It’s Reigning ‘ Cats

It wasn’t a Bluegrass blowout or masterpiece theater or anything close to the train wreck some were predicting, but the Kentucky Wildcats proved Monday night why they’re the best team in college basketball even on their bad nights.

Needing every ounce of senior leadership from guard Tony Delk, and every point off the bench from freshman forward Ron Mercer, Kentucky shot 38% and still survived to defeat Syracuse, 76-67, to capture its sixth national championship before 19,229 at the Meadowlands Arena.

Delk, the Final Four’s most outstanding player, scored 18 of his team-high 24 points in the first half, making six of seven three-point attempts when most of his teammates were stone cold. Mercer finished with 20 points, including a clutch three-point basket in the second half.

Twice, Syracuse pulled to within two points in the final 20 minutes, and twice Kentucky thwarted the charge.

Center Mark Pope’s two free throws with 1:06 left put Kentucky up by seven and at last put the pesky Orangemen away.

“I just thank God they went in,” Pope said.

The national title was Kentucky’s first since 1978, although it seemed like 1908. Wildcat fans, some of whom have to be talked down from ledges when their team loses, have been scratching off calendar days during the 18 years between titles. It got to the point where it didn’t matter that the coach who returned the team to glory, Rick Pitino, has a Northern accent.

Or that Monday night’s stars, Delk and Mercer, are both imports from Tennessee.

Monday night, they all sang “My Old Kentucky Home.”

“We’re like the [Green Bay] Packers,” Pitino said afterward. “This university is what we’re all about, but this is a team that belongs to the state of Kentucky.”

The state would have preferred a wipeout. Instead, there was gnashing of teeth from Lexington to Boonesboro.

Kentucky, which defeated opponents by an average of 23 points this season, needed the full 40 minutes to complete this dream.

The Wildcats struggled with Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone. Kentucky, which tried only nine three-pointers against Massachusetts on Saturday, attempted 27 Monday, making 12.

Kentucky played right into Syracuse’s game plan, but the Orangemen fell a few plays short of pulling off a major upset.

Syracuse had its chances. The Orangemen trailed by 11 points with 16:30 left on a Mercer basket, but responded with an 11-2 run and cut the lead to 48-46 on a lob pass and slam dunk, Lazarus Sims to Todd Burgan.

That prompted an 11-0 run by Kentucky. Mercer scored five of the points and the run ended on a spectacular three-point shot by Delk in the corner, who was fouled by Burgan on the play.

Delk’s free throw with 11:12 left put Kentucky up, 59-46, and the rout appeared to be on.

“I thought that was big,” Delk said of the shot.

The Orangemen didn’t agree. Sims, who sprained his left wrist when he collided with Wildcat Anthony Epps with 13:38 left, returned to the game with his wrist heavily bandaged and led an inspiring 16-5 Syracuse run that put them back in the game until the end.

Forward John Wallace’s two free throws with 4:46 left cut the lead to 64-62, but the Orangemen would never get closer.

Kentucky center Walter McCarty, who scored only four points, made a key tip-in of a Delk miss with 4:28 left to make it 66-62.

“Just a matter of getting to the right spot at the right time,” McCarty said.

Then Kentucky guard Derek Anderson made a three-pointer to make it 69-62 with 3:51 to play.

After a Syracuse basket, McCarty, as he was falling out of bounds, made a great pass to Pope, whose short jump shot in the lane put Kentucky up 71-64 with 3:03 to go.

Turnovers hurt Syracuse all night. The Orangemen finished with 23, 18 more than they had in Saturday’s semifinal victory over Mississippi State.

“We knew we were going to make turnovers to Kentucky,” Syracuse Coach Jim Boeheim said. “We made three or four we couldn’t afford.”

One came late, when Wallace was called for a charging foul with 2:48 left.

Burgan’s three-pointer with two minutes left cut the lead to 72-67, but Pope’s free throws pretty much ended Syracuse’s dream.

Wallace, who finished with 29 points and 10 rebounds, fouled out on the play and wasn’t happy about it.

“It was a bad feeling, fouling out, leaving your team hanging there like that,” Wallace said. “When we were only down four points and a minute something to go, we definitely could have won the game.”

But Syracuse didn’t.

Kentucky didn’t play its best, either, but it was good enough.

Kentucky’s 38.4% was the lowest percentage by a champion since 1963.

“When you can shoot 38% in the game and win, you know you’re a great defensive team,” Pitino said.

In the end, each team left with what it came for. Kentucky got its championship, Syracuse the respect it was lacking.

“They didn’t lose anything to me,” Boeheim said of his players. “If sports is supposed to be about good things, then this team is about good things.”

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MORE NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP COVERAGE

* ANALYSIS

Kentucky had to do it like everyone else, sticking pretty much to a seven-man rotation and scraping out a victory. C4

* FRESH PRINCE

Freshman Ron Mercer’s season of sacrifice ended with the ultimate reward when he played a key role in the Wildcats’ victory. C4

* FOULED OUT

Despite his 29 points and 10 rebounds, John Wallace’s dream of leading the Orangemen to their first title did not become a reality. C4

* CBS’ GOOD SHOW

Pat O’Brien used many cliches, but didn’t mention “Nash Bridges,” while Billy Packer was exceptional, according to Larry Stewart. C6