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Final Four set
Photo
Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor (10) goes up for a shot against North Carolina guard P.J. Hairston (15) during the men’s NCAA Midwest Regional final Sunday in St. Louis. Taylor broke out of a slump to score 22 points and lead the second-seeded Jayhawks to the Final Four and date with Ohio State with an 80-67 victory over the top-seeded Tar Heels.
Kentucky and Kansas to join Ohio St., Louisville in New Orleans
Associated Press
st. louis
Nothing personal, Roy.
Tyshawn Taylor broke out of his slump in a big way Sunday, scoring 22 points and leading Kansas back to the Final Four with an 80-67 victory over former coach Roy Williams and top-seeded North Carolina.
The second-seeded Jayhawks (31-6) will play Ohio State on Saturday in their first Final Four appearance since winning the 2008 national championship.
“It’s awesome,” center Jeff Withey said. “There’s no better feeling than this right now.”
And how’s this for symmetry? Kansas began this year’s tournament in Omaha, Neb., the same place as four years ago.
As the game ended, Taylor — much maligned for his shooting struggles during the first three games of the NCAA tournament — ran to Kansas fans and raised both arms in the air. Travis Releford tossed his sweatbands into the crowd.
“This is what you come to Kansas for,” Taylor said. “It’s a great feeling, but it’s just one step.”
Taylor led five Jayhawks in double figures. Player of the year candidate Thomas Robinson added 18 points and nine rebounds, and Elijah Johnson kept up his blistering pace in the tournament with 10 points, including a 3-pointer with 3:07 to play that sparked Kansas’ 12-0 run to end the game. Withey made two monster blocks to deny the Tar Heels during the final run — including one that set up a big three-point play by Taylor.
“There’s no way to put into words the way we feel,” Williams said. James Michael McAdoo scored 15 for the Tar Heels (32-6), who played better in their second game without injured star point guard Kendall Marshall. But North Carolina couldn’t overcome a 5:46 field goal drought to end the Midwest Regional final.
It was only the third defeat in 12 regional final appearances for the Tar Heels, but their second straight after losing to Kentucky last year.
“It was a game of runs,” Williams said. “And we didn’t answer the last one.”
This was only the second time Williams had faced Kansas since leaving the school where he spent his first 15 years as a head coach, taking the Jayhawks to the NCAA title game twice — they lost in both 1991 and 2003 — and two other Final Fours.
Though Kansas fans have softened some — Williams was still greeted with a chorus of boos, and one fan held up a sign that said, “Roy Down, 2 to Go” — Williams said Saturday that facing his old team will always be unpleasant.
Kentucky 82, Baylor 70.
ATLANTA
Kentucky could’ve cut the nets down at halftime.
Actually, the Wildcats probably would’ve been good skipping the ceremony altogether.
A South Regional title is fine, but what matters to this bunch of future NBA stars is breaking out the scissors in the Big Easy.
Top-seeded Kentucky advanced to the Final Four for the second year in a row with a blitzing of Baylor, setting up a Bluegrass showdown with rival Louisville in the national semifinals.
Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 19 points, Anthony Davis added 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Terrence Jones dazzled in all the overlooked areas to lead the Wildcats (36-2).
For all the hoopla sure to surround the next game in its basketball-crazed state, Kentucky won’t consider the season a success unless it wins two more games — culminating in a national title.
“I’m not satisfied yet,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.
This group sure has the look of a champion, shaking off an early blow by the Bears (30-8) — a very good team with a daring fashion sense that was simply no match for coach John Calipari’s latest group of Fab Freshmen. Kentucky took control with an early 16-0 run and led by 20 at halftime.
“This team is better than I thought,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “This is the best team we faced all year ... probably in a couple of years.”
Two years ago, Baylor lost to eventual national champion Duke in another regional final.
“Duke was a good team,” Drew said, “but Kentucky is better.”
The Wildcats beat Louisville 69-62 on New Year’s Eve, but now they’ll meet with the highest stakes ever. Kidd-Gilchrist shrugged when someone asked about playing the Cardinals.
“I’m just worried about us,” he said. “That’s it. I don’t worry about anybody else.”
Quincy Acy led Baylor with 22 points, and Pierre Jackson added 21.