Brandon Knight

NEWARK, N.J. - Kentucky had fallen one agonizing game short last season of reaching a Final Four it had seemed destined to reach, then lost five players who were first-round selections in the NBA draft. But even though expectations were not nearly as great this season, the Wildcats got to the Final Four after all, outdueling North Carolina in the final three minutes Sunday to defeat the Tar Heels, 76-69, and reserve a spot in the national semifinals. The champion of the East Regional as a No. 4 seed, Kentucky (29-8)

NEWARK, N.J. - It had all the characteristics of a heavyweight championship fight - terrific individual matchups, gritty defense, physical play underneath that wasn't for the faint of heart. Ohio State, the overall No. 1 seed, and young but talented Kentucky went at it for 40 minutes Friday night in the semifinals of the NCAA East Regional at the Prudential Center, with the lead changing hands, it seemed, every time you blinked your eyes. But in the end, it was Brandon Knight who knocked down the game-winner, a 15-footer from the right wing with 5.4 seconds to play, to give the fourth-seeded Wildcats a 62-60 victory and a berth in Sunday's regional championship game against No. 2 North Carolina.

NEWARK, N.J. - It had all the characteristics of a heavyweight championship fight - terrific individual matchups, gritty defense, physical play underneath that wasn't for the faint of heart. Ohio State, the overall No. 1 seed, and young but talented Kentucky went at it for 40 minutes Friday night in the semifinals of the NCAA East Regional at the Prudential Center, with the lead changing hands, it seemed, every time you blinked your eyes. But in the end, it was Brandon Knight who knocked down the game-winner, a 15-footer from the right wing with 5.4 seconds to play, to give the fourth-seeded Wildcats a 62-60 victory and a berth in Sunday's regional championship game against No. 2 North Carolina.

NEWARK, N.J. - Four of the top 10 touted freshmen in the class of 2010 will play tonight at the Prudential Center in the NCAA East Regional. Three of them had instant success and sustained it. The fourth, the player voted a preseason first-team All-America, the most highly acclaimed of the class, shot 0-for-12 against Minnesota, 3-for-12 against Charleston, 2-for-9 against Illinois and 3-for-11 against Evansville. Jared Sullinger (Ohio State) had 26 points and 10 rebounds in his second game, a Buckeyes rout at Florida on Nov. 16. He averaged a double-double and was a force all season for the No. 1 team.

TAMPA, Fla. - It's not taking Brandon Knight long to build an impressive resume in the NCAA tournament. A game-winning shot in the closing seconds of his debut. A career-best 30 points in his next game, helping Kentucky back into the round of 16. Less than 48 hours after his only basket helped the fourth-seeded Wildcats survive their tourney opener against Princeton, Knight led an 11-0 run coming out of halftime and made six free throws in the final minute to close out a 71-63 victory over fifth-seeded West Virginia.

Brandon Knight missed his first seven shots and even found himself on the bench in the final minute against Princeton. His confidence could have been shaken. His ego could have been bruised. After all, he was a freshman playing in his first NCAA Tournament game. Then again, Knight's no ordinary newcomer. Held scoreless for more than 39 minutes, Knight made a driving layup with 2 seconds remaining to lift No. 4 seed Kentucky to a 59-57 win over 13th-seeded Princeton yesterday in Tampa.

The Monday after Selection Sunday should be a national holiday. If you're doing any real work Monday you're either a sucker or a Communist or both. When I was a senior writer at Boston magazine, I'd spend the entire day filling out brackets while watching for the boss. He didn't like basketball, and he went to Duke. We didn't get along for those reasons and lots of others. (He was a sucker and, I suspect, a Communist.) Now I work for basketball- and-freedom-loving Americans who tasked me to fill out a bracket and write a column about it. It's a great gig. There's just one problem with the assignment: The bosses wanted me to fill out only one sheet.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Back at Rupp Arena for the first time since the 2007 NCAA tournament, Penn's basketball team looked to open 2011 with a monumental upset of the No. 11 Kentucky Wildcats. And for the first 15 minutes of the game, Penn appeared capable of pulling it off, taking a double-digit lead. However, John Calipari's Wildcats came alive with a 16-3 run to end the first half and went on to an 86-62 victory. Penn (5-6) stayed ahead of Kentucky for all but one minute of the first half, as senior Tyler Bernardini put on a lights-out performance from beyond the arc. "They were just doing whatever they wanted," Calipari said.

LEXINGTON, Ky. - Back at Rupp Arena for the first time since the 2007 NCAA Tournament, Penn's men's basketball team looked to open 2011 with a monumental upset of the No. 10 Kentucky Wildcats. And for the first 15 minutes of the game last night, the Quakers appeared capable of just that, but they couldn't hold on to a double-digit lead, losing, 86-62. Penn (5-6) stayed ahead of Kentucky for all but 1 minute of the first half, as senior Tyler Bernardini put on a lights-out three-point performance.

Marty Seidlin had 10 calls from Sunday night to early yesterday afternoon, all with the same theme: "What the hell did he see in La Salle?" Seidlin is the basketball coach at Cardinal Gibbons High in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. "He" is his star point guard, 6-3 Sam Mills. Mills had offers from Georgia Tech, Miami, Auburn and Mississippi State, among others. "He had 30 to 40 offers at the highest level," Seidlin said Yesterday morning, Mills faxed a signed letter of intent to La Salle.