College Basketball

Kentucky knocks out defending champs Cardinals

INDIANAPOLIS — On Friday night, Kentucky won the championship of its state. The national championship may be next.

After knocking off undefeated, No. 1 Wichita State last weekend, the No. 8 Wildcats raised the bar with a 74-69 win over their in-state rival and the defending national champion — No. 4 Louisville — in a heavyweight Midwest Regional Sweet 16 showdown at Lucas Oil Stadium that lived up its billing.

In a battle of the past two title-winners, Kentucky (27-10) ended the Cardinals’ (31-6) season for the second time in three years, as the greatest recruiting class of all-time finally lived up to its No. 1 preseason ranking.

“We just kind of had to put the past behind us and leave it where it was,” said Julius Randle, who led the team with 15 points and 12 rebounds. “It’s a new season, the postseason. That’s really all we can worry about. Survive and advance.”

Louisville led nearly the entire game, but after falling behind in the final minute, the Cardinals, trailing by two, still had a chance to tie, with Wayne Blackshear at the line with 14.2 seconds left. The junior missed the first free throw — the Cardinals shot 13-of-23 — and Randle then made two free throws to extend the lead to three.

With Louisville unable to find the hot hand of Luke Hancock, senior Russ Smith was forced to fire a game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds. It fell short.

It was official. A new champion would be crowned.

“I told them we probably beat ourselves a little bit down the stretch, but how can any of us complain with the run we’ve been on?” coach Rick Pitino said. “It’s the end of an era for us, for a lot of us. So it’s something that we’re certainly going to miss.”

Smith (23 points) had put the Cardinals ahead, 68-67, on a floater with 1:07 remaining, but Randle’s only assist of the night came in the game’s biggest moment, as the big man spun in the lane and found Aaron Harrison for a wide-open corner 3-pointer with 39 seconds left.

“Three weeks ago [Randle] would have shot a hook to try to get that at the basket,” coach John Calipari said. “They’re playing for each other. They have finally surrendered and lost themselves in the team. It’s just taken us a long time.”

Four minutes and 33 seconds was all the time Kentucky looked like it had left, trailing 66-59 after 10 straight points from Hancock. But the Wildcats came back with an 8-0 run to take the lead with less than two minutes left, their first lead since the opening minute of the game.

The atmosphere was everything everyone expected, as 41,000-plus fans split into Kentucky blue and Louisville red, making every possession feel as if it determined the outcome of the game. It was physical and frenetic, passionate but not pretty.

Experience won the first round, as Louisville took an 18-5 lead, eight minutes into the game. Kentucky opened shooting 5-of-20, playing sloppy and careless, rushing for no reason. The freshmen looked overwhelmed by the moment and the opponent and the environment, only turning it around when Randle turned it on, cutting the deficit to 34-31 at halftime.

“Our staff talked today and we knew how this would start,” said Calipari. “They will pee down their leg, and let’s just be positive and keep them going.

“A bunch of young kids out there having a ball playing, trying, fighting, knowing that we make dumb mistakes, we break down at times, but we don’t stop. And that’s all you want from your team.”