ATLANTA - Every once in a while, the reality is better than the anticipation. Saturday night's Final Four at the Georgia Dome gave us a comeback from a team striving for greatness against an underdog team that played great, followed by a team that attacked a defense that seemed impregnable and held on as the clock approached midnight.
Game 1: Louisville 72, Wichita State 68
The Shockers would have beaten any team in America - except Louisville. They were so good for so long that a team without great will would have caved. Louisville (34-5) has been winning pretty and easily. The Shockers (30-9) ran brilliant offense against the nation's best defense and had the Cardinals in serious trouble, leading 47-35 with 13 minutes to go.
Wichita State was playing its pace. The Cardinals were starting to quick-shoot. Wichita was already in the one and one. It looked ominous for the heavy favorites. Then, depending on your level of belief, something fortunate or planned or mystical happened.
Midway through halftime, while the teams were in the locker room, Goldencents, a horse part owned by Louisville coach Rick Pitino, emphatically won the Santa Anita Derby, stamping himself as one of the horses to beat in the Kentucky Derby. Like last year's Derby winner I'll Have Another, Goldencents is trained by Doug O'Neill. But that really wasn't the good part.
Just as the comeback was commencing, a horse named Points Offthebench crossed the finish line first in the race after the SA Derby. It was almost at that exact moment when Wichita's Ehimen Orukpe airballed a free throw. Fifteen seconds later, Cardinals walk-on guard Tim Henderson, playing only because of that horrific leg injury to Kevin Ware, nailed a three from right in front of the Louisville bench. Orukpe then missed the front end of another one and one. Ten seconds later, Henderson hit another three from the identical spot.
"I was shocked," Pitino said. "Not shocked that he made 'em, just that he had the gumption to take them, then take it again."
Henderson had played 88 minutes on the season, scoring 16 points. He was 4-for-17 from the arc. He got them back in the game, and then Luke Hancock, the sixth man, won it, with killer threes and fearless drives to the rim. The only time all season he scored more than the 20 points he had against the Shockers was in the five overtime game at Notre Dame when he had 22.
Louisville had three starters make one shot. Its bench outscored Wichita's 34-9. Mystical, indeed. And a chance to win the Derby.
"Do believe the horse was 6-1?" Pitino told the Daily News as he walked off the court after talking to CBS. "You must have killed it."
Actually, I liked his team much more than his horse. Right now, it is Rick's world. By the way, Goldencents was No. 5, the number worn by Ware.
Tactically, Louisville's press was ineffective. The Shockers had four early turnovers, but none for 28 minutes. Over the first 13 minutes of the second half, Wichita was getting an incredible 1.53 points per possession. Then, all that pressure finally took effect. The Shockers had seven turnovers in the final 7 minutes. Louisville got the lead and got to keep playing.
Game 2: Michigan 61, Syracuse 56
Michigan coach John Beilein had never beaten Syracuse in nine tries at various stops. This was his first attempt when he had the more skilled offensive players. With 7 days to get ready for the zone, Beilein decided his ball mover in the middle of the defense would be freshman big man Mitch McGary, who had 18 assists all season.
The Michigan coach knew his personnel. McGary had four of his six assists by halftime as the Wolverines (31-7) opened up a 36-25 lead, scoring 1.33 PPP against a defense that had been suffocating everybody. They had 11 assists and just two turnovers. It was a brilliant display of offensive basketball.
The zone became more active in the second half and Michigan's offense nearly dried up, getting just .758 PPP in the final 20 minutes.
In fact, the Wolverines looked very much like a speed horse searching for the finish line, that arrived just in time.
There were missed free throws. There was the inevitable block/charge call that went against Syracuse and looked wrong. With Michael Carter-Williams and Brandon Triche fouled out, the last-second play to tie never had a chance. Bottom line, Syracuse (30-10) simply did not have enough offense and Michigan's offense early in the game was just enough on a night when Trey Burke, Tim Hardaway and Nik Stauskas went 5-for-29.
In five NCAA games, McGary now has 80 points and 58 rebounds. And when his coach needed him to get inside enemy lines, he was smart enough to make winning decisions.
Like Louisville, Michigan's bench was critical, outscoring Syracuse's 21-11, getting key hoops from Spike Albrecht, Caris LeVert and Jon Horford and critical defensive plays from Jordan Morgan.
C. J. Fair (22 points) was the best offensive player on the court, but the 'Cuse defense had a rare letdown in the first half and they just could not catch up.
Michigan made just eight baskets and seven free throws in the second half. But they did make eight threes to just three for the 'Cuse. And that, Jim Boeheim figured, was the difference in the game.