Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993 TAG: 9304040254
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: NEW ORLEANS LENGTH: Long
FAB 5 ADVANCE TO FINAL 2 ONCE AGAIN
It took awhile, but Michigan managed to toss its trash-talking reputation into the dumpster at the Superdome on Saturday night.The Fab Five sophomores had to do more than talk their way to their second straight NCAA championship game. They shoved Kentucky out of the NCAA Final Four 81-78, in what finally became an overtime semifinal classic before 64,151 spectators - the second-largest crowd in college basketball history.
"It was a terrific game," Michigan coach Steve Fisher said. "It's tough to lose one like that. We just had a little more down the stretch.
"We made the plays when we needed them. Good players do that. Good teams do that."
Michigan (31-4) was a seven-point underdog, but took the ball to the hoop and the Wildcats from the opening tip of the Final Four nightcap between No. 1 regional seeds from the 64-team field.
Steve Fisher, whose career includes a 17-2 NCAA record, will be coaching in his third NCAA championship game in five years when the third-ranked Wolverines face fourth-ranked North Carolina (33-4) Monday night in a 9:22 tipoff.
The Wolverines edged UNC 79-78 in late December in Honolulu in the semifinals of the Rainbow Classic. Michigan won the title the next night with a win over Kansas, a loser to Carolina on Saturday.
The Wolverines, who won their only NCAA Tournament title in 1989 - Fisher's first six games after replacing Bill Frieder, who bolted to coach at Arizona State - have won 11 in a row. That's the longest current winning streak in Division I.
Kentucky struggled against the Wolverines' size throughout the game, which was dominated by the unyielding play of Chris Webber. It wasn't surprising that Webber's effort was most responsible for Fisher's team erasing a four-point deficit early in overtime.
In the extra period, the Southeastern Conference champs took a 76-72 lead, but when Jamal Mashburn fouled out with 3:23 remaining, coach Rick Pitino knew his championship chances were headed to the bench, too.
Because Michigan was missing free throws, UK still led 78-75, when freshman Tony Delk hit a pair of free throws with 1:12 to play. Kentucky didn't score again.
Ray Jackson's driving layup trimmed the Michigan deficit to one, but he missed the foul shot on the three-point chance with 56 seconds to go. However, Michigan rebounded and 14 seconds later Webber spun left on a baseline drive that put the Wolverines in front.
UK's offense was resorting to 3-point tries by backup center Gimel Martinez. After he missed, he hacked Jalen Rose, and the Michigan point guard made both free throws for an 81-78 lead with 21 seconds left.
Kentucky had two more opportunities. Martinez clanged another trey, but the ball went out of bounds off a Wolverine. With four seconds left, Webber slapped away Rodney Dent's inbounds pass as a finishing touch to his 27-point, 13-rebound night.
It took the Wildcats 30 minutes to make a game of it. Michigan, thanks to an 8-1 run, constructed a 52-41 advantage with 13:40 to play. Kentucky, being punished inside, went long distance to get into the game.
After Mashburn hit a 3-pointer and Michigan backup center Eric Riley answered down low, it was 54-44. Then Mashburn scored from underneath.
Kentucky produced eight straight points from three Wolverine turnovers. Travis Ford, stymied by larger Michigan defenders throughout his 3-for-10 game, hit a three. His backcourt mate, Dale Brown, did the same. And when Andre Riddick stuffed a fast-break pass from Ford, it was tied at 54 with 9:31 left.
From there, the lead changed hands eight times and it also was tied at 67 and 69, before Webber scored from the left block with 1:05 to play for a 71-69 Michigan edge.
Kentucky had three shots to tie the score - including a Dent dunk - but couldn't, before a rebound caromed off Webber and out of bounds with 22 seconds to go. Ford got the ball to the left of the key, fumbled it and all but traveled, then lost it.
But in the scramble, referee Gerry Donaghy called a fifth foul on Jimmy King at 0:10. Ford, an 88-percent free-throw shooter, swished a pair for a 71-71 tie.
After a timeout, the ball was inbounded to playmaker Rose, who, while working the ball up the right sideline, knocked down UK defender Tony Delk. Pitino screamed at official Dick Paparo for a whistle, but the only one that came was the Wolverines' timeout call just over midcourt with three seconds left.
Then UK called time. On the inbounds play, Jackson fed Rose, who dribbled toward the left of the key was bumped by UK's defensive Dent as an off-balance shot bounced off the rim. This time, Fisher wanted a call from Paparo.
No whistle, just five more minutes.
Kentucky's first-half problems weren't just one-dimensional. The 3-point marksmanship that had lifted the Wildcats to easy victories in their first four NCAA dates was gone.
Ford, the catalyst for Pitino's offense, was scoreless in the first 20 minutes, and UK made only two of nine from behind the arc.
Inside, Michigan shredded the Wildcats. The Wolverines had 18 rebounds to only 10 for the Southeast Regional champs, and the Wolverines converted four of those into second-chance hoops.
Webber was superb, hitting six of seven first-half shots for 16 points to go with nine rebounds. All-America Mashburn, who is headed for the NBA after his junior season, was all-everything for UK in the first 20 minutes, with 17 points. He finished with 26. \
see microfilm for box score