NEW ORLEANS -- Kentucky coach John Calipari has assembled one of the most talented men's college basketball teams in recent history.
Freshman Anthony Davis is close to being the consensus national player of the year and in less than three months should be the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.
Teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, another freshman, is looking like a top-five pick.
Sophomore Terrence Jones and Doron Lamb could also be first-round picks.
But don't forget about Darius Miller. He's a 6-8 senior from Maysville, Ky., who has been a sixth man this season after starting 37 games last season.
He got Kentucky going against Commonwealth rival Louisville with a three-pointer and hit two free throws shortly thereafter to extend the Wildcats' lead to nine points with under 5 minutes left in a 69-61 Kentucky victory Saturday night in the NCAA national semifinals at the Superdome.
Kentucky's youngsters are not accustomed to close games. They won every previous tournament game by double digits, and the lead was tenuous with Louisville's Peyton Siva leading a comeback. The Wildcats did not help themselves at the foul line, going 11-for-20.
With Miller steadying the bunch, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Anthony Davis, who led the Wildcats with 18, made the rest look easy.
Kidd-Gilchrist tossed an alley oop pass to Davis, whose authoritative one-handed jam left Louisville deflated. Kidd-Gilchrist chipped in with his own slam dunk.
They made the highlight plays.
Miller was critical in making them possible. He finished with 13 points
In the first half, defense and transition play had Louisville within striking distance.
Offensively, the Cardinals were stale, which hurt their chances of pulling off the biggest upset of the season. They shot 37.6% for the half. Kentucky shot 60%.
A sign of a tough night for Louisville came when Kentucky point guard Marquis Teague scored twice on layups.
Louisville let the freshman from Indianapolis set the tone, and the Cardinals paid by going down 8-2. Teague and Doron Lamb each had four points.
Another early problem for the Cardinals: Forward Gorgui Dieng looked out sync, botching an easy slam dunk when Kentucky's transition defense failed.
Yet Dieng found his rhythm about midway through the first half, drawing an offensive foul against Anthony Davis and scoring his first basket with 8:32 left.
And life got better for Louisville.
The Cardinals didn't shoot well but held their ground defensively. They forced Kentucky to commit three offensive fouls and forced a turnover with under four minutes left to get a transition layup from Russ Smith.
Both teams had a key player in foul trouble. Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the most outstanding player in the South regional last weekend, missed most of the first half after drawing his second foul with 13:47 left.
Louisville's Peyton Siva picked up his second with 7:13 left.
Teague, Lamb and Davis each had eight points in the first half for Kentucky. Chane Behanan led Louisville with six.
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