After being named the Naismith College Player of the Year, Anthony Davis went out against Kansas in the final and schooled the Jayhawks as if he invented the game. No, Davis didn’t go out and drop 50 points or make many highlight-reel plays on the offensive end, but the man considered the best player in the country put up a dominant defensive performance to lead Kentucky to a 67-59 victory.
From the beginning of the game, it was apparent the Wildcats were more athletic team. They raced up and down court, opening up an 18-point lead with an excellent mixture of precision jump shooting and dribble penetration. Meanwhile, KU struggled to keep pace. Oftentimes the team’s guards drove to the basket only to have their shots altered or rejected by Davis, who finished with 6 points, 16 rebounds, 5 assists, 6 blocks and 3 steals.
Jayhawks center Jeff Withey made his defensive presence known as well, gathering four blocks but despite his stout defense in the paint, he could not deter the Wildcats from attacking the basket.
For much of the game, John Calipari’s squad looked as if they’d run away with an easy victory. But by using a strategy that backfired in his last finals trip (vs KU nonetheless), Calipari inexplicably had his team slow down the game’s pace in the second half and allowed Kansas back into the game. Instead of the effective run-n-gun style that led them to a huge lead, the conservative ‘Cats gave up their greatest advantage and nearly paid for it.
All-American forward Thomas Robinson (18 points, 17 rebounds) and his teammates stormed back to within five points late in the second half. But Coach Cal’s youngsters didn’t seccumb to the pressure as they hit critical jump shots in the clutch and made free throws to ice the game down the stretch.
The national championship victory is the first for Calipari, who lost in his previous two tries with UMass and Memphis. His team, full of standout freshmen and sophomores, is expected to lose five or six players to the NBA draft. Davis is widely expected to be the first selection during the draft and seemed to cement his place as the top prospect by dominating a game from the defensive end of the floor.
