There are various reasons why a rivalry discontinues. It can be money, controversy, a coaching feud or one team simply isn’t very good anymore.

None of those reasons explain what happened today.

Next year’s college basketball season will be the first in 43 years that doesn’t feature a UK-IU game. The rivalry between the two storied programs was postponed after the two sides failed to agree on whether to play the games on campus or at neutral sites for the next two years.

Whether it’s true or not, UK Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart said today that the two sides “verbally agreed in principle” to play on neutral courts for the next two seasons, a fact IU failed to disclose.

This is a conclusion that has been plausible in many people’s minds ever since Christian Watford sent Bloomington into euphoria last December.

But, what this decision ultimately shows is a status difference between the two programs.

Under the direction of John Calipari, UK has been to three straight Elite Eights, back-to-back Final Fours and are a month removed from winning its eighth National Championship.

They have nothing to prove to anybody. If Calipari doesn’t want to play in Bloomington in 2014, he won’t. It’s as simple as that.

IU, on the other hand, is on their way back up. After a decade of mediocrity, the Hoosiers made a Sweet 16 run last season and return almost everyone to a team projected to be No. 1 in the country at the start of next season. They long for teams like UK to play them in their gym; it’s the verification they need that they’re back among the elite of college basketball.

But, are the Cats scared of the Hoosiers? Did UK discontinue this rivalry because they are afraid IU will trample them mercilessly for years to come?

Not exactly.

But there is one clear point to make here: Assembly Hall is the only arena, the only one, that Calipari knows his fans can’t dominate.

The IU fans were incredible last December. The school did a great job of making sure they kept the blue out. That game  was the only really hostile environment the Cats played in all year.

With the platform he has in Lexington, Calipari knows he doesn’t have to accept that.

And clearly, he won’t.

They say they’ll revisit the issue in the future, but I don’t see it happening soon. IU wants that big game in Assembly Hall. They need it. The city lives for those games. They want nothing to do with a game in Indianapolis.

But, UK doesn’t need to play in Assembly Hall. They would rather collect the big paycheck from a neutral site game and be done with it. They don’t want Dec. 10, 2011, to happen ever again.

That’s where the series lies. Two sides, with two very different agendas, trying to play a game for very different reasons.

And I’d be shocked if that changes any time soon.

They are all younger than me.

This is the way it works when you’re a college basketball star and I’m a guy who covers college basketball stars.

This is why Anthony Davis is planning on buying a white-on-white Bentley this summer, and I’m wondering whether it’s about time to upgrade my Honda Accord from a car that can only play CDs to a car that can play iPods. (The only thing I need to make an answer is to look at a calendar that has the current year on it.)

This is why Lamb gets interrupted during meals around town and why I could sit down in the middle of Willy T. with a pizza and receive only stares of confusion, not recognition.

And I’m fine with all this. I’m not the one having to sign a pregnant lady’s belly.

But the dichotomy between how those 18- and 19-year-olds are living their life and how I’m living my 21-year-old life struck me repeatedly throughout this season. I often found myself wondering, as I sat with a voice recorder pointed in the general direction of one of these players after a game (almost always after a win), what it would be like to be on the other side of that recorder. Would I grow accustomed to the attention and approach it nonchalantly? Would I embrace it and be the media’s best friend? Would I be incredibly awkward and give incomprehensible answers?

Probably this.

And on a more serious note: would I care about school if I had the near-certainty of millions sitting months away from me? This is the far more interesting question for me, considering how much media attention the whole “one-and-done” culture — especially at UK — has created.

I’d like to think I would find motivation for schoolwork, even if I was projected to go in the lottery. I always have cared about academics.

I’ve also never been able to posterize anybody, either, and maybe that difference might make all the difference.
So yes, those five people and I (and you) lived vastly different lives, an existence that I can only know from an outsider’s perspective.

But some of the more rewarding moments came during times when I saw a common ground between us.

Most of these came outside the confines of a basketball court — as previously stated, I have no business trying to relate to them in that aspect, seeing as how I was cut from my middle-school team and failed to make a Jordan-esque career turnaround — and instead came in the college-kid realm.

Teague dancing lightheartedly for a White Boy Academy video. Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist professing their roomie love for one another after winning the national championship. Jones and Lamb posting a camera phone mirror picture on social media.

Those are the moments when I connect these players more to a campus than an NBA arena, and those are the moments that only amplify my respect for how they conducted themselves through a season of incessant attention and adulation.

And then those moments pass, and they morph back into basketball players ready to make the jump into a professional league and become much richer and much more successful than I ever will be. And I don’t resent them for that one bit.

1. Joker Phillips and Randy Sanders are trying to open up the offense for 2012. In the scrimmage, both offenses operated almost exclusively out of the no-huddle and shotgun formation. Quarterback Maxwell Smith told me coaches have said they would like to throw the ball up to 70-percent of the time during the upcoming season. This is a drastic shift from the safe, screen-heavy offense the Cats featured in 2011, placing them near the bottom nationally in many statistical categories. With explosive targets like wide receivers Demarco Robinson and Daryl Collins, three capable tight ends with different skill sets, a healthy offensive line (for now) and depth at running back, Smith should have the tools around him and the experience to put more points on the board this season.
2. The secondary is still UK’s biggest question mark heading into the summer. Defensive back Marcus Caffey had a good spring season and made an impact on Phillips, but defensive coordinator Rick Minter says the position is still an open competition. Caffey made some plays in the scrimmage, but the secondary was beat down the field multiple times by Robinson and fellow wide receiver E.J. Fields, and was torn apart over the middle by UK’s tight ends. Aside from Cartier Rice, the team’s special package cornerback (mostly saw the field when team’s opened up into three or four-wide receiver sets) there is not a wealth of experience at a position that was a weakness for the Cats in 2011. With a strong front seven in front of them, the secondary is far from hopeless. But it absolutely remains one of UK’s biggest areas of concern heading into the summer.
3. UK’s punter is not on campus right now. Well, maybe he is. Phillips said he hasn’t been able to check all the fraternities and other student organizations to see if any unknowns have a leg. But for now, the position seems up for grabs. Whoever assumes the punting duties will have big shoes to fill, with Ryan Tydlacka departing as one of the Cats’ most reliable performers in 2011. The punter before him, Tim Masthay, is now the punter for the Green Bay Packers and has a Super Bowl ring to show for it. “Punter U,” as UK has been referred as in the past, will be looking for its next in line, or at least for someone who can consistently benefit UK in the field position battle, something Tydlacka excelled at during his career.

Senior guard Darius Miller dunks the ball during the first half of the game against the University of Mississippi in Lexington, Ky., on Saturday, Feb. 18, 2012. Photo by Tessa Lighty | Staff

By Alex Forkner, guest columnist

As the farewell tour for the players responsible for the eighth national title banner hanging in Rupp Arena continues, questions abound concerning their next destination: the NBA.

Will Anthony Davis be condemned to play for the Charlotte Bobcats? Will UK players be selected with the top two picks, with Michael Kidd-Gilchrist following Davis? Will Terrence Jones be a lottery selection?

And, the most tantalizing question of all, will June 28 be the biggest day in the history of the UK basketball program (if you’re looking at a Coach Cal calendar), when six Cats are selected in the first round?

That feat relies on where senior Darius Miller lands. Current mock drafts rate Miller as an early second-round pick. Of course, it’s possible for his stock to rise once pre-draft workouts begin. Calipari said he’s heard from teams hoping Miller falls that far.

“I expect six first-round picks (from the same school), for the first time in the history of our world,” Calipari told Rivals.com.

If Miller is able to sneak into the first 30 picks, he will be the first UK senior selected in the first round since Tayshaun Prince in 2002. Miller, the pride of Maysville, will also be the first native Kentuckian to play all four seasons in Lexington and be a first round pick since Scott Padgett was selected 28th overall by the Utah Jazz in 1999.

And who knows how long it could be before another thoroughbred baller walks across the podium on draft day. Considering the current one-and-done nature of college basketball, Miller could be one of the last of his kind.

So what teams picking late in the first could desire Darius?

1. Cleveland Cavaliers (25) – Miller could provide depth at the small forward position behind Omri Casspi and enough athleticism to spend some time at shooting guard, where the Cavs are showing some age. Anthony Parker, who is 36 and plays 25 minutes a game, is most likely nearing the end of his career.

2. Miami Heat (27) – Miller could be the heir to Shane Battier’s roster spot, who is in his 11th year in the league. Similarly built but with younger legs, Miller could provide the solid shooting and reliable defense Battier brings off the bench. Plus, Miller has proven he can contribute when surrounded by loads of talent.

3. Oklahoma City Thunder (28) – The Thunder only have one true small forward, but that one is Kevin Durant. With Thabo Sefolosha and James Harden at shooting guard, the addition of Miller could make Oklahoma City the deepest backcourt in the league. Capable of guarding bigger players, Miller could be used in smaller, faster line-ups with Serge Ibaka at center.
Ultimately, a team in need of a solid player who can contribute in every phase of the game will take Miller. Whether that team will spend a first round pick on him is yet to be seen. The five early entrants are virtual first round locks, so it’s up to Miller to make history. And just like in the games at Vanderbilt and Mississippi State, Cal is hoping he shows up late. This time in the first round.

QB Maxwell Smith completes a pass during the University of Kentucky spring football scrimmage. Photo by Mike Weaver | Staff

A football team can have a star quarterback, running back, or wide receiver, but if they lack chemistry it’s meaningless.

Just ask the 2004 Philadelphia Eagles.

The addition of Terrell Owens solidified a roster that many consider the best collection of talent to play in Philadelphia – perhaps more talent than head coach Andy Reid could manage.

Philadelphia came just short of winning the Super Bowl before the wheels started to fall off.

Owens and star quarterback Donovan McNabb’s differences came out with the comment by Owens that he “wasn’t the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl.”

The following season saw Owens suspension, deactivation and release from the Eagles with five years left on his contract.

So how does all this relate to Joker Phillips’ Cats?

While not having the NFL-sized egos and salaries to deal with, the Cats still haven’t had a prominent connection between any single quarterback and wide receiver since 2006.

Coming off of a 3-8 2005 campaign in a season where the team couldn’t  find success at any particular position on the offensive side of the ball, UK captured their first bowl victory since 1984 with the offseason transformation of quarterback Andre Woodson.

Woodson’s success in the passing game came with much help from Keenan Burton.

En route to their bowl win, Woodson completed 264 passes for 3,515 yards and 31 touchdowns.

Finding himself on the receiving end of a lot of those passes was Burton. At season’s end he had compiled 77 receptions for 1,036 yards and 12 touchdowns – leading the team in all three statistical categories.

Sophomore to be, Max Smith, is coming of age on the football field. Once he was given the opportunity last season, Smith showed flashes of success, but it was too little too late for any breakthroughs to occur.

Freshman receiver DeMarco Robinson has been singled-out by both Smith and Phillips as a potential play-maker for the Cats.

“I worked a training camp one year with Joe Gibbs, and I can remember in one of our coach’s meetings, there’s something to be said for a guy every time you have a scrimmage he makes a play. Demarco Robinson is that guy,” Phillips said. “Every time we came into this place (Commonwealth Stadium) he made a huge play for us and today he made a lot of big plays for us. We think he is one of our playmakers.”

Robinson agreed with the notion by his head coach, saying, “I feel like I can be the guy (playmaker), but we all feel like we should be that guy.”

And make big plays Saturday he did.

Every time Max Smith dropped back into the pocket your eyes would wander around the field looking to see where he may go, but it seemed for often than not that the pigskin met #9, Robinson.

“Over the spring we put it a lot of work – extra passes, extra throwing and stuff. It’s really showing that it’s helped, so we’re going to keep it up this summer,” Robinson said.

The game started with a short pass across the middle for a gain of six.

There were a couple of incompletions between that first catch and his second grab, but it started to become apparent that the two would find each other.

Like a thoroughbred from his post, Robinson exploded from his formation for his second catch.

Down the stretch he went, no one near him. Smith’s pass sailed threw the air and there was #9 gliding in stride for the touchdown.

At day’s end, Robinson had caught nine passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.

The second touchdown for the duo came on a sideline route that is often only caught by larger receivers.

Robinson’s 5-foot-10, 159 pound frame defied that logic as he curled around and made the catch even with the defender’s presence.

He said afterwards that he was beginning to feel like a go-to-guy.

Until Smith began finding his tight ends in the fourth quarter, Robinson’s yardage made up a little over half of what Smith had thrown.

“I feel we’ve been like this all spring. I kind of looked at him to much today maybe,” Smith said. “That just says we’re working hard – I throw with him a lot, and I feel we’ve got a good chemistry.”

Although it was just a scrimmage, the connection between Smith and Robinson is one not seen by fans in Commonwealth Stadium in recent years.

The chemistry between the two may be just the magic elixir Philips needs to necessitate the UK football program.

Anthony Davis speaks during the UK press conference at the Joe Craft center, April 17, 2012. Photo by Brandon Goodwin | Staff

There were no surprises at Tuesday’s announcement for UK’s five underclassmen and their NBA intentions, even if head coach John Calipari tried to manufacture some suspense.

“Anthony, Doron and Terrence have decided to put their names in the NBA draft,” he said, referring to each of the players sitting to his right, and then pausing for full effect as he looked to his left. “And Marquis and Michael have also decided to put their names in the NBA draft.”

It only cemented what everyone has suspected for the last few weeks: these five players — three freshmen, two sophomores, all starters — had taken UK to a national championship together, and they would leave for the NBA together.

No one should begrudge any of them for their decisions. I don’t really think anyone is, but it still deserves to be said in case anyone does.

These five accomplished everything they could as a team and did it together. Now they get to achieve their own dreams individually.

“We figured if we all came back we could try to have an undefeated season or something,” Marquis Teague said. “But we felt like it was the best decision for all of us to move on.”

It was a joint announcement, but not a joint decision. The players said they had their own process for deciding and their own timetables for finalizing their choices. After talking about it “a few days” after winning the title, Teague said, the players went their own ways.

Teague bypassed being a “top-10 pick next year” because he thought he had proved enough this season.

“I feel like I’m ready this year,” he said.

Lamb completed two dream seasons — a Final Four and a championship — and now gets to go to the league he’s been following all his life as he grew up in New York.

“My friends keep texting me, ‘You’re a pro. No joking around anymore,’” he said.

Jones turned down a projected late-lottery pick and no title to be a projected late-lottery pick with a title.

“It’s special to be part of something like this,” he said.

Kidd-Gilchrist ends up going to the pros, but he’ll remember his “brothers” forever.

“I got friends for eternity,” he said.

Davis becomes a near-lock to be the No. 1 overall draft pick. He maintained that the decision was “tough,” even as everyone around him said it should be easy, and said he only finalized his decision Monday night. His mom wanted him to stay in school, but his dad — well, his dad fully realized what he had just done, as did Calipari.

“He didn’t wrestle me (to go),” Davis said, “but he kind of said, ‘All right. Let’s not kid yourself.’”

That’s about how it felt with all five of them: a sliver of possibility that some might come back. It was a possibility you had to laugh at. Let’s not kid ourselves: it always felt like the inevitable conclusion would be everyone going.

And that’s just fine. They leave behind memories of a historic season, one that won’t be forgotten by UK fans or players any time soon.

“We had a hell of a year,” Lamb said.

He said it on the edge of the Joe Craft Center practice floor, where the 2012 national championship banner was absent. The players were announcing their departure before what they earned had even arrived. That’s how it goes at UK, and it’s worked out just fine.

“I’m proud to say,” Calipari said, sitting between his five NBA-bound underclassmen, “that I was able to spend a year with them.”

“I expect six first-round picks (from the same school), for the first time in the history of our world,” Calipari said to Rivals.com. “And I’ll say this: that may be the biggest day in the history of our program. I know you’re all going to be mad now.”

The six players — senior Darius Miller and the five early entries of Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, Terrence Jones, Doron Lamb and Marquis Teague — have been expected to leave since the season ended. But Calipari’s comments seem to be bringing that closer to a reality.

The players have until April 29 to officially declare. Announcements could come out individually or as a group.

Even if all six leave, UK has reloaded enough to be among next year’s title favorites. The current project roster has a starting five of Nerlens Noel, Kyle Wiltjer, Alex Poythress, Archie Goodwin and Ryan Harrow. That’s good enough to be No. 1 in CBSSports.com’s early preseason rankings.

It’s happened the first two years under Calipari. Bring in a strong recruiting class, achieve success, watch them leave, and repeat.

It looks like it’s going to happen again.

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or email him at asmith@kykernel.com

Both talked about their decision on Tuesday to different outlets. Here’s their thoughts on the three schools they’re considering (for Noel, it’s UK, Syracuse and Georgetown; for Muhammad, it’s UK, UCLA and Duke).

Noel:

I look at Syracuse and I love the way that the coaches say they’ll use me in their offense. I really like the family atmosphere there and I feel really comfortable there. Syracuse has been on me the longest of all three schools and that is big for me.

Then you’ve got Georgetown, and I really just like everything about them. When I went down there with my mom, it really opened my eyes to what they were all about. I have to factor in what a school like that can do for me, even away from being a basketball player. It’s just a great school and they have a history of developing big men. Georgetown is definitely a great option for me.

Then there’s Kentucky.

Of course they’re coming off the national championship, but I’d look more at how I’d be able to fit in and how I’d be used there. I’d factor in what my role would be offensively, like Anthony Davis with a lot of lobs and catching it at the high post and things like that. Defensively, I think it’ll take care of itself.

Muhammad:

On Duke:

“I think they have so many pieces in place to win a lot of games next year with Mason Plumlee coming back, along with Rasheed Sulaimon and potentially myself coming in. I don’t think they have a real prolific scorer and that is what Coach K is telling me about them.

“That’s where they see me able to step in and score for them from a lot of different areas now that Austin Rivers is gone. With the veterans they have coming back, I think we could do a lot of damage.”

On UK:

With the guys they have coming in with Archie Goodwin, Alex Poythress and possibly Nerlens Noel it could be a really good class and team. Coach Cal makes the team dynamic and I know he would push me in practices.

“The dribble drive is a great offense to run. I see a lot of room for me in that offense and I think that I could really get out and do damage in traffic.”

On UCLA:

“With UCLA they’ve got Kyle Anderson and Jordan Adams coming and then possibly Tony Parker. They’ve got a lot of bits and pieces there also. With Coach Howland and his style of play, I think I could do a lot of damage there too. The Pac-12 has been kind of a down conference and I think that if we all came in we could really make some noise right away.

“Coach Howland has been talking about playing a little more wide-open style with Kyle pushing the ball. He can really see the floor and they could change the style of play with him running things and the athletes they have there and coming in if I came.”

The top two recruits in the class of 2012, center Nerlens Noel and guard Shabazz Muhammad, will announce their college decisions on an ESPNU signing day show at 7:30 p.m.

Both have UK among their list of final three schools. Noel, who many consider as good a shot-blocker as Anthony Davis, is also considering Syracuse and Georgetown.

Shabazz Muhammad tweeted out this picture of his potential decision.

Muhammad, an elite scorer with an intensity everyone raves about, is also considering UCLA and Duke.

Get one, and UK is set up nicely for next year. Got none, and the potential roster starts looking thin. Get both, and UK becomes the national title favorites — again.

Where will they go? That’s what everyone’s trying to figure out, but these two players have kept their decisions so concealed we likely won’t know until the announcement is made on TV.

Noel, for his part, wrote in his ESPN blog Tuesday that he hadn’t actually decided yet, despite being 24 hours away from having to make a commitment. He said he would see where he’s most comfortable with going. And, in his own words, here’s his breakdown of the three schools from the ESPN blog:

“I look at Syracuse and I love the way that the coaches say they’ll use me in their offense. I really like the family atmosphere there and I feel really comfortable there. Syracuse has been on me the longest of all three schools and that is big for me.

“Then you’ve got Georgetown, and I really just like everything about them. When I went down there with my mom, it really opened my eyes to what they were all about. I have to factor in what a school like that can do for me, even away from being a basketball player. It’s just a great school and they have a history of developing big men. Georgetown is definitely a great option for me.

“Then there’s Kentucky.

“Of course they’re coming off the national championship, but I’d look more at how I’d be able to fit in and how I’d be used there. I’d factor in what my role would be offensively, like Anthony Davis with a lot of lobs and catching it at the high post and things like that. Defensively, I think it’ll take care of itself.”

The consensus is that Noel will go to UK. In an ESPN poll of fellow high school seniors on Monday, 10 of the 12 predicted Noel would go to UK. In a poll of ESPN recruiting experts on Tuesday, six of the seven predicted he would go to UK.

Of course, Noel denied having made up his mind and wrote that these predictors were “sleeping pretty hard on the other schools. … I have 100 percent not made any decision yet because I really don’t know.”

Muhammad doesn’t have a personal blog to get inside his mind. The consensus is — well, there’s none.

In that ESPN player poll, UK and UCLA received five votes each, while in the expert’s poll, UCLA received four votes to UK’s three. It seems to be a pretty even split — does he go to the Bruins, hoping to lead a resurrection of the program and be the clear alpha dog there, or does he choose the Cats and have the best shot at a title but have to fit in with multiple other talented players?

We don’t know now. We will Wednesday. And then we’ll know a lot more about what to expect next year.

And then he dances.

Watch the close-to-full locker room speech Calipari delivered to his team after winning the national championship — and the players’ unbridled joy as they react to the camera, nets draped around their necks, here.

“Kentucky is the best job in basketball coaching,” Calipari told ESPN.com. “Why would I leave? We just won the national title. We’re chasing UCLA.”

Calipari told ESPN.com that no NBA team, including the New York Knicks — the most-cited potential NBA destination — has contacted him about a possible coaching position.

Calipari told Sporting News that he would continue going to NBA games to see his former players amid the rumors.

“I’ve done that my whole career,” Calipari told Sporting News. “I’m not changing my lifestyle because somebody wants to put a rumor out.”

Rumors have sprung up after each of Calipari’s three seasons at UK. This year, however, they’ve been magnified because he just won a title. Some, as Yahoo Sports columnist Adrian Wojnarowski, say that could shift the momentum toward him leaving. Others, such as Dan Wolken, who covered Calipari in Memphis, point out that Calipari’s idol is Larry Brown, who won titles at both levels.

Wolken also pointed out that Calipari, whose UK contract has another seven years left, has made public commitments about staying where he was before, only to leave shortly thereafter.

Calipari urged fans to relax and not let the rumors ruin their joy on his website.

Let Mitch Barnhart describe these champions.

The athletic director sees all sorts of groups from all sorts of sports comprised of all sorts of players at UK. He knows how to label a team. How about the 2011-12 national champions?

“This team,” Barnhart said, “was defined by unselfishness.”

The skeptics thought that never would be possible with the type of teams head coach John Calipari assembles. It seems illogical, on the surface, to think that players like the ones UK has — players like the likely No. 1 overall NBA draft pick, another in the top five, another in the lottery, three more possibly in the first round — could care that much about each other at college, where (some) were forced to attend.

But they did. It started in the summer, when the group finally got together after a year of waiting, and it continued throughout the year, as the Cats achieved an uncanny statistical equality. No one took a disproportionate amount of shots. No one demanded more time or a larger role.

“These are special young people who really decided that they’re going to do it together,” Calipari said.

Terrence Jones, who passed up a likely lottery spot in the NBA draft, went from a preseason All-American and conference player of the year to scoring the third-most points on the team.

He was fine with it.

Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist, the two best pro prospects on the team and the two players who racked up the most postseason awards, took a lower number of shots than any of the other starters.

They were fine with it.

”We got along,” Jones said. “No one cared who got the accolades.”

And Darius Miller — well, we all know about Miller. He had been starting for Calipari since his sophomore year and then came off the bench willingly.

He was fine with it.

“All the hard work that we put in this year, the sacrifices that people have made, means a lot,” Miller said. “Especially with these guys.”

The cohesiveness, Calipari said, allowed UK to transcend its youth and the external pressures it faced. As the Cats stared down the barrel of a championship-or-bust season, they relied on each other. Only each other.

“It doesn’t matter how young you are,” Calipari said. “It’s how you play together.”

It allowed UK to make the necessary progression from brand-new group of players to championship-winning team in months. The Cats had a condensed time frame to work with and beat the metaphorical buzzer.

The process was helped along, to be sure, by Calipari’s ability to forge a bond between his young players who knew, even as the season was winding down, that this was their only shot at a title together. Calipari insists, though, that it’s the players who make it happen, not him.

“I just do what I do,” Calipari said. “I don’t know what to tell you.”

I would recommend listening to his own message from just minutes earlier.

“I wanted this (team),” Calipari said after winning the national championship, “to be one for the ages.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist cuts down the net after UK beat Kansas to win the NCAA national championship. Photo by Latara Appleby | STAFF

By Aaron Smith

As UK’s players walked off the floor toward their families in the stands, they decided handshakes and high-fives and hugs weren’t enough to celebrate what had just happened.

They climbed the railing and went into the stands. Darius Miller led the way, climbing farther and farther as he celebrated. Terrence Jones took a picture with the championship trophy in his right arm and a baby in his left.

A security guard ran toward them, screaming that they needed to get out of the crowd.

Another security guard cut him off.

“They just won the whole thing,” he said. “Let them have their moment.”

And so they did, the UK players immersed in UK fans, jointly celebrating a national championship.

It’s the eighth championship for the program, and the first in 14 years, and that matters for the fans.

“They were keeping track for a while,” athletics director Mitch Barnhart said, “so they kept telling me.”

But it’s the first championship for the players, and that’s what matters to them.

It was what they dreamed of all season, a fully attainable goal then and a fully realized goal now.

UK achieved it by playing the way — well, the same way that made them clear-cut national title favorites all year: the best collection of talent playing as the best team in the nation.

“I wanted this one to be one for the ages,” Calipari said. “Go out there and show everyone what type of team you are.”

That type of team would be a complete one, a rotation filled top to bottom with unselfish players who remained unselfish on the biggest stage.

Anthony Davis, whose offense remained stagnant, made up for it in other ways, grabbing 16 rebounds with six blocks and five assists.

Darius Miller went from missing the NCAA tournament his freshman season to winning the NCAA tournament as a senior.

“I didn’t even think this was possible after my first year,” said Miller, the net draped around his neck and championship trophy sitting in front of him.

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist scored 11 points with six rebounds, and his customary energy and passion showed through again at the end. He could feel a national championship closing in, just 53 seconds and six points away, and as he came to the bench he couldn’t help himself. “Oh, yeah!” he said, smiling and then pounding the floor with his fist in excitement.

He had felt it earlier in the day, too. He woke up at 5:30 a.m., screaming, playing music, reminding his teammates that they were finally here.

“It was going to be a great day,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “And guess what happened? We won.”

After a year of dreaming and striving for its goal — the loftiest goal — UK is now on the precipice of realizing it.

A national championship trophy is waiting in the Superdome to be handed out to the winner of Monday’s game.

And all UK can think about is — well, not the trophy. Anything else, actually. Anything but the trophy, because they’re close, but close is not what this team wants.

So the players are choosing — being forced? — to put off thinking about what a title might mean.

When a reporter asked the players, sitting at a podium beside their coach, to describe what a title would mean, head coach John Calipari jumped in.

“I’m going to tell you, we’re not thinking about that,” he said. “We’re playing a basketball game.”

The players, for their part, agreed. They have to. Think ahead, and run into danger. Staying in the moment has been a principle they’ve preached all year, and they can’t abandon that now.

So they’re thinking about a basketball game, and what a basketball game it should be. It’s the school with the most wins in history (UK, 2,089) against the school with the second-most wins in history (Kansas, 2,070). It will be a coaching rematch of the 2008 title game (Calipari vs. Bill Self). It will be a matchup between the two leading candidates for every national player of the year award (Anthony Davis vs. Thomas Robinson).

So UK is understandably focused on those 40 minutes and not the ramifications that will follow those 40 minutes.

Calipari, especially, constrained his thoughts to Monday night’s tip-off. Everything past that, he’s not considering. He dismissed the questions of how a national title, his first, would shape his legacy. He rejected the notion that a win would bring his career validation.

All this despite the fact that, three years and a day since being formally introduced as UK’s head coach, Calipari will go for his 102nd — and most important — win since then.

But ignoring the reality doesn’t mean the reality isn’t there. And the reality is this: One of the most captivating UK teams ever has a chance to win the program’s eighth national championship in one of its most spectacular seasons ever.

“That’s all everybody has been talking about,” Doron Lamb said, “bringing number eight back to Lex.”

NEW ORLEANS — Anthony Davis and Marquis Teague sat in the back of a golf cart outside the UK locker room, waiting to be whisked away to post-game interviews, and they were singing.

Singing.

Not relaxing. Not recuperating. Not feeling relieved. Singing.

OK, maybe not an actual song, but still. As Teague and Davis broke down their own 69-61 win over rival Louisville in the Final Four, they sang the words instead of speaking them. They went over key plays in that sing-song voice, and they repeated phrases from head coach John Calipari in that sing-song voice and they celebrated in that sing-song voice.

“The emotions, I’m just glad to be here, in the national championship game as a freshman,” Davis explained later, not in that sing-song voice, but at a press conference lectern.

Davis was the main reason he’s there. On a weekend when he won more national player of the year awards, he backed up the voters with 18 points, 14 rebounds and five blocks in 39 minutes. He only missed one shot — no Louisville defender could guard his now-refined post moves, an arrangement obvious enough that Davis eventually insisted on getting the ball — and caused way more than one miss on the other end.

At the end of the game, Davis exploded with those emotions. He hurled the ball up in the air and screamed … well, something. It started with “This is my” but ended with either “state,” “stage,” or “s—,” depending on which pair of courtside ears you trusted.

“I said, this is my stage,” Davis clarified after the game. “We’re from Kentucky. We’re built for this.”

It sure seems like UK is built for a title at this point. The Cats handled Louisville’s variety of defensive looks to shoot 57.1 percent against a team that allowed opponents to shoot 38 percent, the third-best mark in the nation. Full-court press, man-to-man, 2-3 zone — UK found enough of an answer for them all.

And when Louisville went on a searing 15-3 run to tie the game at 49-49 midway through the second half, the Cats didn’t melt from the pressure, which had been collecting all season and was now suddenly magnified on the biggest stage.

They went on an 11-2 run of their own.

And as the minutes kept ticking after that, and the Cats were assured of a victory, the emotions mounted, bursting through at the end.

On the other side, UK’s gutsy performance was enough that Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said he would be “rooting” for UK to bring the championship trophy back to the state.

“To tell you the truth, I haven’t always liked some of the Kentucky teams,” Pitino said. “But I really like this team a lot because of their attitude and the way they play.”

Join the club, Pitino. The Cats have attracted a nearly infinite amount of praise this season. Those will only climb with a national title at stake Monday.

Will they feel the pressure? Consider this: they were singing after the game, remember?

The players are ready to handle it. In the locker room about 20 minutes after the game, Terrence Jones admitted that the feeling of this win was “a lot different” than a normal victory, but reaffirmed that the Cats knew their journey wasn’t over.

Doron Lamb, sitting feet from him, had the same message.

“We haven’t really won anything,” Lamb said. “If we win on Monday, then we’ll celebrate. But right now we have to take care of business and move on.”

“Dr. Capilouto is an old football player, he won a state championship at guard. He is very supportive of our players and he is a down-to-earth guy who just wanted to watch some football today,” UK football head coach Joker Phillips said.

More so, the president was seeing the competition of a young, growing team, which is something Phillips has mentioned several times already early in spring practice.

“There’s really good, healthy competition that everybody’s trying to help everybody.  Everybody’s headed in the same direction, we have the same goals, getting each other better,” he said. “Offense trying to get the defense better; defense trying to get the offense better.”

Phillips was vocal in making the point that the team needed to continue to practice at a fast tempo. The faster the team can practice means that they can get more reps in during their allotted practice time. Having such a young group of players, he said every snap is key.

“We have to continue to get more reps because we have a lot of young guys that need reps,” he said.

For returning players such as freshman running back Josh Clemons, getting the opportunity to feel how the speed of the game translates into improvements for starters and those further down the depth chart.

“Seeing those little things in the game that you need to work on, you just need to focus on out there in practice even though the competition might not be as good because of your scout teams,” Clemons said.

The wide receiver position for 2012 is contested.

Even though juniors like La’Rod King, E.J. Fields and Gene McCaskill currently sit atop the depth chart, it’s the freshmen Daryl Collins, Demarco Robinson and Bookie Cobbins who are among those who have also stood out to the Cats’ returning starting quarterback in freshman Max Smith.

And with that gap in experience, the Cats’ 2011 football season was no stranger to on-field chemistry issues after they rotated between Smith and junior quarterback Morgan Newton.

Having the opportunity to see their various passers is one benefit that King sees for himself and the other receivers during spring practice.

“You get adjusted to all the quarterbacks early. That way, all the timing chemistry is down so we can have a good, productive fall camp,” King said.

UK forward Kyle Wiltjer signs autographs for fans after returning back to Lexington from Atlanta. Photo by Quianna Lige | Staff

The fans wait outside the Wildcat Lodge to get autographs — and tell players to beat Louisville.

The students approach them on campus to take pictures — and tell players to beat Louisville.

The attention UK’s players receive on a normal basis has only been amplified by a certain upcoming game against a certain rival.

“It’s a lot more intense,” Marquis Teague said of the fans’ fervor during the week leading into the Final Four game against Louisville.

It’s been enough, at times, to interrupt basic functions like eating. Doron Lamb said he and Teague were out eating at IHOP a few weeks ago and, while they were waiting for their food, were subject to fans taking pictures of them as they conversed.

“We had to leave,” Lamb said.

The glaring spotlight is only heating up for the UK players, though, and the players are focused on staying steady as they prepare — and then get to — New Orleans.

“We’ve just been trying to downplay it,” Teague said, “and take it like we normally do.”

That might seem hard at first. The players have 20 minutes of interviews on Thursday and 30 more minutes Friday.

Stories and videos about their championship chase will saturate the Internet, and let’s face it — they are on the Internet.

They know the talk is out there, and if they didn’t, the fans would remind them.

Then again, UK has been at the epicenter of college basketball all season.

“We’ve been through it all at this point,” Darius Miller said.

Maybe not everything. The Final Four is a beast unto itself. Head coach John Calipari said one player came into his office in the days following their Elite Eight victory and said he couldn’t stop thinking about wanting to win the national title.
Wrong thought process.

“You can’t think that way,” Calipari said. “Forget about the title. We’ve got a basketball game to play Saturday. Just worry about that.”

To further combat the hype, Calipari is trying to insulate the team. He finished up players’ ticket requests on Sunday. He’s not letting anyone else — not friends, not family — stay on the same floor as the team in the media hotel. He plans on bringing five security people to New Orleans.

“We’re handling it like we should be,” Calipari said.

Part of that may be because UK didn’t handle it right last season. There wasn’t anything specific Calipari could point to, but he clearly saw something wrong with the Cats in their loss to Connecticut. He said the players had wide eyes to start the game and never fully recovered.

“Something got us off kilter,” Calipari said.

That experience, however, may help this time around. Miller, Lamb and Terrence Jones have been through the week of lead-up and should better know how to handle the attention. And they, Calipari said, will be entrusted with informing the freshmen of how they should approach the game-inside-the-game of preparing for Saturday.

“I’ve got to get these guys in that frame of mind,” Calipari said, “because you just want them letting loose and playing.”

Connecticut (32-4), the number one seed in the Kingston Region, is ranked No. 3 in both the AP and the Coaches Polls and has an RPI ranking of four. Three of their four losses have come to teams in the Elite Eight, losing once to Baylor and twice to Notre Dame.

The Huskies have destroyed all their competition en route to the Elite Eight, defeating Prairie View A&M 83-47, Kansas State 72-26 and Penn State 77-59.

Here are three things to look for if the Cats have any hope of pulling off the upset and advancing to a program-first Final Four:

1 - The Cats’ relentless defensive pressure must create UConn turnovers. The Huskies are not the best at handling pressure, turning the ball over an average of 14.5 times per game. In their four losses, UConn has committed 18.5 turnovers on average, including a whopping 26 on the road in January against Notre Dame. In UConn’s wins, they have a +6.3 turnover margin. In their four losses, they have a -5.3 turnover margin.

The Cats force an average of 27.1 turnovers-per-game, and lead the NCAA with a +9.3 turnover margin. If the Cats can force more than 20 UConn turnovers, it will greatly increase their chances of a victory.

2 - UK sophomore forward Samarie Walker, a transfer from UConn, must keep UConn’s center Stefanie Dolson in check. Walker secured a double-double in Sunday’s effort against Gonzaga, scoring 16 points and collecting 12 rebounds. More than just the numbers, Walker was a presence in the middle, playing good position defense and seemingly being in the mix for every rebound and loose ball.

UConn does not offer a large quantity of players with size in the interior, but they make up for it with quality. Dolson averages 10.1 points-per-game and 5.9 rebounds. Dolson’s 6-foot-5 frame is used extensively beyond the free-throw line, setting screens for both shooters and penetrators. Walker’s defensive effort on Dolson will be crucial if the Cats want to advance.

3 - The Cats must help each other on defense better than any other game this season. UConn works the ball on offense and sets multiple screen on each possession. Although a high-scoring team, the Huskies will use clock and make the Cats work on the half-court defensive side of the ball. UConn loves to go back-door, and at times against Penn State Monday, it effectively led to a layup drill for the Huskies. The Cats can’t afford to take contested shots on offense and give up uncontested layups on the defensive end and stay in this game. The Huskies shoot 47.7 percent from the field for the season (compared to the Cats’ 40.4 percent) because their offense creates great looks at the rim. To compete Tuesday night, the Cats must work together on defense to prevent UConn layups out of the half-court offensive set.

ATLANTA — It’s still a week away, but the state of Kentucky already feels saturated with Final Four talk.

UK. Louisville. A rematch with raised stakes, raised unbelievably high, no matter what the teams actually playing in the game may say.

While some of Louisville’s team were looking toward the potential matchup after its win — “There will be people in Kentucky who will have a nervous breakdown if they lose to us,” Louisville head coach Rick Pitino said at his press conference — UK’s team stayed away from playing up the rivalry angle.

At least three different players (Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb) said it was just another game, a sentiment their coach echoed.

“I’m not worried about who we’re playing,” head coach John Calipari said. “I’m just happy we’re still playing.”

But come on — it’s not. A Final Four matchup between two schools from the same state hasn’t happened since 1962.

“I’m happy myself that it’s two Kentucky teams,” said Darius Miller, a Maysville, Ky., native.

“It’s an honor for our state,” Doron Lamb said.

The anticipation started as soon as Louisville made a furious comeback to beat Florida in its Elite Eight game Saturday. Almost immediately after that buzzer sounded, attention shifted to a potential rivalry rematch in the Final Four.

“It’s already crazy in our regular-season game, just the Kentucky fans and the Louisville fans going at it,” Miller said Saturday. “So I can’t imagine what it would be like in the Final Four.”

He won’t have to imagine anymore after UK took care of its half of the bargain. The Cats certainly didn’t appear to be looking ahead against Baylor, storming out to a 20-point halftime lead en route to an 82-70 victory.

Once that item was checked off, though, a good portion of the post-game locker room chatter centered on a game sitting at the opposite end of the weekly calendar.

“Oh, man, I can’t wait,” said Twany Beckham, a Louisville native. “It’s going to be fun. They’re playing really well right now, but we’ve got a week to prepare for them, and I think we’ll be ready when the time comes.”

It will be a reprise of the New Year’s Eve game, an offensively challenged slugfest that UK won somewhat comfortably, 69-62.

At the time, it felt like bragging rights for another year. It usually is.

But now, the teams will meet again, exactly three months later — Dec. 31 to March 31.

“Hopefully we’ll have some fun this week,” Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart said.

It will be five (and a half) straight days of over-analyzing, of fan bravado, of giddy anticipation.

And then, hopefully, it will be a great game on Saturday.

ATLANTA — His leg bounced, restlessly, as the seconds ticked down.

The Final Four was inevitable now, and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist couldn’t wait for the time to pass and the celebration to begin. So he bounced his leg impatiently, but then he couldn’t wait any longer. He got out of his seat and went behind the bench to congratulate Anthony Davis on the win. He came back to the sideline, waving his towel, bouncing up and down.

Finally the buzzer sounded, making UK’s 82-70 win over Baylor official. Kidd-Gilchrist threw on his South Regional championship T-shirt and hat. He bounced over to radio row for interviews. He moved himself into the center of the circle of UK players to dance, the same as he has before every one of the Cats’ 38 games this year.

And finally, he was climbing the ladder to cut off a piece of the net.

“It’s a dream come true,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.

Kidd-Gilchrist was a key part in making the dream happen. UK needed someone to attack the tall Baylor frontcourt. Kidd-Gilchrist was their guy, darting into the lane to receive entry passes and barreling into the lane in transition.

He finished with 19 points and five rebounds, and after the game he was named the South Regional Most Outstanding Player.

“He’s playing like a leader,” Darius Miller said. “He’s not playing like a freshman anymore. That goes for everybody.”

That’s been especially true for Anthony Davis, and it was no different Saturday — although it looked like UK’s whole season was about to be derailed when Davis went down with knee injury that became the center of attention — for good reason.

“If something happens to him, it makes us all nervous,” Miller said.

Davis limped and grimaced through the first few possessions back in the game. But by the end of the game he was moving around with relatively no caution. He finished with 18 points, 11 rebounds and six blocks.

“It’s doing fine,” Davis said after the game. “I just bumped knees and it started hurting real bad. But I knew my team needed me to play. I wasn’t going to sit out, especially with a trip to the Final Four on the line.”

UK pulled together to make it there, as it has all season. Kidd-Gilchrst and Davis led the way, but everyone else made significant contributions.

When Davis was out, Terrence Jones (12 points, nine rebounds) and Doron Lamb (14 points) stepped up, keeping UK’s lead at a comfortable level. Marquis Teague pushed UK in transition, a key to running away from the Bears. Miller took a key charge to halt Baylor’s momentum at its peak.

And suddenly, each of those players was taking his turn climbing the ladder, or dancing in the circle, or giving interviews, as the reality of making a Final Four sank in.

“It’s everyone’s college dream,” Davis said.

The dream has felt, at times, more like destiny. Last year’s run was a surprise; this year’s felt expected. UK played all year with the burden of being the favorite to not only return to the Final Four but to win it all.

The Cats met those expectations with ease against Baylor, a win that tied the program record for most wins in a season (36) and gave the program 15 total Final Four appearances, third-most all-time.

This one stands apart, though, as the players continue to make a case for not only the best team of the year but one of the best teams ever. They can seal their legacy over the next weekend. They won the right to try with a victory in patented UK style.

“We just left New Orleans,” head coach John Calipari said. “Now we’re going back.”

1. It was another dominant performance by the star freshmen. Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Glichrist paced the Cats on both sides of the court. Along with Terrence Jones, their length on the interior made it difficult for Baylor to finish at the rim. Offensively, the duo were very efficient. Kidd-Gilchrist finished with 19 points and 5 rebounds and Davis had 17 points and 10 rebounds.

2. After a big halftime lead, the Cats overcame a lot of adversity to hold on in the second. Midway through the second half, Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist had four fouls. Also, UK fans got a scare early in the half when Davis landed awkwardly on his left leg, grabbing his knee. It didn’t appear overly serious, however causing the freshman to miss several minutes before returning. The Bears made a run at the Cats’ lead too, cutting the gap to 13 with eight minutes left. They would never get it into single digits.

3. The shooting again was phenomenal. Although Baylor is not known as a dominant defensive team (it gave up 51.2 percent shooting in its six games against Kansas and Missouri), the Cats played a very proficient game. They shot 53 percent from the field and 44  percent from three-point range. Kidd-Gilchrist and Davis combined to shoot 68 percent from the field, controlling the paint over the lengthy Baylor frontline.

Saturday’s Final Four game against Louisville is set to tip off at 6 p.m. in New Orleans.

Seems impossible, right? UK has been living all year with the burden of the highest expectations of any team in the country. It’s the No. 1 overall seed and, as coach John Calipari said, the only team “expected not to lose” in the tournament.

But Louisville just made the Final Four and awaits UK in the Final Four.

If the Cats can beat Baylor, of course. That’s the first order of business. No way that game should be overlooked, and no way that Calipari lets his team lose focus or look too far ahead.

The reality remains, however, that Louisville just made the Final Four. If UK doesn’t make it there, Cardinals have bragging rights. If UK makes it there and falls to Louisville, Cardinals have bragging rights — and, as Dan Wolken of The Daily put it, would probably be the “most devastating day” in Calipari’s career.

Can you imagine the buildup next week if UK wins Sunday? Can you imagine — not to get ahead of myself, but I can’t help it — the celebration on campus if UK beats its rival for a second time this year for a trip to the national title game?

Darius Miller can. Or at least he did Saturday, before Louisville had even played.

“It’s already crazy in our regular-season game, just the Kentucky fans and the Louisville fans going at it,” Miller said. “So I can’t imagine what it would be like in the Final Four.”

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“I was a great swimmer,” Lamb said. “Played baseball. Ran track for like, a month. But then I stopped that. I got tired.”

What was that swimming part?

“My mom watched a movie on Lifetime,” Lamb explained. “Some kid couldn’t swim and she drowned and died. My mom always said when I have a son, he’ll know how to swim.”

Photo by Latara Appleby | Staff

So Lamb took lessons — at a YMCA in New York, where he said he would go to the basketball courts afterward and where, he said, Joakim Noah would be working out with his dad, a professional tennis player — and became a fast swimmer, especially at the backstroke.

Lamb, of course, ended up playing basketball. It’s worked out well. He played at Oak Hill Academy in high school, where he developed his habit of putting up jumpers late into the night. He’s continued on to UK, where he’s emerged as one of the best shooters in the nation. This season, he’s made 47 percent of his 3-pointers.

On Sunday, he’s looking to make the second Final Four in his two-year career. He’s closing in on 1,000 career points.

But sometimes, Lamb reminded, it’s easy to forget that he — and the rest of his UK teammates — are 18 and 19 years old. They watch cartoons. They play video games.

“We have fun just like kids,” Lamb said. “We just also play college basketball and have a good team.”

Perhaps those two things are related.

“I feel like the teams that have the most fun at this time of the year are the ones that advance,” Darius Miller said.

If that’s the criterion, Lamb is definitely helping UK reach its goals.

“He’s really funny,” Terrence Jones said of Lamb. “He is a strange person. He does a lot of things that will make you laugh and be like, ‘I can’t believe you just did that.’”

Photo by Latara Appleby | Staff

Anthony Davis can be described as an artist on the court. The way he contorts his body through the air for slam dunks, the way he unfurls his arms to swat shots.

He can also be described as an artist off the court. When he was a kid, he watched his uncle draw and, through a combination of boredom and awe at his uncle’s ability, wanted to learn. Davis did, and he says he still draws “whatever pops into my mind” — although, more often than not, it’s a cartoon character or a tattoo.

Davis said he’s designed a tattoo for Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — a cross with thorns around it — but his teammate opted not to get it.

“Waste of paper,” Davis said.

Although Kidd-Gilchrist decided not to run with Davis’ work, the talented freshman isn’t afraid to show off his work.

“He always shows me what he’s drawn and asks if I like it,” Doron Lamb said. “I always tell him no.”

Lamb said he’s joking when he says that, that Davis is actually good.

His actual talent, however, pales in comparison to what it helps Davis do. He’s been at the epicenter of college basketball since the beginning of the season, and the attention has only increased since then.

At times, he needs a respite from that.

“When you’re drawing, you don’t think about anything else,” Davis said. “It gets your mind off everything.”

Davis has proven adept at doing that. Although he’s garnered the most awards on a team full of players capable of getting them, it doesn’t create a boundary between him and his teammates.

Coach John Calipari noted that he believes, truly believes, that his players care about their teammates’ success. Not because that means the team is playing, but because they care about one another that much.

“That’s not a problem for us,” Marquis Teague said of Davis getting the awards. “We’re happy for him. He deserves everything he gets. He goes out there and plays his heart out, and he’s one of the biggest reasons for all our success.”

Davis knows that. His teammates know that. His coach knows that.

When he was relegated to six first-half minutes against Indiana because of foul trouble, Davis was upset. Not at the officials, necessarily — although his body language did indicate that he disagreed with at least one of the calls — but more because he was on the bench, and his team was out on the court.

He’s not used to that vantage point. He’s almost always on the court if he’s available.

“To sit on the bench for 14 minutes while your team is out there playing hard and giving their all,” Davis said, “and I couldn’t contribute, is hard.”

Davis will likely play more minutes against Baylor. He’ll probably need to for UK to combat their tall frontcourt.

With a win, UK gets to the Final Four with a team that has four freshmen and two sophomores in its rotation. Davis is the most important among them, but collectively it would still be quite the feat.

Davis said he’s heard the critics who say the team’s youth will catch up to it. So far, it hasn’t. And it might not the rest of the way, either.

“I think if we win it all,” Davis said, “it would make the history books.”

So he’s taking his players’ minds off all that. Starting with the movies — “21 Jump Street” on Thursday, so the players weren’t watching tournament games.

“Which I had to sit through, by the way,” Calipari said.

Maybe not a glowing review, but he had one for what came next: a 102-90 win over Indiana in the Sweet 16.

“I love coaching these kinds of games,” Calipari said.

He still wants the pressure off his players, and that pressure will only magnify as UK makes each step toward a national title.

“You know, it seems like there’s only one team that’s not allowed to lose in this tournament,” Calipari said. “And that’s us. I don’t want (the players) to feel that.”

So far, his players have done a great job of avoiding that mindset. If there was any game to seize up in the moment, it was watching the Hoosiers’ offense continue to roll in a tightly contested game.

The Cats, though, continued to roll in their own right, posting more than 100 points for the first time since the season opener against Marist and notching the third-highest points-per-possession mark of the season, behind the Marist game and the South Carolina destruction.

“Everybody is like, this must be a hard team to coach,” Calipari said. “Folks, it isn’t. You know what’s hard? When your players are bad.”

He doesn’t have those. He has players who can deliver the virtuoso offensive performance needed to take UK into the Elite Eight.

“I can taste (the Final Four),” Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said after Friday’s win, “but it’s one game at a time.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist bounded off the court past screaming, adoring fans and popped his jersey to display “KENTUCKY” even more prominently.

“How sweet it is!” Kidd-Gilchrist called out, a ringing endorsement for the beauty of a game that played out well past midnight on Friday.

Both UK and Indiana turned in a splendid performance — but in the end, it was UK’s victory, 102-90, to advance to the Elite Eight.

The Cats made it there through a multitude of factors. It’s never one thing, not in a Sweet 16 game, and especially not when there’s that many points scored.

At the top of those reasons, however, was Kidd-Gilchrist, who broke out of a four-game scoring slump with 24 points. Of course it would be Kidd-Gilchrist leading the charge in a game that required this much energy. It was non-stop, frenetic basketball — a combined 14 turnovers in a game that had 192 points — and what about that doesn’t suit Kidd-Gilchrist’s non-stop, frenetic motor?

“I can go all day,” Kidd-Gilchrist said, and then realized what time it was. “All night, I mean. What time is it, one o’clock?”

The time of day didn’t matter to him as he emerged as the Cats’ go-to guy. It didn’t start out that way; in the first half, Indiana left him wide open, daring him to shoot.

“I was kind of mad about it,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “That was my first time experiencing it. I didn’t know what to do at first. I was like, what is this?”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist takes a shot in the first half of the regional of the NCAA Tournament, in the Georgia Dome, on Friday, March 23, 2012 in Atlanta, Ga.. Photo by Latara Appleby | Staff

Kidd-Gilchrist tried to make the jumpers. He hit some. He missed others. By the time the second half rolled around, though, Kidd-Gilchrist knew where to go: inside. He attacked the basket in transition and attacked the ball when it was in the air. Of his 10 rebounds, six were offensive.

“That’s what I do best is rebound and put it back in,” Kidd-Gilchrist said. “That’s an easy way to score.”

Head coach John Calipari said he told Kidd-Gilchrist he was due for a big game — and it couldn’t have come at a better time.

Anthony Davis found himself in foul trouble just six minutes into the game. He had gotten in foul trouble against Indiana the first time the teams met. Every pundit on the planet had him staying out of foul trouble as a key to the game. Now, he was in it. He sat stone-faced on the bench through much of the first half, remaining the only one sitting down as his teammates on the bench jumped up to celebrate good plays by his teammates on the court. He was, in a sense, alone.

Without him, UK’s defense struggled. And although it never really recovered — Indiana’s 90 points and 52.2 percent shooting were both season highs against the Cats — Davis certainly helped in the second half. He scored 7 of his 9 points and grabbed 10 of his 12 rebounds in the last half of the game.

“He was the presence on the floor we needed,” Twany Beckham said.

Minutes after Kidd-Gilchrist bounded off that court, Doron Lamb slowly walked off, shaking his head like he couldn’t believe what had just occurred.

Or maybe he couldn’t believe the teammate who left the floor just before him.

“We’re winding it down,” Calipari said of Kidd-Gilchrist, “and he’s stepping it up.”

1. Who else emerges? — At this point, it seems that Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis are locks to perform well. Jones is averaging double-double numbers in the postseason and Davis is, well, Davis.

So who else, and how many, of UK’s team turns in a solid game against the Hoosiers?
Marquis Teague is coming off a career game against Iowa State. He played terrific against Indiana in the second half of the teams’ first meeting. He’s been considered the key to making the Cats a dominant team, and another strong showing would mean a lot going forward.

On Thursday, Teague talked about how he has matured as a floor leader since the first time he played his home-state school.

“Back then I was just attacking the rim more and making plays for myself,” Teague said, according to an NCAA release, “and not as much for my teammates.”

Michael Kidd-Gilchrist has been in a late-season offensive swoon — although, save for one SEC Tournament game, he still contributes his usual defense and rebounding — and could be ready to break out. He had 18 points against Indiana that first game against Indiana. If he has a big game, it could be because he hits shots. Calipari expects Indiana to back off him on the perimeter, which means open looks will be available. He just has to make them.

Despite — or maybe because — of his recent shooting struggles, Calipari said he was watching TV two nights ago and Kidd-Gilchrist popped into his mind.

“I want to let you know how much I love coaching you,” Calipari said.

Darius Miller has also turned in strong showings since breaking out of his scoreless-in-two-games slump in the SEC tournament. He played with more intensity than I’ve seen all year at the start of the Iowa State game. The senior could be making the most of his last chance to win the title when it matters most.

2. How UK defends — Indiana has the fourth-most efficient offense in the nation, according to KenPom.com. They have the second-best 3-point percentage in the nation and both get to the free throw line and make them.

The Cats are coming off a great defensive game against Iowa State, who also had a solid interior player surrounded by talented shooters. The Cats will likely depend on its big men to handle the Hoosiers inside by themselves and stay out of foul trouble. (Also: Davis is five blocks from breaking the SEC single-season record, and UK is three blocks away from breaking the NCAA single-season team record). UK’s defense has been its calling card this season. Another solid game on that side of the court could propel the Cats into the Elite 8.

3. Here’s what went right on Dec. 10 for the Hoosiers: They were playing in an unbelievable atmosphere on their home court, they shot more than 30 percentage points better than the Cats from 3-point range, they got Anthony Davis in foul trouble for really the only time this season, they forced 17 turnovers, they benefited from two UK free-throw misses in the final minute — and they won by a point. One point.

Can Indiana win? Sure. As Calipari said Tuesday, they already have. But a similar confluence of factors would have to occur for a repeat result in the Sweet 16. And I don’t see that happening.

Not because the Cats didn’t look polished. Not because the Cats didn’t look like a team that had been playing together for six months now.

Because of the opposite. Because UK looked like a machine, and the NCAA Tournament is not supposed to let teams look like machines and run away from games. March is supposed to induce magical, down-to-the-wire games, not blowouts.

But blow Iowa State out was what UK did, winning 87-71 to advance to the Sweet 16.

“We know this is the last time this team is going to be together,” Darius Miller said. “So we’re not quite ready for (losing) yet.”

Only for a brief moment did the Cats look beatable. After grabbing an 11-point lead at halftime, Iowa State pushed back to tie the game at 42-all.

The Cyclones didn’t know it would be their final push of the game.

After that, UK went on a blitzing 20-2 run, forcing 13 straight Iowa State misses.

“We always stay composed,” Marquis Teague said. “We huddled up and said, we need to get stops on defense.”

The defense has been UK’s most important attribute throughout the season, and it delivered again.

Iowa State entered the game shooting 38 percent from behind the arc. In this game, it made 3 of 22 (13.6 percent).

UK carried out its game plan exactly how it wanted to. The Cats left Terrence Jones to defend do-it-all Royce White by himself. Let White score 30, if he can. Just don’t let anybody else do anything.

White scored 23, but the rest of the Cyclones shot 16 for 49.

“They played smart,” head coach John Calipari said. “They knew what we had to take away from Iowa State, and they did it.”

It wasn’t all defense, though. Marquis Teague had his best game of the year — “by far, by far,” said Michael Kidd-Gilchrist — by scoring a career-high 24 points with seven assists and two turnovers.

Miller hit big shots, as he seems to be doing so often now, and finished with 19 points. Anthony Davis had 15 points and 12 rebounds. Doron Lamb his 5 of 7 threes and finished with 16 points.

“I’m proud, really proud of the entire team,” Calipari said.

He should be proud. It was a hell of an effort against a good team, a team that posed enough problems to create an Upset Alert among national media.

But after the game, the reaction — especially when viewed in contrast with the opponent — showed that this isn’t close to the end point.

In the tunnel after the game, Iowa State’s pep band let out a thunderous roar as the Cyclones walked toward the exit, wry smiles on their faces as they faced the prospect of going home.

There was none of that for UK. It was business as usual. The only out-of-the-ordinary occurrence was that player interviews were moved to a different locker room. Not because it was a “set-up,” as Darius Miller said upon receiving the news. Just because more space was needed to accommodate the growing mass of reporters following this seemingly title-bound team.

No pep band for UK, because there’s more work to be done. Two down. Four to go.

Terrence Jones runs for the ball against Indiana guard Jeremiah Rivers, during the second half of UK's home game against Indiana on Dec. 11, 2010. UK defeated Indiana 81-62. Photo by Brandon Goodwin | Staff

When the bracket came out, UK was staring down plenty of storylines.

A rematch with Connecticut a year after losing to them in the Final Four. A rematch with Duke 20 years after The Shot. A rematch with Indiana, the only team to beat the Cats in the regular season.

Only that last one remains.

Only that last one ever mattered.

The other two were mostly manufactured. The fans cared, and the media cared. They would provide plenty of talking points and plenty more buzz.

But only that Indiana game mattered to this team, to these players.

That Dec. 10 loss? That is their loss to avenge. That was the buzzer-beating shot by a player named Christian they care about.

“I can’t wait,” Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said. “It’s the perfect way (to redeem it).”

This team doesn’t get many chances for that. Only two, and the other (Vanderbilt) is no longer an option.

What a way for the tournament to unfold.

The Indiana name, just a few slots below UK’s, popped as soon as the brackets were announced. The players didn’t, couldn’t look ahead at the time. But now that both teams have made it this far and the matchup is official?

“I can’t wait,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.

He remembers the pain well, that numb feeling of taking a loss, that prickly feeling of watching Indiana fans storm the court even as your own player, Darius Miller, lay in the middle of the floor.

There’s no way UK doesn’t come out absolutely jacked up for that game. Controlling that may be the biggest challenge UK faces that day. But, given the circumstances, it doesn’t seem like there’s any way UK will let a team beat it twice in a season.

In this season.

“We’re gonna get them back,” Kidd-Gilchrist said.

Sure, Indiana will have an edge for itself. The Hoosiers did, after all, win that game.

“They’re going to come in with a lot of confidence since they’ve beat us before,” Terrence Jones said, “and give us a great shot.”

But the Cats thrive on an “us-against-them” perspective. In this scenario, they can legitimately stake a claim to that.

It was only two weeks ago that Terrence Jones and Anthony Davis sat in a tunnel outside UK’s locker room and talked about how much they hated — hated — seeing that ESPN advertisement featuring Indiana guard Christian Watford’s last-second 3-pointer.

“They can show that commercial every break from now until that game,” Jones said. “Just give us more motivation.”

As if the Cats really need more.

He’s said before nearly every home game that Opponent X could come into Rupp Arena and win. That hasn’t happened in three years. He said at the beginning of the season that 100 teams could beat his Cats. Only two have so far.

So yes, it would be easy to hear Calipari compliment Iowa State and look past it. The Cyclones are an eight-seed, after all, and have lost 10 games, and it was the OTHER team UK might have been facing Saturday (Connecticut) that worried fans.

But that would be a mistake. This Cyclones are legit.

“Folks, we have our hands full,” Calipari said, a message he had delivered about four times already in Friday’s press conference. “I mean, I can go on and on if you want. But we’ve got our hands full. This is going to be one of the toughest games we’ve played in a while.”

That’s because Iowa State has two components that prime them for an upset.

The first is Royce White. He’s a 6-foot-8, 270-pound point forward who almost came to UK — the story goes that his fear of flying stopped him from making a plane trip to UK that would have sealed the deal, but there were more serious factors involved, including the birth of his son around that time — and is the only player in the nation to lead his team in points (13.1), rebounding (9.3), assists (5.0), steals (1.1) and blocks (0.9).

It will be Iowa State, not UK, that takes the court with a player who has recorded a triple-double. White is one of 12 players to have done so this year.

The second is that Iowa State has surrounded White with good outside shooting. The Cyclones attempt a 3-pointer on 42 percent of their shots and make 38 percent of them. Friday’s word of the day around UK’s locker room was “hands high,” signifying the increased attention on closing out on shooters.

“This game is going to have to be one of our best defensive performances,” Darius Miller said.

UK, though, thinks it has the antidote for both problems. White may be a unique player, but the Cats face plenty of them in practice. Terrence Jones has a similar skill set, and Anthony Davis does wonders in terms of negating a player.

That makes the players undaunted by facing White.

“He’s not LeBron James,” Michael Kidd-Gilchrist said. “He’s not unguardable or anything like that.”

And, as for facing a team ready to launch (and make) 3-pointers, what better training than having played Florida and Vanderbilt three times each? The Cyclones will space the floor, head coach Fred Hoiberg said, in an attempt to draw Anthony Davis — who he called better at protecting the rim than any player that age he’s ever seen, and he scouted for the Minnesota Timberwolves — out from under the basket and create better looks. Calipari said that will pose a problem for UK’s interior defense. But the Cats have encountered this style before.

“They run similar actions as Vanderbilt and Florida,” Kyle Wiltjer said, who noted Calipari had pointed out the similarities to the team. “We’ll be ready for anything.”

They better be. Iowa State has been hit-or-miss this season, but when they’ve played at their best, it’s good enough to beat anyone. They won at home against Kansas and Baylor in Big 12 play.

As for the storylines you want to prescribe to this game — UK feeling the pressure of being a No. 1 seed, Iowa State viewing itself as a massive underdog with nothing to lose and everything to gain — it’s the teams that make the difference.

And Calipari does not like the team his squad has to face Saturday.

“I’ll say it again. It’s not about seeds or anything else,” Calipari said. “It’s not nerves that I’m worried about. Iowa State is a really good team.”