Kentucky's Josh Harrellson (55) celebrates after Kentucky's 76-69 win over North Carolina in the final of the NCAA men's college basketball tournament East regional, Sunday, March 27, 2011, in Newark, N.J.

NEWARK, N.J. — This wasn’t supposed to be the year Kentucky ended its 13-year Final Four drought.

That was supposed to happen last year, in coach John Calipari’s first season on the bench, when John Wall and DeMarcus Cousins electrified a flagging program one fast break at a time.

Or maybe it was supposed to be next year, when another high-profile flock of recruits followed college basketball’s pied piper to the place where Final Fours and national championships aren’t just expected, but demanded.

Yet here they are Houston: the freshmen that were supposed to be just good, not great. The overlooked veterans thrust into the mix out of necessity more than anything else. And the coach tasked with one thing when Kentucky lured him away from Memphis two years ago: restoring the Wildcats to glory.

Freshman point guard Brandon Knight scored 22 points and fourth-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the first time since its 1998 national title with a 76-69 win over second-seeded North Carolina on Sunday in the East Regional final.

“We got Kentucky back,” senior center Josh Harrellson said. “A lot of people doubted us. A lot of people really didn’t think we’d be the team we are. We really pulled it together as a team, and we’re back now.”

The Wildcats (29-8) will play Connecticut in Houston on Saturday night after turning back a late surge.