Kentucky Celtics 130 - 130 Tie

[Gregory Hurst <gh18@juno.com>]

A tie? Got to be kidding, right? After all the trash talk, and the
runnin' and the gunnin' and the highwire jams -- or attempted jams -- and
the NDA (No Defense Allowed) before 18,437 starry-eyed fans last night at
Rupp Arena, it ended in a tie?

``Believe it or not, we didn't plan it that way, it just happened,'' said
Heshimu Evans afterward. ``I think the man upstairs planned it that way.

Whatever the man, whatever the plan, that's the way it ended, the '96 
and '98 champs playing to a 130-130 standoff in what may have been just
the first installment of ``The Game'' pitting teams from UK's last two
NCAA titlists.

``Overtime is next year,'' said Derek Anderson, the event's organizer and
participant on the '96 team.

``We gonna do this again next year?'' asked Nazr Mohammed, the  6-foot-11
scoring machine for the '98 clan.

``We might,'' Anderson said.

``I would love to do this again,'' Mohammed said.

And why not, the now Philadelphia 76ers reserve, scored 51 points and
grabbed 18 rebounds to lead the '98ers, despite his name being spelled
wrong (Mohammad) on the back of his jersey. 

Allen Edwards pitched in 28 points, and Evans added 21 for the same team,
coached by Tubby Smith, who interrupted his duties as an assistant coach
on the USA Men's Basketball Team in Orlando, Fla., where the team is
training, to jet back yesterday.

Walter McCarty, one of Rick Pitino's Boston Celtics, led the '96 team
with 31 points and 10 boards, while wearing no-show Antoine Walker's
jersey inside-out. 

Anderson, a Cleveland Cavalier, chipped in 25. Ron Mercer, also a Celtic,
scored 24, and Golden State Warrior Tony Delk added 23 for Delray Brooks,
the ex-UK assistant and now Texas-Pan American head coach, who served as
the figurehead for the '96ers.

Both teams played without a key member. Walker, another  Celtic, didn't
make it to town. And Wayne Turner was missing from the '98 squad.

``Next time we're going to get everybody here,'' said Anderson, whose
Derek Anderson Foundation was a co-benefactor of the event, sharing the
proceeds with the UK Basketball Museum.

And it was Anderson who hit the final basket, sinking a three-pointer
with 16 seconds left that helped bring the '96ers back from a 71-55
halftime deficit and a 116-109 deficit with six minutes remaining.

A 10-2 run, capped by an Anthony Epps' three-pointer, pushed the '96ers
in front 119-118. From there, the lead seesawed until a Mohammed miss
gave the '96 team another chance.

``He got greedy and wanted 53,'' kidded Scott Padgett, who scored 13 for
the '98 team. ``He missed that shot, and that's what gave them back the
ball so Derek could hit his three.''

After Anderson's trey, the '98ers merely bounced out the clock, Jeff
Sheppard choosing to dribble away the seconds at midcourt.<P>

``It's ironic that it would end in a tie, with all the comparisons and
everything,'' said Mohammed, who said of his 51 points: ``That don't mean
anything. This was a celebrity game.''

Celebrity and camaraderie. A plethora of ex-UK players were introduced at
halftime to  ovations at midcourt -- names and faces spanning the Cat
timeline and back again from Ralph Beard to James Lee to Wah Wah Jones to
Vernon Hatton to Derrick Hord to Adrian Smith to Joe B. Hall, and plenty
more in between.

That completed, a ``Team of the Century'' banner was debuted in the
rafters of one end zone.

Take that Duke. Or UCLA. Or North Carolina. Or whomever.

``It went better than I thought it would,'' said Anderson, amid a crush
of autograph hounds afterward. ``Just to have all the guys here was
great.''

``It was fun whether we played the game or not,'' Mohammed said. ``Just
being with the guys today was great.''

 
Take Mark Pope. The cerebral center of the '96 title team wasn't supposed
to play last night, too risky for a troublesome disk in his back.

``But I just had to be out there to step on the court,'' said Pope, who
played six minutes and scored five points. ``I was just going to walk up
and down the floor a few times, nothing too strenuous.''

Was it worth the risk?

``Oh yeah, you can't beat this,'' said Pope, who along with the game's
participants stood at center court at halftime, shaking the hands of the
former Cats as they were introduced. ``I think most of us stood in awe of
those guys. They built this place. We just got to live here a little
while.''


And any chance to come back and visit would just be fine. A chance, like
say, a rematch?

``Next year we ought to let everybody come back,'' Mohammed said. ``Have
an All-Star game. Let 'em all in.'

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