2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game
The 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball championship game was the finals of the 2012 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament and it determined the national champion for the 2011–12 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The game was played on April 2, 2012, at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana, and featured the South Regional Champion, #1-seeded Kentucky and the Midwest Regional Champion, #2-seeded Kansas. The two head coaches for this game, Kentucky's John Calipari and Kansas's Bill Self also coached at the 2008 National Championship Game where Bill Self was coaching for Kansas and John Calipari was coaching for Memphis. This was a rematch of a regular season encounter at the 2011 Champions Classic, which Kentucky had won 75–65.[2]
| National championship game | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Date | April 2, 2012 | ||||||||||||
| Venue | Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana | ||||||||||||
| MVP | Anthony Davis, Kentucky | ||||||||||||
| Favorite | Kentucky by 7 | ||||||||||||
| Referees | Verne Harris, Mark Whitehead, Mike Stuart | ||||||||||||
| Attendance | 70,913 | ||||||||||||
| United States TV coverage | |||||||||||||
| Network | CBS | ||||||||||||
| Announcers | Jim Nantz (play-by-play) Clark Kellogg and Steve Kerr (color) Tracy Wolfson (sideline) | ||||||||||||
| Nielsen Ratings | 12.3 | ||||||||||||
Participants
editKansas Jayhawks
editKansas entered the tournament as the #2 seed in the Midwest Regional. In the 2nd Round, Thomas Robinson had a double-double with 16 points and 13 rebounds as Kansas beat Detroit 65–50.[3] In the 3rd round against Purdue trailing 60–59, Elijah Johnson got the steal and layup to take a 61–60 lead and with 3 seconds left, Tyshawn Taylor made a dunk for a 63–60 win.[4] In the Sweet 16 against NC State, Jeff Withey blocked 10 shots to survive with a 60–57 victory.[5] In the Elite Eight, Tyshawn Taylor finally got hot with 22 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 steals as Kansas beat North Carolina 80–67 to advance to the Final Four.[6] In the Final Four, Ohio State got off to a strong start and had a 26–13 lead at one point and then, Kansas managed to control Jared Sullinger to beat the Buckeyes 64–62 and advance to the 2012 National Championship Game.[7]
Kentucky Wildcats
editKentucky entered the tournament as the #1 overall seed and was placed in the South Regional. The Wildcats dominated Western Kentucky in an 81–66 victory.[8] In the 3rd round, after being up 38–27 at halftime, Kentucky pulled away from Iowa State to advance to the Sweet 16.[9] In the Sweet 16, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 24 points to take revenge on Indiana with a 102–90 win. Indiana beat Kentucky on December 10, 2011, at Assembly Hall on a Christian Watford buzzer-beater.[10] The Wildcats managed to beat Baylor in the Elite Eight with an 82–70 win to earn a spot in the Final Four.[11] In the National Semifinal, Anthony Davis had a double-double with 18 points and 14 rebounds to lead Kentucky to the 2012 National Championship Game with a 69–61 win over Louisville.[12]
Starting lineups
edit| Kansas | Position | Kentucky | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tyshawn Taylor 2 | G | Marquis Teague 1 | ||
| Elijah Johnson | G | Doron Lamb 2 | ||
| Travis Releford | G | F | Michael Kidd-Gilchrist 1 | |
| † Thomas Robinson 1 | F | Terrence Jones 1 | ||
| Jeff Withey 2 | C | † Anthony Davis 1 | ||
| † 2012 Consensus First Team All-American | ||||
| Players selected in the 2012 NBA draft (number indicates round) | ||||
Game summary
editCBS
|
April 2
9:23 pm |
| #MW2 Kansas Jayhawks 59, #S1 Kentucky Wildcats 67 | ||
| Scoring by half: 27–41, 32–26 | ||
| Pts: Tyshawn Taylor 19 Rebs: Thomas Robinson 17 Asts: Tyshawn Taylor 3 |
Pts: Doron Lamb 22 Rebs: Anthony Davis 16 Asts: Anthony Davis 5 | |
1st Half
editDespite no points from Naismith Trophy winner Anthony Davis in the 1st 9 and a quarter minutes, Kentucky got off to a hot start with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scoring 7 of his 11 points, Doron Lamb 6 points, and Marquis Teague and Terrence Jones each 4 points in that same time frame as Kentucky would have a 23–14 lead and Kansas would be forced to call timeout. The Wildcats kept their dominance to lead 41–27 at halftime despite no points from Davis, as Kidd-Gilchrist scored all 11 of his points in the 1st half, Lamb had 12 points, and Teague had nine. For the Jayhawks, Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor each scored eight points, and Jeff Withey scored 5.
2nd Half
editAnthony Davis's 1st point of the night came with a made free throw with 15:30 left to give Kentucky a 44–30 lead. Elijah Johnson scored four points in 15 seconds to cut the Kentucky lead to 46–34 and force a timeout. But, with Kentucky up 48–38, Doron Lamb made two three-pointers on 40 seconds for a 54–38 lead. Davis's 1st field goal of the night came with a made jump shot with 5:14 left to give Kentucky a 59–44 lead. Then, Tyshawn Taylor scored six points in one minute, and Thomas Robinson made a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 59–52. Kansas kept its comeback effort going with an Elijah Johnson three-pointer and Robinson making a pair of free throws, cutting their deficit to 62–57. Kentucky was able to hold on when Davis made a free throw, and Marquis Teague and Lamb each made a pair of free throws for a 67–59 victory.[15]
References
edit- ^ "2011-12 Men's College Basketball Rankings". ESPN. Retrieved February 16, 2024.
- ^ "Doron Lamb, Terrence Jones lead Kentucky past Kansas". ESPN.com. November 15, 2011. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved April 6, 2014.
- ^ "Kansas dispatches Detroit as Thomas Robinson has double-double". ESPN.com. March 16, 2012. Archived from the original on April 4, 2023. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Late turnover helps Kansas rally past 10-seed Purdue". ESPN.com. March 18, 2012. Archived from the original on March 23, 2017. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Jeff Withey blocks 10 shots as Kansas stops late rally from NC State". ESPN.com. March 23, 2012. Archived from the original on October 22, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Tyshawn Taylor breaks slump to lead Kansas past North Carolina". ESPN.com. March 25, 2012. Archived from the original on November 11, 2020. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Kansas controls Jared Sullinger, eliminates Ohio State on way to title game". ESPN.com. March 31, 2012. Archived from the original on March 8, 2021. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Kentucky too much for WKU as top-seeded Cats cruise". ESPN.com. March 15, 2012. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Kentucky pulls away from Iowa State after halftime". ESPN.com. March 17, 2012. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Michael Kidd-Gilchrist's 24 points lead Kentucky past Indiana". ESPN.com. March 23, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2014.[dead link]
- ^ "Kentucky has little trouble with Baylor on way to second straight Final Four". ESPN.com. March 25, 2012. Archived from the original on August 4, 2016. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "Anthony Davis leads Kentucky past Louisville, into championship game". ESPN.com. March 25, 2012. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved April 7, 2014.
- ^ "2011-12 Kentucky Wildcats Starting Lineups". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- ^ "2011-12 Kansas Jayhawks Starting Lineups". Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2018.
- ^ "Kentucky holds off Kansas to win eighth national title". ESPN.com. April 2, 2012. Retrieved April 7, 2014.[dead link]