Kentucky’s bench comes up big against Louisville (Yahoo! Sports)
Senior guard Darius Miller made the most of his moment. Freshman forward Kyle Wiltjer did the same in his cameo. Two players who would likely start for any other team in the nation are coming in off the bench for Kentucky, a highlight of the overflowing athleticism the Wildcats had on display in a 69-61 victory over Louisville in the Final Four on Saturday night.
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Kentucky vs. Louisville Score: Video Highlights, Twitter Reaction and Grades
The Kentucky Wildcats are on their way to the 2012 NCAA championship game after taking down the Louisville Cardinals, 69-61.
This was a fun and hotly contested game. Louisville gave the Wildcats a run for their money, but in the end, Kentucky proved to be too athletic and talented for Louisville.
The Cardinals were fantastic on the boards and played good defense, but they didn’t shoot nearly well enough and allowed too many easy buckets.
Tweets of the Night
NPR’s Steve Inskeep astutely pointed out how Louisville was able to keep this game interesting.
Kentucky: superior talent by far.Louisville: defense, offensive rebounds, everything that shows heart.
— Steve Inskeep (@NPRinskeep) March 31, 2012
The fake Bill Walton tweeted out what is very likely an unverified fact, but highly possible.
Walton Fact of the Day: 20 gallons of hair gel were put in the Louisville & Kentucky locker rooms at halftime for the coaches to refuel.
— The Bill Walton Trip (@NotBillWalton) March 31, 2012
Must-See Highlight of the Night
Kentucky gets all the hype for having amazing athletes and being monsters in the open court, but on this play, the Cardinals proved they have some open court moves themselves.
Grades for Key Kentucky Players
Anthony Davis: A
It was just another typical outstanding game for Davis. Opposing big men are just unable to match his athleticism and fluidity.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist: C-
Kidd-Gilchrist, who had been on a tear entering this game, picked up two quick fouls and sat out the majority of the first half.
He never seemed to get in a rhythm this game. He scored two buckets in the final seconds to end the game with nine points on 4-of-6 shooting.
Doron Lamb: C+
Lamb played a solid game. He provided valuable scoring with nine points, but struggled with his outside shot—including missing both three-point attempts—and had four turnovers.
Grades for Key Louisville Players
Peyton Siva: B
This was a tale of two halves for Siva. He appeared tight from the tipoff and looked lost for the first half. He began to warm up, though. He was huge as Louisville made their second half run.
He ended with 11 points on 4-of-11 shooting and had three assists.
Chris Smith: C-
In the face of some tremendous defense, Smith’s shot was off. He still managed to drop some buckets. Louisville needed much more though. He had eight points on 3-of-11 shooting.
Gorgui Dieng: B-
Dieng did some nice things in this game. He was a monster on the boards and came down with 12 rebounds.
However, he was just 3-of-10 from the field and did not offer enough resistance on Anthony Davis.
Stat of the Night: 6:20
That is the amount of crucial game time that Louisville went without scoring a basket from the field in the second half. The drought started at the 9:12 mark.
Game MVP: Anthony Davis
Davis was amazing. He had 18 points and was a sterling 7-of-8 from the field. He also had 14 rebounds and five blocks.
What’s Next?
Kentucky will take on the winner of the Kansas-Ohio State game for the championship on Monday at 8 p.m. ET.
After a tremendous season by Rick Pitino and Co., Louisville now set their sights on next year.
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Kentucky off to title game, beats Louisville 69-61 (Yahoo! Sports)
Kentucky owns the Bluegrass State. Now it can concentrate on the rest of the country Anthony Davis and top-seeded Kentucky will play for the national title Monday night after finally putting away pesky Louisville 69-61 in the Final Four on Saturday night. It will be Kentucky’s first appearance in the title game since winning a seventh NCAA crown back in 1998 and gives coach John Calipari…
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Final Four 2012: Kentucky Tops Louisville to Head to Championship Game
In what may have been the craziest week of basketball fever in the state of Kentucky’s history, it was hard to imagine the actual game between the Wildcats and the Cardinals coming anywhere close to living up to the hype. But despite the contest not coming down to a buzzer beater, it was an exciting and hard fought war for 40 minutes that ended with a 69-61 Kentucky victory.
The Good
- Senior Darius Miller was huge off the bench, scoring many of this 13 points at critical moments when Kentucky was lagging offensively.
- Anthony Davis was his usual amazing self, scoring 18 points, grabbing 14 rebounds and blocking five shots. When the rest of the team looked like they almost didn’t want to rebound the ball on defense (which we will get to in a moment), Davis was constantly scrapping and clawing inside.
- After a very cold start due to foul trouble, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist came on strong to finish with nine points late in the second half.
- Just when it looked like Terrence Jones was on the verge of another December-like performance, he came through with some huge rebounds, blocks and baskets in the final 10 minutes of the second half.
- Louisville was able to mount a very impressive full court press in the closing minutes of the game, but the Cats were repeatedly able to break it with constant motion and a willingness by the big men to get in the back court and help.
The Bad
- Louisville snagged 16 rebounds compared to only five by the Wildcats. Aside from Anthony Davis and a late show of aggressiveness by Terrence Jones, the Cats were completely out hustled on the boards.
- Kentucky shot 55 percent from the free throw line, putting the game in reach for the Cards much longer than it should have been.
- The Wildcats turned the ball over 14 times compared to only nine assists.
The Weird
- Louisville forward Chane Behanan claimed that once his team got to the Final Four, winning would be a piece of cake. I’m guessing Kentucky fans will bring that statement up quite a bit in the years to come.
- Louisville guard Chris Smith claimed Anthony Davis should be worried about their center, Gorgui Dieng. While many Kentucky fans (including myself) laughed about this, he actually was surprisingly effective, grabbing 12 rebounds (eight of them on offensive), scoring 7 points and blocking 4 shots.
- The game featured a large number of offensive fouls called on Kentucky. As much as I and the rest of Big Blue nation wanted them all to be suspect, many were also the correct call.
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Louisville wearing infrared uniforms at Final 4 (Yahoo! Sports)
Break out the sunglasses, Louisville is sporting its infrared uniforms for the Final Four. The Cardinals are 5-0 in their orange, err, “red” uniforms, and they’re not about to mess with that success with a trip to the NCAA title game on the line. The fourth-seeded Cardinals (30-9) play top-seeded Kentucky (36-2) on Saturday night.
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Kentucky vs. Louisville: Characters That Will Impact Final Four Matchup
Every story worth it’s weight in gold has characters worth investing in, and that’s exactly what we have in this epic 2012 Final Four matchup between the Kentucky Wildcats and Louisville Cardinals.
Whether good or bad, there are plenty of reasons to tune in.
The personalities and players in this game are just as big as the matchup in itself—if not bigger. Just as on all grand stages, these characters will determine the outcome.
The outcome in this case will be a trip to the 2012 NCAA basketball national championship game.
Shakespeare told us that all the world’s a stage. Here are the characters that will make the biggest impact on this night.
Rick Pitino, Coach, Louisville
The drama of this epic matchup starts and ends with Rick Pitino. He’s a legend in the college basketball world, and all eyes will be on his reaction to the events that take place.
He’s often brash, animated and he’s got somewhat of a temper. Even though he may terrorize referees and reporters, he makes for a great watch on the sideline.
Adding to his intrigue is the fact that he used to coach for Kentucky, winning a championship in 1996, but now squares off against his old team as the coach of their biggest rival.
The plot surrounding Pitino is thick in this game, and his fiery coaching is going to have to play a huge role against a Kentucky team that is near flawless.
Anthony Davis, Forward, Kentucky
There is no doubting the fact that Davis is the best player on the floor, and this game will go how he wants it to.
He just won the 2012 AP Player of the Year award, and he’s been dominant in the tournament. He’s a terror on the offensive end, but may make his biggest impact on the paint playing defense.
He’s a great rebounder and an imposing shot blocker.
If the Wildcats can get the ball down to Davis and allow him to control the flow of the game through the paint, they will have a huge advantage in this game.
The Fans
This game is a huge rivalry, as Louisville and Kentucky fans cannot stand each other, so I can only imagine the atmosphere at the game will be hostile.
You’d be naive to believe that fans can’t play a huge role in a basketball game, especially the college level.
The team with the louder more imposing fan base may be able to snag a bit of an advantage over their opponents.
As in most big games, it’s going to come down to who can focus in the final few minutes. The fans will factor in to that focus.
Tune in at 6:09 p.m. ET on CBS to experience the madness for yourself.
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Live blog: Kentucky vs. Louisville
We’ll have updates and comments throughout the first semifinal of the Final Four.
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Kentucky vs. Louisville: Anthony Davis Must Control the Game
Anthony Davis is going to be a top-two draft pick in the NBA this summer, and his performance against Louisville could very well cement that reality.
Reaching the Final Four is an accomplishment on its own and beating an in-state rival is always noteworthy.
But beating an in-state rival in a Final Four game will be a dream come true for the Kentucky Wildcats and coach John Calipari.
And it starts by stopping Chane Behanan.
The 6’6″ freshman is a huge part of the reason Louisville find themselves in New Orleans. Behanan has averaged 14 points per game through four games, while shooting a dominant 64% from the field.
The forward has done most of his damage on the inside, where Davis makes his living defensively.
Sounds like a showdown.
But wait, there’s more.
Louisville boasts Gorgui Dieng, a 7’0″ Senegalese center who should give Davis a very good game on both ends of the floor.
It will be very important for Davis to work Dieng at both ends. Although Dieng isn’t an offensively gifted player, but he did average about nine points per game during the regular season.
Instead, he will look to shut down Davis defensively and on the boards.
Dieng is a very solid rebounder, and averaged over three blocks per game in the regular season. His contributions on offense often stem from offensive rebounding putbacks, so it will be important for Davis to keep him off the boards.
Offensively, Davis needs to stay involved in the game. Though he generally doesn’t disappear for long stretches, he will be facing a very tough matchup in Dieng and it may be more difficult than normal for him to get the easy buckets he’s used to.
If Kentucky’s guards go cold, the load may fall to Davis to keep his team in the game on both sides of the ball.
He has to be extremely disciplined on defense, and alter shots without giving up easy looks to Dieng. His shot-blocking tendencies can sometimes take him away from the rim, and that could lead to plenty of offensive rebounding from the Cardinal big men.
Davis has shown throughout the year that he can be dominant on both ends of the floor, especially defensively. But he comes off a little like Hasheem Thabeet: A defensive terror whose limited offensive repertoire could scare NBA teams at the top of the draft into avoiding him.
If he can show against Louisville that his offense can be a weapon without sacrificing his defensive presence, Davis will be a lock for a top-two spot, competing to be the first pick with a couple of other players, most notably North Carolina’s Harrison Barnes.
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Civil War: Kentucky vs. Louisville in Final Four (Yahoo! Sports)
Kentucky coach John Calipari likes to say there are no rivalry games at this point in the season. Try telling that to the Bluegrass State, where basketball’s version of the civil war — Kentucky vs. Louisville, winner plays for the NCAA title — has so divided the small state that senior citizens have actually come to fisticuffs.
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Louisville vs. Kentucky: Cardinals’ Magic Ends with Kentucky in Final Four
Louisville has enjoyed a remarkable run in March and should be commended. In the end, a Final Four pat on the back is all they will get, because the Kentucky Wildcats are just too big a hurdle.
With unrelenting defense and some underrated stars in the paint, Rick Pitino has put together a Final Four run for the ages.
If only this were the destination and not merely one more trial by fire. Watching Louisville through the last couple of weeks should have us wildly confident that the upcoming Final Four clash of hated rivals will be close, but the finish has very much been written.
There are several reasons that Kentucky continues their journey to the NCAA Championship, and that means an admirable run by the Cardinals ends in defeat on Saturday.
Anthony Davis
You will again hear a great deal about him in the next day, so we might as well get this out of the way. Yes, Davis is as good as you have heard, and yes, he will be just as dominant on Saturday.
I am fully aware of Gorgui Dieng and what he has meant to Louisville in the paint. I just don’t care, not when you have a player like Davis who is long and moves like a small forward.
He has also proved capable of keeping the fouls to a minimum. Look for a great deal of Davis to be on the floor.
Depth on Offense
It’s a tricky thing, this March Madness business. Teams come and go, but it’s precisely when their main weapons are isolated that they leave.
Anthony Davis may be the household name of the tourney, but there are plenty of NBA-level players on this Kentucky roster that can take over.
The Wildcats’ versatile attack has delivered four straight games of 80-plus points and a 47.8 percent shooting from the floor.
Louisville may be a top-notch defense, but Kentucky has too many weapons to account for.
Round 2
We already have some idea how these two teams match up because we saw it on December 31st, when the Wildcats beat Louisville, 69-62.
Kentucky owned the boards, grabbing 49 to the Cardinals’ 28. What’s more is Louisville needed 30 points from Russ Smith to stay close.
Smith is 15-for-49 from the field in the past five games and will not play the part of hero on Saturday. Despite a very solid team, Louisville will be turned away by a better one in the Final Four.
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