MIDWEST

Kentucky 63

Wisconsin 57

MINNEAPOLIS – That sound you heard late in the first half was an entire Commonwealth gasping in horror. There was Kentucky’s Keith Bogans, the best player on America’s best team, wincing, limping, his face a mask of pain and his ankle a ruined, swollen mess.

Here were the Wildcats, their No. 1 ranking suddenly in jeopardy, their championship aspirations suddenly jarred, already engaged in a gritty staredown with the Wisconsin Badgers. Already battling a building that was squarely against them, many of the 28,168 inside the Metrodome defending the Big Ten’s honor, hoping to witness the first humbling of a No. 1 seed in this NCAA tourney.

“Every good team needs to face down a moment of truth sooner or later,” Kentucky coach Tubby Smith said afterward. “Maybe we’ve just confronted ours.”

They certainly survived it. Helped by a career-defining performance by senior center Marquis Estill, who single-handedly reduced Wisconsin’s defense to dust with 28 points, the Wildcats won their 26th straight game and moved within one win of advancing to their first Final Four in five years with a 63-57 victory, earning a spot in the NCAA Midwest Regional finals.

Chuck Hayes also was a key figure, turning in a splendid defensive effort on Wisconsin’s best player, 6-6 swingman Kirk Penney. Penney scored 20 points in the game’s first 24½ minutes, but only managed two shots across its final 15½, with Hayes shadowing his every movement.

At halftime, Smith had gone in search of heart and hope. The Wildcats led 32-28, but they learned they would be without Bogans, their leading scorer at 16.0 ppg, who suffered a high ankle sprain after colliding with Penney. And they needed to find a way to contain Penney, who wasn’t only lighting them up but inspiring his other teammates, too.

“Who wants to guard that guy?” Smith asked his locker room, seeking volunteers.

“I will,” said Hayes, a stocky 6-6 sophomore. “Let me do it.”

Which he did. Better than even Smith could have hoped.

“When Keith went down, we knew we had to all step our games up to another level,” Kentucky guard Gerald Fitch said. “We know we aren’t a one-man team, but we also know not having Keith out there could give [Wisconsin] extra confidence.”

The Badgers (24-8) did a great job of controlling the pace of the game, limiting Kentucky’s transition and using their swing offense to generate a batch of lay-ups and open 3-pointers. But Coach Bo Ryan’s decision to front Estill, daring Kentucky (32-3) to keep feeding him, backfired badly.

Estill made 12 of his 18 shots, most of them right under the basket.