THE MVP

GAME BY GAME

* Vs. South Carolina State--In his worst game of the tournament, Sheppard scored only four points in 15 minutes during the Wildcats’ 82-67 victory.

* Vs. Saint Louis--Sheppard made seven of 11 shots, including three from three-point range, and scored 18 points during the Wildcats’ 88-61 rout.

* Vs. UCLA--Sheppard made seven of 14 shots, scored 16 points and grabbed four rebounds in another Wildcat rout, this one by a final of 94-68.

* Vs. Duke--Sheppard led the Wildcats with 18 points and 11 rebounds and helped spark a second-half rally in 86-84 victory over the Blue Devils.

* Vs. Stanford--Sheppard scored a career-high 27 points to lead the Wildcats, but perhaps Kentucky center Nazr Mohammed described Sheppard’s value to the team the best: “Jeff Sheppard is the man. No question, Jeff carried us tonight.”

* Vs. Utah--The Wildcats took the lead for the first time since early in the first half at 60-58 with 7:16 to play on a breakaway dunk by Sheppard after he stole the ball from Hanno Mottola. Sheppard clinched the Final Four’s most outstanding player award by scoring 16 points, including a pair of clutch plays down the stretch in 78-69 victory over Utes.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

PAST MVPS

1939: None selected

1940: Marvin Huffman, Indiana

1941: John Kotz, Wisconsin

1942: Howie Dallmar, Stanford

1943: Ken Sailors, Wyoming

1944: Arnold Ferrin, Utah

1945: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M;

1946: Bob Kurland, Oklahoma A&M;

1947: George Kaftan, Holy Cross

1948: Alex Groza, Kentucky

1949: Alex Groza, Kentucky

1950: Irwin Dambrot, CCNY

1951: None selected

1952: Clyde Lovellette, Kansas

1953: B.H. Born, Kansas

1954: Tom Gola, La Salle

1955: Bill Russell, San Francisco

1956: Hal Lear, Temple

1957: Wilt Chamberlain, Kansas

1958: Elgin Baylor, Seattle

1959: Jerry West, West Virginia

1960: Jerry Lucas, Ohio State

1961: Jerry Lucas, Ohio State

1962: Paul Hogue, Cincinnati

1963: Art Heyman, Duke

1964: Walt Hazzard, UCLA

1965: Bill Bradley, Princeton

1966: Jerry Chambers, Utah

1967: Lew Alcindor, UCLA

1968: Lew Alcindor, UCLA

1969: Lew Alcindor, UCLA

1970: Sidney Wicks, UCLA

1971: *Vacated

1972: Bill Walton, UCLA

1973: Bill Walton, UCLA

1974: David Thompson, N. Carolina St.

1975: Richard Washington, UCLA

1976: Kent Benson, Indiana

1977: Butch Lee, Marquette

1978: Jack Givens, Kentucky

1979: Earvin Johnson, Michigan State

1980: Darrell Griffith, Louisville

1981: Isiah Thomas, Indiana

1982: James Worthy, North Carolina

1983: Akeem Olajuwon, Houston

1984: Patrick Ewing, Georgetown

1985: Ed Pinckney, Villanova

1986: Pervis Ellison, Louisville

1987: Keith Smart, Indiana

1988: Danny Manning, Kansas

1989: Glen Rice, Michigan

1990: Anderson Hunt, Nevada Las Vegas

1991: Christian Laettner, Duke

1992: Bobby Hurley, Duke

1993: Donald Williams, North Carolina

1994: Corliss Williamson, Arkansas

1995: Ed O’Bannon, UCLA

1996: Tony Delk, Kentucky

1997: Miles Simon, Arizona

1998: Jeff Sheppard, Kentucky

* Howard Porter of Villanova was selected MVP but was later ruled ineligible.