Milwaukee Bucks pick Doron Lamb in the second round - Lexington Herald Leader

UK guard Doron Lamb acknowledges the crowd during a celebration of the 2012 NCAA Men s Basketball Championship victory and Kentucky s 8th National Championship, April 03, 2012 in Lexington. Photo by Jonathan Palmer

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The Milwaukee Bucks took Doron Lamb in the second round with the 42nd overall pick of the 2012 NBA Draft Thursday night, making him the fifth player from UK taken.

The New York native, who exited the University of Kentucky after two seasons, is one of the best pure shooters in the draft. Lamb made 46.6 percent of his three-pointers last year.

He is a better ball-handler than people might think and he started 35 of 40 games on a national championship team. Before the season, University of Kentucky Coach John Calipari called Lamb the best all-around player on his team.

On the down side, experts have questioned Lamb's overall athletic ability. While considered a decent defender, Lamb is not regarded as a lock-down defender or a decent rebounder. Some see him simply as a shooter.

"(Lamb) isn't the all-around talent that the other four draft candidates from Kentucky are," wrote Chad Ford of espn.com recently.

But with the national title on the line in New Orleans April 2, the UK veteran provided the offense the Cats needed to finish off Kansas.

Lamb drained back-to-back three-pointers to steady Kentucky in the second half.

The 6-4 guard hit 7 of 12 shots, 3 of 6 three-pointers and 5 of 6 free throws to finish with a game-high 22 points.

After dominating much of the way, it turned out Kentucky (38-2) needed all the offense Lamb could provide.

After the Jayhawks had come perilously close at the end of a game in which they trailed by double figures for most of the contest, it was the 6-foot-4 Queens, N.Y., product who went to the foul line with a chance to secure the national title.

There were 17.5 seconds left. The score was Kentucky 65, Kansas 59.

"I was a little nervous," Lamb said that night. "I just told myself to focus, take a deep breath and hope they went in."

Splash, splash.

"Fortunately, they went in," Lamb said. "And now this feels great."

Kentucky beat Kansas 67-59 to claim the 2012 NCAA Championship before 70,913 fans in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.