Wildcats roar
Elite 8th title: Kentucky players Terrence Jones , left, and Michael Kidd-gilchrist celebrate after the top-ranked Wildcats defeat Kansas 67-59 to win their eighth NCAA title Monday.
NEW ORLEANS — Big Blue Nation has another banner to hang in Rupp Arena, and Kentucky coach John Calipari has his long-awaited first national title.
The top-ranked Wildcats won NCAA title No. 8 Monday night, holding on for a 67-59 victory against Kansas behind 22 points from sophomore Doron Lamb and a dominant performance from player of the year Anthony Davis, who converted one field goal — with 5:14 left in the game — but finished with 16 rebounds, six blocked shots and five assists to go along with six points.
Despite missing nine of 10 shots, Davis was named the most outstanding player of the Final Four.
The game featured the two winningest programs in Division I basketball history, and Kansas threatened to steal it at the end after trailing by 18 late in the first half.
Kentucky (38-2) led 41-27 at halftime before Kansas (32-7) moved to within 62-57 on two foul shots by AllAmerican Thomas Robinson with 1:37 left. Davis then made one of two foul shots with 1:11 to go, and Kentucky forced a turnover and salted it away.
“I can’t really explain it or put into words how it feels,” senior Darius Miller said. “We came together.”
“This is not about me,” said Calipari, hired away three years ago from Memphis, where his 2008 team lost the championship game in overtime to Kansas. “This is about these 13 players. This is about the Big Blue Nation. This team deserved all the accolades. . . . It doesn’t matter if we’re young. It’s how you play. . . . It’s for the ages now.”
In the first hour after the game, police in Lexington, Ky., reported several dozen arrests. Lexington police spokeswoman Sherelle Roberts said officers were “seeing fires being lit.” She added that people had set couches and at least one car on fire. The incidents came after more than 30 arrests Saturday following Kentucky’s semifinal win against Louisville.