Christian Laettner hit the game-winning shot to beat UK in 1992. (Duke Athletics Photo)
Kentucky didn’t win the game but many college basketball observers still consider the 1992 NCAA Tournament East Region final between UK and Duke at the Spectrum in Philadelphia as the greatest college game ever.
Defending national champion Duke won 104-103 in overtime when Christian Laettner — who UK fans still believe should have been ejected early in the second half for stomping on Aminu Timberlake’s chest — took a length of the court pass, faked right, dribbled once, turned and hit a jump shot as time expired to send the Blue Devils to the Final Four and deny “The Unforgettables” a chance to win a national title in UK’s first year back off probation.
Deron Feldhaus put the game into overtime with a cutback of a John Pelphrey miss to tie the game 93-93. Kentucky took a 98-96 lead before Laettner scored six straight points to put Duke on top 102-101. Kentucky called timeout with 7.8 seconds left and point guard Sean Woods hit a running one-hander in the lane with 2.1 seconds to go to put UK on top. Coach Rick Pitino decided not to guard the inbounds pass and Grant Hill threw the pass Laettner converted into the winning basket.
Laettner finished the game with 31 points and was a perfect 10-for-10 from the field and foul line. That was the level of play in this game where the two teams combined to shoot 61 percent from the field, including 63.2 percent in the second half and overtime.
Jamal Mashburn had 23 points on 11 of 16 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Woods had 21 points on 9-for-16 shooting, nine assists, and three steals. Pelphrey had 16 points and five assists. Kentucky had 24 assists on 37 field goals. Three other Blue Devils joined Laettner in double figures and they had 23 assists on 34 field goals.
Pitino said his mind was “in a total fog” after the game. UK players wept in the dressing room. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski felt so bad for UK players that he joined Cawood Ledford on the UK Radio Network postgame show to praise the Cats and talked about how many winning plays both teams made.
5 Responses
The "stomp" was a technical foul for sure, but did not warrant an ejection. Laettner was perfect from the field and the free throw line. It just was not meant to be a Kentucky win. Coach K did show a lot of class by joining Cawood after the game. No matter how much I hate Duke and Coach K, you have to give him credit. 5 national titles, maybe one more. Didn’t we overpay some character to do that as well?
The "stomp" is yet another slap in the face of UK athletics by officials who have routinely dissed UK teams over the decades. We saw it yet again on Saturday night, and we will see it more in the future.
You may have a point there Prof. It was like they were trying to get last Saturday’s game over as quick as they could.
It should have been a ejection, but I’m glad they didn’t. I’m a die-hard Kentucky fan, but I didn’t want to hear that the only reason we won,was because Christian Laettner didn’t play.
In no doubt in my mind had we won this game, we would have won number 6 sooner.