Kentucky and Kansas minutes away from NCAA tournament title game - Los Angeles Times

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Kentucky and Kansas minutes away from NCAA tournament title game - Los Angeles Times Apr 3rd 2012, 01:25 Rock block Jayhawk. Kentucky's Anthony Davis swatted two shots and teammate Terrence Jones blocked another. The Wildcats feed off such things. A little 10-5 run gives Kentucky a 23-14 lead midway through the first half. Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has seven points for Kentucky, which has out-rebounded Kansas by seven. ----- The first meeting between Kansas and Kentucky in an NCAA tournament championship game was overly saturated with pregame hyperbole, including this nugget from Kentucky Coach John Calipari: "Goliath vs. Goliath." The first five minutes have lived up to the over-the-top talk. "The Fray" was both the band performing the national anthem and a description of play early on. Kentucky received notice that there will be no easy baskets. Kansas' 7-foot center, Jeff Withey, blocked Terence Jones' shot on the Wildcats' first possession. Kentucky's Michael Kidd-Gilchrist was sent to the floor on a layup try on the next possession. The Wildcats, though, remain relentless. Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb scored in transition, and Lamb then sank a jumper to give Kentucky a 13-9 lead. Pregame In a matchup featuring two of the most storied programs in NCAA basketball history, Kentucky and Kansas are just minutes away from starting the championship game of the NCAA tournament. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:23 p.m. PT. The game will be shown on CBS. Kentucky (37-2) is in search of its eighth national title and has a record 112 NCAA tournament wins in its history; Kansas has 93 wins is looking for its fourth title. UCLA has the record for most titles, with 11. Times college basketball reporter Chris Dufresne breaks it down like this: Look for a high-scoring, free-wheeling game. Kentucky averages 77.6 points per game to Kansas' 73.9. Kentucky's advantage is also having the No.1-ranked defense, limiting opponents to 34.7% shooting. The game features, arguably, the best and second-best players in the field in Kentucky center Anthony Davis and Kansas' Thomas Robinson. Kentucky tends to overwhelm opponents with its speed and transition game, and Kansas has a bad habit of pulling out wins after falling behind. The Jayhawks trailed Ohio State by 13 points five different times Saturday before rallying to win. Falling behind Kentucky by double digits is not recommended. Kansas has to hope Davis gets in foul trouble as he did in Kentucky's December loss at Indiana. Kansas' 7-foot center, Jeff Withey, must change the dynamic of the game with his shot-blocking and not allow Kentucky free passage in the paint. Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor must find his outside shooting touch — he is 0 for 20 from three-point range in the tournament — and avoid the kind of late-game brain cramps that almost cost Kansas a semifinal win over Ohio State. --Houston Mitchell ALSO: Bobby Petrino injured in motorcycle crash Tom Schaar lands skateboarding's first-ever 1080 [video] WWE Wrestlemania 28: Did Brock Lesnar crash the party?  Kentucky and Kansas minutes away from NCAA tournament title game This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you're reading it on someone else's site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters recommends: Donate to Wikileaks.

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