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One of the greatest college teams assembled on paper would’ve remained just that – ‘on paper’ – if they didn’t truly live up to their potential and capture the biggest win in college basketball. The University of Kentucky Wildcats did just that on April 3rd, 2012 by defeating Kansas University Jayhawks 67-59 in the final to capture the NCAA Men’s Championship. In the process, Kentucky won their 8th-ever national championship but the first for revolutionary coach John Calipari. The final featured the top two most successful basketball programmes in NCAA history.
The victory capped off a 38-2 season for Kentucky.
The victory also marked the end of an unstoppable first (and only) college season of Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, whose impressive one-year resume included winning a national championship, the Player of the Year award, Defensive Player of the Year award, Freshmen of the Year Award, and the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four award. In a few more months, he will add to this memorable one year stretch by surely going Number 1 in a stacked 2012 NBA Draft.
In addition to Davis, Kentucky feature a plethora of other stars who are going to be making NBA-money in a few months, including Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb, and Darius Miller.
The finalists were no scrubs themselves, as the Jayhawks had fought through every type of opponent in the championship to rally into the Finals, including Ohio State in the Final Four stage. The Jayhawks also featured their own superstar in Thomas Robinson to challenge the stars of Kentucky.
And despite his 18 point, 17 rebound game in the final, Robinson was pestered by Kentucky’s incredible defense all game. The Wildcats were led by Lamb (22) and Teague (14). Davis had a strong impact on the defensive end of the floor, with 16rebounds, 6 blocks, and only 6 points.
A few days ago, soon after being awarded the John Wooden Player of the Year award, Davis scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to helped Kentucky beat University of Louisville in the Final Four match-up.
It’s been a great year for the red-hot favourites Kentucky, whose packed roster lived up to its expectations. Coach Calipari might lose half of his players to the NBA next season, but don’t worry Kentucky Fans – the Wildcats will be back with a whole new set of talented freshmen next season.
