Finishing Touches

ST. LOUIS — The game came apart on Rhode Island like a dime store watch.

Six-point lead with a minute left? Ping.

Four-point lead with 38 seconds? Boing.

One-point lead with 32 seconds? Zang.

Rhode Island, down by three points, five seconds left, guard Tyson Wheeler shooting three free throws to tie the game?

Let’s just say they were still picking up pieces hours after the game.

Stanford was cooked, had already drafted a concession speech, had already struck up the band, when a great gust of basketball fortune blew through the Kiel Center on Sunday and swept the Cardinal to a stunning, preposterous, come-from-behind 79-77 victory over Rhode Island before 22,172.

As this whirlwind unfolded, Cardinal Coach Mike Montgomery was struck with the notion, “Oh my God, I think we’re going to win this thing.”

Stanford did just that, scoring 14 points on seven possessions in the final 1:12 to claim the Midwest Regional title and the team’s first trip to the Final Four since its 1942 national championship run.

Stanford plays Kentucky on Saturday in a national semifinal game at San Antonio.

The Cardinal normally wins with a paradoxical mixture of legal thuggery and academia--harmless-looking, white-toothed scholars suddenly turning into banshees at the sound of a horn.

They should call this team “Monsters of the Midterm.”

Sunday, though, the Cardinal had no choice but to turn the game over to 170-pound-dripping-wet junior guard Arthur Lee, who not only scored 13 of his game-high 26 points in the final 2:02, but set up the go-ahead score with a controversial steal, then ignited a firestorm on the Rhode Island bench with his sportsmanship, or lack of same.

“He just had a look in his eye,” teammate Mark Madsen said of Lee’s play.

Despite wobbling down the stretch--Rhode Island Coach Jim Harrick deciding to slow the pace with a nine-point lead at 6:50--the Rams still carried a four-point lead into the final 38 seconds after guard Preston Murphy made two free throws.

Lee then drove the length of the court for a basket, Luther Clay fouling him en route. Lee made the free throw to cut the lead to 74-73 with 32 seconds left, then made the play of the game, perhaps the biggest in Stanford basketball history.

After Lee’s free throw, Rhode Island’s Antonio Reynolds-Dean inbounded the ball to Cuttino Mobley, who said he expected to be fouled.

“Their coach was saying ‘foul him when he gets the ball in,’ ” Mobley claimed.

Although some near the Stanford bench confirmed Montgomery said just that, he claimed he did not order a foul.

Mobley had taken two dribbles up court when Lee poked the ball loose from behind with his left hand. The deflection bounded directly to Madsen, who proceeded directly to the basket for a rousing slam dunk. To boot, Reynolds-Dean fouled Madsen on the play.

When Madsen completed the three-point play, Stanford led, 76-74, with 26 seconds left.

Mobley insisted Lee’s steal should have been called a foul.

“I still can’t believe it,” Mobley said. “I’m in shock.”

Lee told a different story.

“If I did, it doesn’t really matter now,” Lee said. “But I didn’t. What are they going to do, take our Final Four away from us? Those are just excuses, I guess.”

The game was hardly over though. Trailing by two, Rhode Island came down court with a chance to tie or win, only to watch Reynolds-Dean throw the ball out of bounds with 14 seconds left on a pass intended for Wheeler.

Murphy then fouled Kris Weems, who made one of two free throws to extend the Stanford lead to 77-74.

Lee, ultimately the game’s hero, then did the unthinkable, fouling Wheeler on a three-point shot with five seconds left.

Wheeler, the team’s star but only a 66% free-throw shooter, could have tied the game.

But he short-armed his first shot, after which Lee, standing in the backcourt, made a “choke” signal to the Stanford fans.

Wheeler’s second shot nearly missed the rim. He then intentionally missed his third shot to try to retain possession.

Lee ended up with the ball, was quickly fouled and made two free throws with 4.2 seconds remaining to give Stanford a five-point lead. Lee’s shots rendered meaningless Mobley’s three-point basket at the buzzer.

Lee made all 26 free throws in the regional, one reason he was voted most valuable player.

Rhode Island players and coaches, angered by the staggering defeat and Lee’s alleged antics, stormed off the court, Harrick stopping to curse an NCAA official as he left.

What did he say?

“Nothing you should know,” he said.

Harrick said Lee could have been called for a technical for his “choke” signal on Wheeler.

“If they [the officials] considered that taunting, then yes,” Harrick said.

Lee neither confirmed or denied his actions.

“I wasn’t near Wheeler, really,” Lee said. “I was in the back court. I was just caught up in the emotion. What did I do to make him miss the free throw?”

So, did Lee make the “choke” gesture?

“I really can’t remember,” he said.

Montgomery also skirted the issue.

“I’d hate to think that would be the case,” he said. “We don’t do things to show up other people.”

The loss left Harrick and Rhode Island devastated.

“They cut my heart out,” Harrick said. “They cut my team’s heart out.”

Yet, it was quite a game for Lee, quite a season, really.

He was thrust into an unenviable position--the point guard who had to follow All-American Brevin Knight at Stanford.

“Honestly, I felt no pressure whatsoever,” said Lee, who stared at North Hollywood High. “I knew I just had to be Arthur Lee. I think I’m an OK player.”

Lee has done what Knight never did: lead his team to the Final Four.

Lee had actually been outplayed for 33 minutes by Wheeler, his counterpart at point guard. Wheeler finished with 24 points and made four of seven three-point shots.

Lee said Wheeler’s play motivated him.

“Since I let him get so many points, I had to do something to help our team win,” he said.

Rhode Island finished a memorable season at 25-9.

Stanford, 30-4, heads to a Final Four strikingly different than its last trip in 1942, when it defeated Dartmouth, 53-38, in Kansas City. That game wasn’t broadcast live back to the Bay Area, instead being recreated from wire reports.

Stanford’s share of the NCAA money: $93.75.