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 an 82-70 blitzing of Baylor, setting up a Bluegrass showdown with rival Louisville in the national semifinals Saturday in New Orleans.
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) on Sunday. 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.
Kentucky did get a scare early in the second half when Davis went down with an injured left knee. Davis was driving to the basket when he banged knees with Baylor’s Perry Jones III, going down hard along the baseline.
A hush fell over the massive stadium as Davis, writhing in pain, grabbed at his knee. Finally, he limped to the bench, but the injury wasn’t too serious.
After just a few minutes, Davis got up and headed to the scorer’s table, checking back into the game.
The Kentucky fans broke into a huge cheer of relief.
There’s still work to do in the Big Easy.
