Kentucky’s Wave Leaves Another Foe in Its Wake

MINNEAPOLIS —  After snipping off a piece of championship net, Kentucky Coach Rick Pitino moved uneasily down the ladder in his Armani suit, as unsure of himself as he has been after a four-game romp through the Midwest Regional.

“I’m afraid of heights,” Pitino said.

Well, too late now.

Kentucky’s rise in the NCAA tournament officially reached “dizzying” Saturday as the Wildcats defeated Wake Forest, 83-63, to capture the Midwest Regional before 34,397 at the Metrodome.

Kentucky (32-2) advances to next week’s Final Four in East Rutherford, N.J., to face No. 1 Massachusetts (35-1).

As Wildcat victories go, this was a relative nail-biter. Kentucky, which held All-American Tim Duncan without a field goal for the first 28 minutes, shut down its engines too soon after taking a 28-point lead in the second half.

The Demon Deacons twice cut the lead to 11 points, the last time at 68-57 with 3:35 remaining, presenting the Wildcats with a rare test of resolve.

Pundits wondered how Kentucky would react in a tight game, a situation that never arose in tournament victories of 38, 24 and 31 points.

Whom could the Wildcats depend upon in the clutch?

The answer, Tony Delk, came sweeping around a screen at the top of the key wearing uniform No. 00. The senior guard scored 18 of his game-high 25 points in the second half, 13 in the last 10:17.

After two Duncan free throws cut the Kentucky lead to 66-55 with 4:18 left, Delk answered quickly with a jump shot. After Duncan made two free throws with 3:35 left, Delk demanded the ball and scored again.

With 3:20 remaining, he all but clinched victory after making three free throws after being fouled beyond the three-point arc.

“I knew I had to make them,” said Delk, who was named the region’s outstanding player. “They were knocking down threes and getting close. We worked hard to get to this point. You don’t want to miss shots when you’re open.”

Delk had made fewer than 50% of his shots in his previous six games. Saturday, though, he made nine of 12 attempts and four of six three-point shots.

“He got every call,” Pitino said of Delk. “I just have so much confidence in him. I knew he’d come through for us.”

He wasn’t the only one.

Kentucky could release a how-to video on its half-court defense in the first half.

The Wildcats smothered Duncan with double and triple coverage in the post, yet still managed to defend the perimeter.

“It wasn’t multiple choice,” Pitino said. “We had to do both.”

Wake Forest made only four of 18 shots (22%) in the half. Starters Ricky Peral, Rusty LaRue and Duncan were held without a field goal. Peral did not get off a shot.

Each time Duncan touched the ball in the post, combinations of Antoine Walker, Mark Pope and Walter McCarty converged.

These were Pitino’s orders: “You can’t let him breathe, he has to smell your bodies every time.”

Duncan will wring Kentucky blue out of his jersey.

Remarkably, Wake Forest trailed only 26-16 before Kentucky went on a 12-3 run to close out the half with a 38-19 lead.

Wildcat players weren’t happy, having been drawn into Wake Forest’s slow tempo.

Pitino entered a sullen locker room. “I said, ‘We just played the best half in [my] seven years, and you guys didn’t realize it,’ ” Pitino said later.

The assault on Duncan continued after intermission. He finally scored his first basket with 12 minutes left on a baseline hook to cut the lead to 20.

Duncan finished with 14 points, making two of seven attempts. Ten of his points came on free throws.

“I think they did a great job overall,” Duncan said of the Kentucky defense. “The double-team came very quickly.”

Wake Forest’s comeback was too little, too late, but things did become interesting after Peral’s three-point basket cut the lead to 66-53 with 5:40 remaining.

Pitino challenged his team during a timeout.

“I said if you attack the basket, we’re going to the Meadowlands,” Pitino said, referring to the site of next week’s Final Four. “If you want to let the clock run out, we’re going back to Lexington.”

The Deacon Demons closed to within 11, but no more.

“We were down 28 and, next thing you know it’s down to 11 and we had a chance to cut it below double digits,” said Wake Forest Coach Dave Odom, whose team finishes at 26-6. “For those things I’m thankful. Lesser teams couldn’t do that.”