University of Kentucky Wildcats

(The following narrative titled Anatomy of A Comeback, appeared in the Louisville Courier-Journal, March 24, 1998. It details how the University of Kentucky rallied from a 71-54 deficit in the final 9 1/2 minutes of the South Regional 1998 NCAA final to defeat Duke 86-84 .)


UK-Duke	Time	Play
57 - 71 9:26 Heshimu Evans 3-pointer from the wing. Nazr Mohammed blocks Elton Brand jumper; Duke misses second shot; rebound UK. 60 - 71 8:41 Scott Padgett 3-pointer from left wing off Wayne Turner feed. Chris Carrawell misses jumper; Evans rebounds. 62 - 71 8:14 Turner driving bank shot; foul on Steve Wojciechowski. 63 - 71 Turner makes free throw. 7:47 Roshown McLeod misses jumper, ball out of bounds to Duke. 7:36 McLeod trapped against sideline, calls 20-second timeout. 63 - 72 7:35 Jeff Sheppard fouls Wojciechowski; he makes 1 of 2. 66 - 72 7:21 Allen Edwards makes 3-pointer from top of key. 7:05 Turner fouls Wojo who misses free throw, Sheppard rebound 68 - 72 6:55 Sheppard, setting a screen, is decked by McLeod, who is called for intentional foul; Sheppard makes both free throws Duke calls full timeout. 70 - 72 6:39 Turner scores on jumper in foul lane. Trajan Langdon misses 3-pointer, Evans rebounds 71- 72 6:00 Sheppard is fouled on drive, makes 1 of 2. Battier rebounds 5:48 Wojciechowski, guarded by Edwards, double-dribbles. Turner misses, Shane Battier rebounds. McLeod misses jumper, William Avery grabs rebound. 5:21 McLeod gets trapped, burns Duke's last timeout. 71 - 74 5:16 Battier fouled by Edwards on drive. Makes 2 free throws 73 - 74 5:03 Turner spins past Wojo for running jumper. 73 - 76 4:49 McLeod slams in Battier miss. Turner misses driving baseline jumper, Brand rebounds Wojo misses 3-pointer, Battier misses follow, Evans rebound Sheppard misses 3-pointer, Evans fouls McLeod on rebound 73 - 77 4:21 McLeod makes 1 of 2 free throws, Sheppard rebounds. 75 - 77 4:04 Evans tips in Sheppard miss. 75 - 79 3:42 Langdon fakes pasat Cameron Mills, makes bank shot. Evans turnover; Langdon misses bank shot, Evans rebound 77 - 79 2:52 Turner makes 10-foot jumper in lane. McLeod misses turnaround shot, Sheppard rebounds. 2:15 Turner drives and misses, Evans slaps rebound to Mills, 80 - 79 2:10 Mills swishes 3-pointer from top of key. 80 - 81 1:50 Sheppard fouls McLeod, who makes both free throws. Padgett misses shot in lane, gets rebound Edwards misses jumper from wing. Evans' follow blocked by Brand; Padgett retrieves ball and is fouled by Wojo. 81 - 81 1:20 Padgett makes 1 of 2 free throws, McLeod rebounds Avery misses shot in lane, Evans rebounds. 84 - 81 :39.4 Padgett hits 3-pointer from top of key. :16.7 McLeod misses 3-pointer, Turner rebounds and is fouled 85 - 81 Turner misses first free throw, makes second Brand misses layup, ball out of bounds to Duke. 85 - 84 :06.0 McLeod makes 3-pointer from top of key. 86 - 84 :04.5 Edwards fouled by Brand, misses first free throw, makes 2nd Kentucky calls two 20-second timeouts. :00 Battier passes to Avery, whose 30-footer misses at buzzer.
Kentucky's win earned it a ticket to face Stanford in the semi-finals of the 1998 NCAA Final Four Tournament at the Alamo Dome in San Antonio, Saturday, March 28.


for a printable version of "The Comeback", i.e. in black text

http://www.uksports.com
http://www.ncaa.org
http://finalfour.net
http://ESPN.SportsZone.com