epps then pulled up again, this time from beyond NBA range, and he buried the three – awesome. Riddick made a twisting reverse layup and drew a foul, hitting the FT! It’s official, this may be the best game Riddick has ever played. After Hamer scored inside for Tennessee, Riddick found himself open again for a score and another foul, AND another FT. This play put UK up by one. After two Tennessee FTs, Riddick came through again with a gorilla dunk, as maybe the title of this game should be changed from “The Eight Players Game” to “The Andre Riddick Game.” A Delk jumper gave UK a 61-60 lead. After some FTs made it 64-60, Brassow hit a three that made the building erupt after Tennessee called timeout. A long two by Barnes cut it to 68-66, but Epps made two FTs, then he and Rhodes combined to steal the inbounds pass. His FT made it a 71-66 game. After trading baskets, Golden made a three to make it 73-71, but Rhodes hit two clutch FTs. A Tennessee basket with 12.6 seconds to go once again put the pressure on Rod Rhodes, who calmly buried the free throws to create the 77-73 final score. Rhodes didn’t make a single basket all night, but he knocked down 13-16 from line. Delk paced UK with 21 points, and Riddick added 18, a career high. Kentucky couldn’t have beaten any other SEC team under those conditions. It had to be Tennessee.

Senior Night is next, probably one of the best Senior Night games ever played.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I have no problem watching us beat Tennessee.

Just passing along some info from the Greater Louisville UK Alumni club. Baseball and Jeff Sheppard Thursday in Louisville.

Big Blue Night at Slugger Field
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Syracuse Chiefs vs. Louisville Bats
Game time: 7:05 p.m.

Jeff Sheppard, former Wildcat basketball standout, two-time national champion and 1998 NCAA Tournament MVP, will be our special guest and will throw out the first pitch. Jeff will also sign autographs from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. for those who purchase their discounted tickets in advance to sit in the Wildcat Section. Other Bat’s fans attending the game also can get a Jeff Sheppard autograph with a $5 donation to the UK Alumni Association Scholarship Fund.

You’ll enjoy UK music and a special appearance by the Wildcat Mascot and the UK Dance Team. Draft beer will be available for $1 at the Overlook Grill from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.

To receive a discounted ticket price at just $6 each, sit in the Wildcat section, and get a Jeff Sheppard autograph, you must wear blue to the game and order your tickets in advance with a credit card. To order, call Jason Abraham at the Louisville Bats at 502-614-4535 (jabraham@batsbaseball.com). For other questions, contact Jim Denny at 502-241-8888 or at jd@thesourceteam.com.

UK Student Send-off

We’re also hosting a reception for incoming UK freshmen and their parents from the Louisville area starting at 5:30 p.m. in the Hall of Fame concourse. The students and their families also are invited to join us for Big Blue Night at Slugger Field afterward.

We hope to see you there!

Unlike Duke, Stanford presented an extremely difficult matchup with the Comeback Cats, and this was mainly because of their size. Peter Sauer played small forward and completely dwarfed Allen Edwards. Mark Madsen, the original winner of “So You Think You Can Dance,” was shorter than Scott Padgett, but weighed more and played a more natural power forward game than Scott. Tim Young was as big as that stupid Stanford Tree mascot, and could muscle his way right through Nazr Mohammed if he felt like it. The matchups in the backcourt were probably considered a push. Kris Weems played the 2, and when he was on, he was nearly unstoppable, but he had been in a terrible shooting slump the entire tournament. Arthur Lee was the point guard, from South Central Los Angeles, so you know how tough he was. He was also every bit as good as Wayne Turner. Finally, in Mike Montgomery, the Cardinal had an experienced coach who had already worked one miracle in the tournament, just like Tubby Smith had done. Against Rhode Island in the regional final, Stanford got a steal and an and1, then watched Tyson Wheeler miss some free throws that could have put the Rams back in the game. It certainly wasn’t on the same magnitude as Kentucky’s comeback against Duke, but it was still impressive. From the Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas, the announcers are Jim Nantz and Billy Packer, who is impartial because neither of the teams is in the ACC.

Stanford came out as fired up as I’ve seen a team at the Final Four (until I saw Kansas vs. North Carolina this year). In 1998, Kentucky liked to start out games by taking inside, with the hopes that the inside game would eventually open up the perimeter game. Unfortunately, Stanford had a size advantage on all three of Kentucky’s inside players, and the shots just wouldn’t go down. Kentucky was even worse from three. Nothing was falling for the Cats, and it wasn’t like the execution was bad like it was in the first half of the Duke game. To make matters worse, Mohammed picked up two early fouls and had to sit for most of the half, making Stanford’s advantage inside almost insurmountable. Stanford also grabbed every rebound because of their trees.

On the other side of the court, Stanford had primarily been an inside team as well, but not on this night. The Cardinal came out launching bombs. Lee scored eight quick points, then Weems made a three (a bad sign), and before you knew it, Stanford was up by ten points. The Blue responded with an excellent run keyed by the bench. Evans made a jumper just inside the arc. Evans scored again off of a great outlet pass by Saul Smith. Magloire took Young inside for a lefty hook (what?). Cameron Mills actually put the ball on the floor and made a jumper just inside the arc (what?). These bench guys are out of their minds. Just like that, it was a 15-14 game. With Stanford leading 20-19, the Cardinal came back with another slew of threes. Weems made threes from both corners, then Lee made one from the top of the circle. Kentucky kept answering back, but the closest they could get was one point. Holy crap, Chuck Norris is in the arena. I’m sure he’s just there to promote “Walker, Texas Ranger,” but he’s sitting in the Stanford section. How did my team win this one again?

Sheppard made Kentucky’s only three of the half, but once again, Kentucky could only get it to within a point. Sheppard cut to the rack for two, yet again cutting it to one, but the Cats could never get over the hump in the first half. Stanford pounded it inside with Young a couple times down the stretch in the half, as Stanford led 37-32. In a way, this deficit was more disheartening than the ten-point deficit at the half in the Duke game because Kentucky hadn’t been playing very poorly against Stanford. Stanford just played out of their minds.

The second half got off to a good start for Kentucky, as Tim Young picked up two cheap fouls in the first minute of play. Keep that in mind. Young bounced back by taking it inside on Mohammed for two. Mad Dog Madsen made an insane turnaround bank shot on Padgett, then tipped in a Young miss. After another UK miss, Stanford got out in transition and Lee found Peter Sauer (who looks just like Kramer from “Seinfeld”) for a three that went in, out and back in. This was the turning point of the game. Not only was it a bad shot that went in, but it caused the Stanford players to deviate from Mike Montgomery’s strategy of slowing down the pace. Kentucky was far better equipped to play at that pace. So even though Stanford led by ten again, the momentum had started to turn the other way, and it started with Nazr Mohammed. He quickly took it inside on Stanford’s substitute bigs for two jump hooks. Lee pulled up again in transition and buried a three, but that’s bad shot selection. Mohammed scored again inside for Kentucky, as he looked like a man possessed in this half. Stanford began to rush things because of the Kentucky press, and that resulted in turnovers. An Edwards three cut it to 49-45, and just like that, it was a ballgame again. Sheppard stole the ball and made a breakaway layup, plus the foul, and once again the lead was down to one. That was the sixth time the lead had been cut to a point. The big Kentucky run came at the 12-minute mark. Turner took Art Lee to the rack in the same way he did in the Duke game for another bucket. Mohammed (!) jumped into a passing lane and raced down the court for a thunderous jam. After three more Stanford turnovers, Padgett went to the line and finally game Kentucky the lead at 54-53, but it would not last.

With the Cats holding a 56-55 lead, Kris Weems tweaked his ankle, but he came back to hit a miraculous shot because without a dead ball, he actually ran off the injury. Mohammed drew the fourth foul on Tim Young, which was pretty much it for him for the rest of the game. Weems made another impossible shot, plus a foul, then Lee made a 17-footer to put Stanford ahead at 61-60. Smith made an incredible hustle play, saving the ball and throwing it to Edwards for a score, and the Cats led 64-61, but Weems hit yet another prayer, and it was back to 64-63. FTs by Weems put Stanford ahead by a point, but Padgett answered right back with a silky jump hook. Madsen got a clutch putback, plus the foul, and Stanford went back up by two. Then Jeff Sheppard took over. He came off of the curl (his favorite play) and buried a deep three to put UK back on top. Kentucky ran the same play for Shep, and he hit the shot again, from the same spot. It seemed like the end, but a Madsen putback made it 72-70. Turner went to the line and hit one of two, then Arthur Lee ripped the net off on a contested three to tie the score at 73. Both teams had looks at the last shot, but none of them went in, and it was time to go to overtime in San Antonio.

The overtime began with Tim Young going over the back on Mohammed and fouling out. UK couldn’t get much going on offense when Young was in there, so Kentucky was at a clear advantage now. Sheppard drove to the rack for two, and Kentucky led 76-73. A Mohammed three brought the lead to five, but Stanford wasn’t ready to give up yet. One of the Collins twins went up and got an and1, and it was a ballgame again. Turner fouled Lee on a three, and the 100% free throw shooter hit them all to make it a 79-78 game. Fortunately, when it looked like Stanford was going to steal the momentum and the game, Kentucky ran a curl for Jeff Sheppard, who launched a three from the top of the key and buried it. A Turner FT made it 83-79, then Ryan Mendez (who?) hit a contested three for Stanford, and it was back to one. Stanford immediately fouled Turner, but he made both shots this time, and now Stanford needed three with no shot clock. Mendez missed, Madsen rebounded. Weems missed, Madsen rebounded. Lee shot, Magloire blocked, Madsen fouled – his 5th. Sheppard made one of two shots from the line to make it 86-82, but Sau
er launched one from about 27 feet that hit nothing but net, and it was 86-85. Turner was fouled, and missed both free throws, but the second miss was an advantageous one because it didn’t give Stanford a chance to get set or throw an outlet pass, and the prayer shot sailed wide right, giving the good guys an 86-85 win and a berth in the title game. That title game against Utah is next, and then I’ll start a series of requests.

I’m Seth Stogsdill, and it won’t be long before Kentucky is back in the Final Four.

We’re taking a break from the early morning monologue today to bring you something a little different. Plus, to be honest with you, there isn’t much to monologue on. Except Matthew Pilgrim, who is supposively a Wildcat now. But I’ll wait for the official release.

So I present to you an analysis of the 1998 Kentucky vs. Indiana game from our friend, Seth Stogsdill. Take the trip down memory lane. It’s a good ride.

WORLD’S GREATEST CLASSIC GAME ANALYSIS

THE BEST OF 1998: KENTUCKY VS. INDIANA

One of the things about 1998 that nobody remembers is how great some of the regular season games were. I’ll admit that as a 12-year-old fan, I didn’t appreciate how good the games were until later when I watched the tapes again. Up until the Tournament win over Duke, I only thought of that group as the team that lost to 20-loss Louisville at home. They were a team that rolled over and died at home against Ole Miss. I know because I was at courtside for that one. They were team that lost to Jason “White Chocolate” Williams all by himself. And for these reasons, I think that the ’98 team is the least appreciated of all of Kentucky’s championship teams, but the games were great, and this was the first in a series of classic from ’98 that I’m going to recap.

Nobody knew much about this Kentucky team. They had lost four key players from the 1997 team, and it was difficult to tell who would emerge as the big scorer or who would be the leader. Kentucky had faced three tests up to the Indiana game. In the Maui Invitational, they were destroyed by #1 Arizona in a national championship rematch. It was ugly from the time the ball was tipped. Then, they got revenge for last year’s opening loss to #16 Clemson in a game approximately 928 people saw. Finally, they stepped up and manhandled #6 Purdue in the “Great Eight,” which desperately needs to be brought back. Come on, ESPN. You get rid of the Great Eight and replace it with the ACC/Big Ten Challenge? That’s just terrible. But for whatever reason, the Cats weren’t getting credit for their wins over ranked teams, as the loss to Arizona hung over everybody’s mind with Indiana looming.

Of course, Indiana was about as mediocre as you can get, as they have been every year since 1993. Bob Knight had started to lose his recruiting mojo, and this was before the Neil Reed choking incident was made public. He put all of his money on Indiana Mr. Basketball and stereotypical, cornfed “Jimmy Chitwood Chosen One” Luke Recker and a handful of junior college transfers. Have you ever heard of Rob Turner, William Gladness or Luke Jimenez? That’s what I thought. The Hoosiers also had the late Jason Collier (an Indiana Mr. Basketball who couldn’t get along with Knight and left IU), Andrae Patterson (one of the biggest blue chip busts of the 90s) and AJ Guyton, who was a 7th year sophomore, well on his way to a 29-year college career. For all I know, he could be on Indiana’s roster right now. Lord knows they need all the help they can get. Indiana wasn’t ranked, but if you’ve followed the UK vs. IU rivalry, you know that doesn’t mean jack, especially in the cavernous RCA Dome. The announcers are the greatness that is Gus Johnson and the cantankerous curmudgeon Billy Packer.

As a kid, when you watch games with grown men, you become schooled in the use of profanity. This game was no exception, especially after Indiana made its first SEVEN (7) shots. It wasn’t as if Kentucky was playing bad defense either. Indiana was just throwing up all kinds of garbage that was going in, and it was frustrating everybody. The offense was not clicking, as the referees were trigger happy with the whistle whenever something even looked like traveling. This is no surprise, because John Clougherty is an historically terrible referee who upon retirement became head of basketball officiating for the ACC and Ed Hightower is one of the worst Big Ten homers to ever put on a striped shirt. Rob Turner led the charge for Indiana, prompting Packer to say, “all this kid knows is scoring.” Kentucky slowly crawled back in the first half thanks to the much-improved game of Nazr Mohammed, who established himself as the best player on the court in no time after abusing Jason Collier. Knight yanked Collier early in the half, and I’m not sure if I ever saw him again as an Indiana Hoosier, but it wasn’t like the other big men from Indiana stood a chance against Mohammed either. Indiana cooled off, and from about the 12:00 mark, it was neck and neck for the rest of the half. Cameron Mills picked up the slack for the struggling Allen Edwards, Scott Padgett and Wayne Turner, knocking down four threes in five possessions and drawing huge admiration from Gus Johnson (“He’s got the hot hand today, Billy!”). Turner hit Edwards on a LONG lob for a huge dunk. Then Jeff Sheppard drove baseline on Jimenez and threw down this monstrosity. The momentum from one of the ten greatest poster jams in UK history carried the Cats to a 46-39 halftime lead.

Indiana started off the second half on fire, just like the first half. Guyton made a pair of threes and the lead was cut to a single point. That’s when we got to see the defense that made the 1998 team so awesome for the very first time. A combination of presses, traps, and just physically wearing out the offense in the halfcourt was unleashed upon the poor Hoosiers, who never saw it coming. Turnover after turnover followed. Rob Turner felt the brunt of the assault from his namesake. Wayne forced him into multiple turnovers in the second half, and he was absolutely BLOWN UP by the end of the game. The turnovers allowed Kentucky to jump out to its biggest lead at 60-49 with about 10 minutes to go. To their credit, Indiana kept fighting, even though they were outmatched and gassed. Grizzled veteran AJ Guyton took over the game, nailing jumpers and free throws, chipping away at what most people near my TV thought was an unshakeable lead. Mu Evans nailed Padgett with an accidental elbow (Fun fact: “Heshimu” means “Strong black warrior” in Swahili), taking a good shooter away from Kentucky down the stretch and allowing Indiana to get key defensive stops. Guyton continued to bomb away, and the lead was down to 74-72. Indiana had chances to take the lead when it was 74-72, but they could never get the shots to go in. Wayne Turner made one of two free throws, giving the Hoosiers one more crack at tying the score, but the prayer by Guyton missed at the buzzer, and Kentucky walked away with a hard fought rivalry win, 75-72. What made this game special for me was that Kentucky was able to get defensive stops every time Indiana had a chance to tie or take the lead. During the Rick Pitino years, 1997 in particular, Kentucky didn’t have too many close games, but when they did, they almost always seemed to lose. This 1998 team did just the opposite, and the Indiana game was the first and string of them throughout that whole season.

This is just a hunch, but I don’t think that the upcoming game against Indiana will be a classic like this one was. I think the cast of “Hoosiers,” even in their 40s today, has more collective basketball talent tha
n this year’s Indiana roster. But that’s okay, considering the holier-than-thou attitude of Indiana fans who have shoved the program’s cleanliness down my throat for 22 years. Bring on the slaughter.

I’ll be back in a couple days with a couple recruiting opinions, but until then, I’m Seth Stogsdill, and I have some tapes to watch.