NCAA Tournament Recap
(Minnesota-Kentucky)
Posted: March 30, 1997
at 12:07 a.m EST
Ron Mercer scored 19 points and triggered a game-breaking run
with two free throws midway through the second half as defending
champion Kentucky turned back Minnesota, 78-69, in the second
national semifinal at the RCA Dome in Indianapolis.
Anthony Epps added 13 points for the Wildcats (35-4), who moved
within one win of becoming just the second team to repeat as
champions since UCLA's dynasty ended in 1973. Duke, which won
the NCAA Tournament in 1991 and 1992, is the only school to
repeat as champions since UCLA's run came to an end.
Kentucky posted its 11th straight NCAA Tournament win and will
play Arizona for the national championship on Monday night.
"Well, we beat a team that's as physically and mentally tough as
any I've coached against since I've been at Kentucky," said
Wildcats coach Rick Pitino. "I have tremendous admiration for
our basketball team tonight that overcame a lot of problems,
from foul trouble, to cramping, to a great team, and still was
able to dig deep down and win this ballgame."
Bobby Jackson scored 23 points and John Thomas and Courtney
James added 10 apiece for Minnesota (31-4), which was in the
Final Four for the first time in school history. The Golden
Gophers, the Big Ten's first representative in the Final Four
since 1993, held the lead for just 10 seconds in the second
half.
Kentucky opened up a 51-43 lead with 13:48 to play after Mercer
canned a 14-footer that capped a 6-0 run in which Derek
Anderson, making his first appearance in a game since January
18th, sank two free throws after Minnesota coach Clem Haskins
was called for a technical foul.
Haskins exploded after Courtney James was called for an
offensive foul. Replays showed that Kentucky center Jamaal
Magliore was still moving as James went up for a layup that
would have pulled the Gophers within two points.
"I'm a fierce competitor and I don't plan technical fouls," said
Haskins when asked if it the explosion was calculated to spark
his team. "I felt the officiating was going and I reacted to
that. I think it was an emotional reaction. But overall, the
officials did a good job. It's not the officials, it's
Minnesota."
But Minnesota rallied anyway, reeling off nine consecutive
points. Jackson scored the final seven points in the run,
including a three-pointer from the left wing with 10:50 to play
that gave the Gophers their only lead at 52-51.
Sam Jacobson fouled Mercer 15 seconds later and the Kentucky
sophomore hit both free throws to make it 53-52. Jackson missed
a three-pointer and Miles Tarver missed the putback. Wayne
Turner hit a free throw before John Thomas had a basket down low
to make it 54-54.
Turner added two more foul shots at the 8:34 mark and after a
steal, Jared Prickett made a layup 11 seconds later. Charles
Thomas missed a shot before Nazr Mohammed threw in a nine-foot
hook shot to make it 60-54 with 7:45 left.
Charles Thomas had a layup before Cameron Mills, shooting free
throws because Mercer had to leave the game since he was
bleeding from his head after a foul, sank both shots from the
line to make it 62-56 with 7:05 to go.
Scott Padgett hit a three-pointer and after Charles Thomas made
one of two free throws, Mills capped the run with a
three-pointer from the right side to make it 68-57 off a kickout
pass from Turner with 4:19 to play.
Minnesota got no closer than seven points down the stretch.
"I think we didn't respond well, we didn't score," said Jackson
about the team's lack of offense down the stretch. "When you go
eight minutes without a basket, the other team is going to
capitalize on it. We didn't get the ball in the hole for eight
minutes and they capitalized on it."
The Gophers had a major case of the yips in their first Final
Four contest in school history, committing turnovers in their
first four possessions, six turnovers in the first 4:22 of the
game and fell behind 14-5 after Mills hit a three-pointer with
14:36 left.
"We came out a little too anxious and didn't take care of the
ball," said Jackson. "When you play against a great team like
Kentucky, you can't have a couple of turnovers in the beginning.
They capitalized on them."
Kentucky led by at least four points the rest of the half and
held a 35-25 lead after Mills hit two free throws with 3:45 to
play. But the Gophers scored the next six points and pulled
within 35-31 after Jacobson drilled a 12-foot turnaround with 49
seconds left. But Allen Edwards made one of two free throws 16
seconds later, giving the Wildcats a 36-31 lead at intermission.
The Wildcats shot just 38 percent (23-of-60) from the field, but
held a 23-12 edge at the foul line. Kentucky forced 26
turnovers that led to 23 points. Epps and Turner combined for 13
assists and 10 steals.
"It's something a lot of people down't really get -- a chance to
win one National Championship, but we've put ourself in a
position to try to win a second one," said Mercer about the
opportunity to win two NCAA Tournaments in two years before
leaving to join the NBA Draft. "And for the fact that I'm
leaving next year, I want to take the most with me."
"It just means a lot to me to be back on the court again
playing," said Prickett, a senior who was redshirted last
season. It was really tough. I practiced with the team all
last year, but when game time came and you have to sit on the
sidelines, and that's the most exciting part of college
basketball, being out on the court."
Jacobson and John Thomas added 10 points apiece for Minnesota,
which shot 42 percent (27-of-64), the best of all the Final Four
teams tonight. The Gophers, who outrebounded Kentucky 48-34,
shot just 3-of-16 from three-point range and made only 4-of-10
free throws in the second half.
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