Kentucky shows it's as long on determination as it is on talent

CLEVELAND — That Kentucky has talent was never in doubt.

Its determination and heart, well, that may not have been as certain because the Wildcats hadn't had to show it. Not often, at least, and certainly not lately.

There will be no questions anymore. Not after Kentucky was pushed so far by Notre Dame it had one foot on the bus, yet somehow managed to scratch out another win to preserve its hopes for a national title and the first unbeaten season in 39 years.

It wasn't talent that made the difference in Saturday night's 68-66 escape. It was heart.

How else to explain making the last nine shots against an Irish defense so pesky Kentucky had considered asking for a restraining order? Or smothering Notre Dame so thoroughly on its last possession the Wildcats looked to have both of their platoons on the floor?

"Desperation, probably," said Andrew Harrison, whose free throws with six seconds left gave Kentucky only its second lead of the final 15 minutes. "We had no choice or we were going to lose."

Even before the Wildcats' rout of Grand Canyon 38 wins ago, the smart money was on Kentucky to steamroll through the season and become the first team since Indiana to go undefeated.

It had four players who could have been NBA draft picks if they'd jumped last spring in Harrison and his twin, Aaron; Willie Cauley-Stein, a likely lottery pick; and Alex Poythress. Add four more prep All-Americans, and it wasn't a matter of whether Kentucky would be cutting down the nets in Indianapolis but whether it would be 40-0 when it did.

Sure, the Wildcats were tested along the way. There was that heart-in-throat overtime win against Ole Miss to start the SEC season, and a double-overtime gut check four days later at Texas A&M. But their season — their legacy — wasn't on the line then.

This game with Notre Dame was different. Lose, and Kentucky loses everything.

"I would rather play well and win by a lot than play a close game like that," Aaron Harrison said. "But yeah, we know our will to win. And it just showed us we never give up. We fight to the end just like any other team."

There will be some naysayers who will point to this game as reason for why Kentucky won't go unbeaten. Despite a massive size advantage — Kentucky has four players 6-10 or taller while Zach Auguste was the only one in Notre Dame's regular rotation above 6-5 — the Wildcats barely won the rebounding battle, 29-28.

The Irish finished with 40 points in the paint, same as Kentucky.

But any team that does something special has to have a game that tests both its psyche and skill, and this was it for Kentucky.

"We were just fighting to stay in the game, to be honest with you, and it was nice to see how it finished for these kids," coach John Calipari said.

Down by five with 5:21 left, the Wildcats allowed Notre Dame only one more field goal the rest of the way.

After Karl-Anthony Towns muscled inside for the tying layup with 1:12 left, Kentucky forced Notre Dame to burn almost the entire shot clock before Jerian Grant put up a 3 that Cauley-Stein batted away.

Andrew Harrison drew the foul at the other end and made both shots.

That gave Notre Dame one last chance with six seconds left. But Cauley-Stein shadowed Grant the entire length of the court, and Grant could only put up an off-balance 3 that never had a chance.

"They do have a will to win, and I know that," Calipari said. "I know they'll make plays. It's just a matter of you have to keep the game close enough so they can."

Calipari likes to say his team is unbeaten, not perfect. So long as it plays with the will it did down the stretch against Notre Dame, it doesn't need to be.