NEWARK, N.J. -- Before Brandon Knight's off-balance jumper ended Ohio State's run late Friday night, one of the many subplots surrounding the Sweet 16's most anticipated game involved Kentucky's wide-eyed youth and the challenge posed by the more experienced Buckeyes, a group trying to prove it was here on the big stage to stay.
The Buckeyes had been so good for so long this year and, through 36 games, were unquestionably the most complete team in an NCAA tournament field that many thought lacked a dominant force. The wide-eyed Wildcats knew they could match Ohio State athletically, but even coach John Calipari admitted this week he had no idea what to expect from his young group.
In a rough-and-tumble game ultimately decided by a timely -- if not lucky; Knight was 2-of-9 before hitting the winner -- jumpshot with 5 seconds left, Kentucky's flashes of brilliance beat Ohio State's colder-than-usual balance. Suddenly, stunningly, the No. 1 Buckeyes are done 'til November.
And Kentucky's time might be now.
Ohio State had been so good because it mixed experience with talented freshmen of its own. The biggest of that bunch, Jared Sullinger, owned the block all season and when extra defenders came he simply kicked it out to shooters, of which Ohio State had a bunch. The Buckeyes attacked, defended and made the extra pass all season long. They played a step ahead, and even when one guy had an off-night, the other guys picked him up.
Kentucky's kids made sure lots of Buckeyes had off-nights Friday. Ohio State shot 32.8 percent for the game, and William Buford's desperation miss from 25 feet as a dream season expired was his 14th miss in 16 tries. The Wildcats stayed a step ahead, even when Sullinger kept Ohio State on the scoreboard, and the fourth seed in what was unquestionably this NCAA tournament's toughest region moves on to play with the Big Boys yet again, Sunday vs. North Carolina.
A disappointed but impressed Ohio State coach Thad Matta offered this on Kentucky in his postgame press conference: "How the hell are they not supposed to be here?"
Those "kids" are still kids, but they defended like crazy Friday night and blocked 11 shots. The only senior on Kentucky's team, Josh Harrellson, a guy who played four minutes a game last year, defended Sullinger like nobody had all year. Lanky junior Darius Miller, a rare non-Calipari guy on the UK roster who's slowly become one, limited the touches of 3-point sharpshooter Jon Diebler.
A well-executed pick play left Harrellson flat-footed and got Diebler a look to tie it from the top of the key with 21 seconds left. Knight came down the right wing, used a Harrellson screen and never really shook free of Craft, but he made a shot for the ages and put Kentucky into the Elite Eight, leaving an Ohio State team that seemingly didn't miss on the tournament's first weekend one shot short of continuing to pursue its dream.
"Some of the shots we missed are shots we have been making all year," Diebler said. "It is one of those games; you have to give (Kentucky) credit. I thought they did a good job of challenging shots obviously with their length."
It's not quite the pterodactyl length Kentucky will see from North Carolina's John Henson Sunday, but Miller, Terrence Jones and De'Andre Liggins were athletic defenders the likes of which the Buckeyes hadn't seen all season, getting long arms in passing lanes and into lines of visions to contest shots. Jones got two early fouls and got dunked on by Sullinger in the second half, but he came back to drill a big 3-pointer that gave Kentucky a 50-49 lead and stopped Ohio State's momentum.
Knight and Jones, McDonald's All-Americans and All-Calipari Specials who had led Kentucky all season long, picked their spots well after some struggles Friday night. Knight probably hadn't been defended as relentlessly all season as he was by fellow freshman point guard Aaron Craft of Ohio State. Calipari admitted Jones trying to defend Sullinger was a bad idea, and even though Sullinger struggled against Harrellson and Kentucky's overall length, Sullinger was responsible for both Jones and Knight picking up two fouls in the first half.
Sullinger got 21 points and 16 rebounds, but he had to work incredibly hard for every one of them. Kentucky's other guys stepped in and stepped up. The Buckeyes kept missing -- Kentucky kept forcing a lot of those misses -- and the Wildcats' confidence grew.
"The start of the second half, I took (Liggins) off Craft and you saw Craft go nutty," Calipari said. "And I called a time-out and I put him right back on Craft. He's not only a great defender, he had three assists, three blocks, six rebounds, 15 points and big hoops and big free throws. He was huge today, huge."
Those are the contributions the Buckeyes got from Lighty, a fifth-year senior, Buford, a junior three-year starter, and Craft all year long. But on this night the Wildcats were more resilient and more aggressive throughout the final 10 minutes, and that paid off. The Buckeyes picked the wrong night to go cold.
The look test says Kentucky was way underseeded and, after a difficult February with some tough-to-explain SEC road slips, this group has grown up in a hurry. Calipari said it's because he can rely on his grown-ups, and because of them the Legend of Calipari might keep growing in the Bluegrass State, too.
"Our freshmen were OK today," Calipari said. "Our veteran players who were not significant a year ago, who have now taken on this team, that's why we're still playing. It's because of those guys."
Kentucky Basketball for so long has been about tradition, and the immediate thought with Calipari's Kentucky Basketball is that it's about sending guys to the NBA in a hurry. These young Wildcats are on their way, but they aren't quite done with the East Regional.
This year, it's still anybody's ballgame. And if a youthful Kentucky team had the manpower to beat Ohio State, maybe these kids will play another 10 days.
