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 82-70 blitzing of Baylor, setting up a Bluegrass showdown with rival Louisville in the national semifinals Saturday at 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) 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. Kansas keeps its cool Roy Williams cries as easily as some people take jump shots. Williams, the North Carolina coach, figured to be teary after the Tar Heels let a chance at their 19th Final Four appearance slip away in the final minutes Sunday against Kansas. And the worst part was admitting what happened. “We panicked a little bit out there,” Williams said. In a fast-paced Midwest Region final that was tight throughout, Kansas scored the last 12 points to win, 80-67, at the Edward Jones Dome. The top-seeded Tar Heels collapsed down the stretch, missing their final nine shots and 14 of 16 in the face of a Kansas triangle-and-two defense — this after North Carolina shot 63.6 percent in the first half. North Carolina (32-6) missed all 10 of its second-half 3-point attempts and did not score a point after a Harrison Barnes free throw with 3 minutes 58 seconds to play. Until then, the Tar Heels' offense appeared to be running well enough without point guard Kendall Marshall, who missed his second consecutive game with a broken bone in his right wrist. “It was pretty there for a while,” Williams said. “It just wasn't very pretty those last five minutes.” The Jayhawks (31-6) will play East champion Ohio State (31-7) in a national semifinal Saturday in New Orleans, the first Final Four appearance by Kansas since its 2008 national championship.
