NEW ORLEANS — A sea of blue. Kentucky blue. Kansas blue. That’s what the Superdome will look like for Monday night’s NCAA title game after the Kansas Jayhawks wore down Ohio State 64-62 Saturday night to join top-ranked UK in the final.
The Wildcats topped Louisville 69-61 in the first semifinal as 73,361 — the second largest crowd in Final Four history — cheered.
Nor will this merely be a rematch of the November contest at Madison Square Garden that Kentucky won by 10 points. UK-KU will reprise one of the more thrilling championship-game coaching matchups in recent history, Bill Self’s Jayhawks having clipped current UK coach John Calipari’s Memphis Tigers in overtime.
And just to make sure everyone knows how much Kansas forward Thomas Robinson (19 points, eight rebounds) would like revenge after losing almost every player of the year award to UK freshman Anthony Davis, he told CBS late Saturday, “We want it,” when asked about the rematch.
The first half was all Buckeyes, however. Led by William Buford’s eight points, Ohio State hit 5 of 10 3-pointers and five of six free throws and surprisingly blocked four KU shots while the taller Jayhawks were swatting only two of theirs.