Kentucky will be the lone SEC team in the national championship after beating Louisville, 69-61. Kentucky led throughout pretty much the whole despite a great comeback effort by the Louisville Cardinals.
Mar 31, 2012; New Orleans, LA, USA; Louisville Cardinals guard Peyton Siva (3) goes up for a shot as Kentucky Wildcats forward Anthony Davis (23) defends during the second half in the semifinals of the 2012 NCAA men
This the the Wildcats’ first appearance in the title game since winning a 7th NCAA title in 1998.
Kentcuky’s Anthony Davis had 18 points and 14 rebounds in the semifinal game. He is suppose to the big-time player, and surely enough he was. Davis also added 5 blocks in this game.
Peyton Siva, the Big East Conference Tournament MVP, scored just 11 points and 3 assist. He was in foul trouble early, and never got into the rhythm we’re all used to seeing him in.
“To tell you the truth, I haven’t always liked some of the Kentucky teams. I’m not going to lie to you,” said Louisville coach Rick Pitino, who counts as something of an expert after spending eight years in Lexington and the last 11 with the Cardinals. “But I really like this team a lot because of their attitude and the way they play.” -ESPN.com
Here’s the box score of the game.
| Louisville Cardinals | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Kyle Kuric, G-F | 28 | 3-8 | 1-2 | 0-1 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 |
| Chane Behanan, F | 34 | 4-9 | 0-2 | 2-2 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 10 |
| Gorgui Dieng, C | 40 | 3-10 | 0-0 | 1-1 | 8 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 7 |
| Peyton Siva, G | 31 | 4-11 | 1-2 | 2-2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 11 |
| Chris Smith, G | 23 | 3-11 | 1-2 | 1-2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 8 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Russ Smith, G | 26 | 4-15 | 0-1 | 1-2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 9 |
| Jared Swopshire, F | 3 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Elisha Justice, G | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Wayne Blackshear, G-F | 14 | 3-5 | 1-2 | 2-3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 9 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 24-69 | 4-11 | 9-13 | 16 | 37 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 16 | 61 | ||
| 34.8% | 36.4% | 69.2% | ||||||||||
| STARTERS | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Terrence Jones, F | 33 | 3-8 | 0-0 | 0-3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, F | 23 | 4-6 | 0-0 | 1-4 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 9 |
| Anthony Davis, F | 39 | 7-8 | 0-0 | 4-6 | 2 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 18 |
| Doron Lamb, G | 35 | 4-9 | 0-2 | 2-3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 10 |
| Marquis Teague, G | 33 | 4-8 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 4 | 8 |
| BENCH | MIN | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS |
| Darius Miller, G | 29 | 4-7 | 1-4 | 4-4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Eloy Vargas, F | 1 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Kyle Wiltjer, F | 7 | 2-3 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| TOTALS | FGM-A | 3PM-A | FTM-A | OREB | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO | PF | PTS | |
| 28-49 | 2-7 | 11-20 | 5 | 32 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 69 | ||
| 57.1% | 28.6% | 55.0% | ||||||||||
Kentucky will play Kansas in the National Title Game on Monday.
Topics: 2012, Basketball, Big East, College Basketball, Espn, FanSided, Irish, NCAA, Ncaa Basketball, Slap The Sign
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