Kansas digs hole too deep against Kentucky

NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Kansas couldn't come all the way back this time.

The gritty team that had walked a tightrope all the way to the national championship game finally fell off against mighty Kentucky. An 18-point deficit against a team full of future NBA draft picks was too much for the Jayhawks, who fell 67-59 on Monday night.

Kansas had rallied from big early deficits against Purdue and North Carolina State in the NCAA tournament, giving some folks the feeling that things were meant to be this season.

Such a premonition gained support when the Jayhawks dug themselves out of a 13-point hole against Ohio State in the national semifinals, setting up a showdown with the team that has been anointed the eventual national champions by many pundits most of the season.

Kentucky's Anthony Davis has been selected the Most Outstanding Player at the Final Four after dominating defensively in Monday night's NCAA championship game.

The freshman forward had a rough night on offense, scoring six points on 1-of-10 shooting. He made up for it with defense, tying a championship game record with six blocked shots and altering several others in Kentucky's 67-59 win over Kansas.

Davis, who set an NCAA freshman record with 186 blocked shots, helped Kentucky hold the Jayhawks to 35 percent shooting. He also had 16 rebounds, five assists and three steals in leading Kentucky to its eighth national title and first since 1998.

He was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Doron Lamb, along with Kansas' Thomas Robinson and Tyshawn Taylor.