Finally Four

You could say Kentucky was due.

After suffering regional final losses in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2010 UK is finally going back to the Final Four.

After reaching the Final Four four times during a six year stretch during the 1990s, coming away with two national championships, the Wildcats suddenly found itself mired in the longest Final Four drought in school history. It had been 13 calendar years and 12 full seasons since UK had last played played on college basketball's final weekend.

From 1999-2010, Kentucky played in four regional finals and all four times the Wildcats were stopped in the Elite 8, one stop short of the success by which college basketball is measured.

But it wasn't so much that the Cats lost in regional finals in 1999, 2003, 2005 and 2010, it was the agonizing fashion in which they did it.

- In 1999, UK led Michigan State by as many as 13 in the first half before being overpowered by a Spartans' squad that went on to win the national championship the following year.

- In 2003, it took a Dwyane Wade triple-double, a lights out shooting performance by Marquette and a Keith Bogans' sprained ankle in the Sweet 16 against Wisconsin that derailed the Cats, who entered the tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

- In 2005, it was Tom Izzo's Spartans once again, who rallied from a four point deficit in double overtime, thanks in large part to four offensive rebounds on one possession in the second extra period as Michigan State again outlasted Kentucky.

- And who could forget last season against West Virginia? Bob Huggins' 1-3-1 zone defense befuddled the Cats into one of the epically woeful shooting performances in UK history. A 33 percent shooting team, the Cats misfired on its first 20 3-pointers and finished an incredible 4 of 32 beyond the arc (12.5 percent) in the game. UK also went just 16 of 29 (55.1 percent) from the free throw line. Meanwhile the Mountaineers, also a 33 percent 3-point shooting team, did not make a single two-point basket in the first half but connected on 10 of 23 (43.4 percent) three's.

And after Kentucky stoned Goliath in Ohio State in the Sweet 16, who else was waiting on the Wildcats in the East Regional Final in Newark, N.J.? None other than North Carolina. Much like the Buckeyes, the Cats had never beaten the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament, losing to UNC in regional finals in both 1977 and 1995.

Sunday, the Wildcats still had a few bullets left to dodge.

After two DeAndre Liggins' free throws gave UK a 65-57 lead, Liggins came up with a steal on the defensive end, giving the Cats an eight-point lead and possession of the ball with just 5:45 remaining.

Falling out of bounds, Liggins attempted to save it to Josh Harrellson, who couldn't find the handle. North Carolina did and a Harrison Barnes 3-pointer cut the lead to five. A Barnes' old-fahsioned three-point-play on the Tar Heels' next possession brought UNC to within 65-63. Six points spanning :44 seconds.

Could it happen to Kentucky again? Did UK suddenly feel the weight of the 13-year albatross hanging around its neck?

Fortunately for the Cats, they finally found some good fortune in a regional final.

Every time North Carolina made a run, a Kentucky shot managed to find the bottom of the net. Usually coming in the form of a 3-pointer.

Brandon Knight's three broke a 67-67 tie with 2:51 left. But none was bigger than DeAndre Liggins' 3-ball from the corner that gave the Cats a 73-69 lead and some much-needed breathing room with 35.6 seconds remaining.

Much in the same way Kentucky's berth in the 1993 Final 4 in New Orleans helped to cleanse the stain and ease the pain of Christian Laettner's shot in the Philadelphia Spectrum a year earlier, as the final horn sounded, the Wildcats' improbable Final Four run serves as a salve spanning 12 seasons, which may as well be an eternity in Lexington.

From Michigan State's A.J. Granger to Marquette's Robert Jackson back to the Spartans' Maurice Ager and all the way to West Virginia's Joe Mazzulla, demons of lesser known players who seemed to constantly terrorize UK in regional finals were finally exorcised, dissipating into the Newark night sky.

Yes. You could say Kentucky was due.