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 S
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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.
