Shedding a Light on The ’96, ’97, and ’98 Kentucky Basketball teams
The Comeback Cats
The 1998 Kentucky Wildcats season was the first for Coach Tubby Smith. We all know the story of this team. The ’98 team finished the season with a 35-4 overall record. During the regular season, Kentucky was defeated by the top ranked Arizona Wildcats as well as the Louisville Cardinals, Florida Gators and Ole Miss Rebels.
This group of Wildcats went on to win the SEC Championship with ease defeating Alabama, Arkansas, and South Carolina. The SEC Title aided Kentucky to earn a two-seed in the South Region of the NCAA Tournament.
Kentucky’s road to the Final Four was flooded with historic programs. With the likes of Duke, the region’s number one seed, as well as Michigan, Syracuse, UCLA and UMass, the Wildcats had their work cut out for them.
The Historic Run
The 1998 NCAA Tournament for Kentucky started with a victory in a matchup with South Carolina State. The Wildcats advanced to the round of 32 where they would defeat the Saint Louis Billikens 88-61 behind 18 points from Captain Jeff Sheppard and 17 points from Allen Edwards.
The victory would send the Cats into a Sweet 16 matchup with the UCLA Bruins. The Wildcats would dominate the matchup with all but one starter finishing with double digits in the points column. Scott Padgett led the way with 19 points and six rebounds followed closely by Jeff Sheppard’s 16 points, Nazr Mohammed’s 15 points and seven rebounds and six blocks. Jamaal Maggiore also tallied six blocks off of the bench. The Cats would win in convincing fashion 94-68. Next was a matchup with the top seeded Duke Blue Devils.
Duke presented the toughest matchup for the Cats. In a barnburner of a matchup, Kentucky entered the half down 10 points. Once again, Jeff Sheppard led the Wildcats to a comeback victory with his 18 points and 11 rebounds. Heshimu Evans contributed 14 points off of the bench for the Cats. The Duke Blue Devils were led by Roshon Mcleod’s 19 points. But even with five Blue Devils in double figures, it wasn’t enough to defeat the Wildcats. Kentucky would advance to their third straight Final Four with a 86-84 victory.
The Final Four
The 1998 Final Four consisted of Kentucky, Stanford, Utah, and North Carolina. Kentucky would be matched up with the three-seed out of the Midwest bracket, in the Stanford Cardinals. Just like the Duke game, Kentucky would fall behind early in the game and enter the half down by seven points. Once again, Kentucky was saved by the performance of Jeff Sheppard who had a game high 27 points, six rebounds, and four six. Along with Sheppard, Nazr Mohammed tallied 18 points in the matchup as well. Stanford’s Arthur Lee’s 26 point performance was just not enough as the Wildcats defeated the Cardinals 86-85 in an overtime thriller to advance to their 10th National title appearance.
The Title Game
An overtime win against Stanford sent Tubby Smith and the Wildcats to the National Title game to face the Utah Utes of the Western Athletic Conference. Utah was a three seed in the West Region that defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels to reach the Title Game. In familiar territory, the Cats found themselves down at the half yet again for the third straight game. This time, they were down by 10 points to the Utes. In an outstanding second half performance, the Cats outscored the Utes 47-28 in the second half to defeat the Utes in yet another comeback to win their seventh National Title.
The Wildcats were led by Scott Padgett’s 17 points along with Jeff Sheppard’s 16 points. Heshimu Evans and Nazr Mohammed both chipped in with 10 points a piece.
Jeff Sheppard and his outstanding performances throughout the tournament earned him Most Outstanding Player of the 1998 NCAA Tournament.