Kentucky leads Kansas by 14 at halftime

New Orleans, LA – Doron Lamb scored 12 points, Michael Kidd- Gilchrist had 11 and Kentucky led Kansas, 41-27, at halftime of the NCAA national championship game Monday night

Kentucky led by as many as 18 twice despite getting zero points from consensus player of the year Anthony Davis.

Tyshawn Taylor and Thomas Robinson scored eight points apiece for Kansas, but the Jayhawks struggled to keep pace with Kentucky's offense and looked overwhelmed by the Wildcats' defense.

Davis -- the standout freshman who won the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award among several other player of the year awards -- was 0-for-4 but had nine rebounds, four assists and three blocks.

Kidd-Gilchrist and fellow Kentucky starter Terrence Jones were banged up in the half, but both remained on the floor and helped the Wildcats shoot 53.3 percent.

Kansas shot 33.3 percent -- another down first half in a tournament where three of its five wins have come by three points or fewer.

Kidd-Gilchrist seemed to favor his right shoulder after he was fouled hard going to the basket just over a minute into the game, while Jones rolled his left ankle near the three-point line as he dribbled in transition and was called for traveling.

Still, the Wildcats led by 16 after Darius Miller's three-pointer from the high left side with under four minutes left and went ahead by 18 on Lamb's bucket inside three minutes.

Later, Kidd-Gilchrist's driving layup pushed the lead back to 18 but Kansas scored the last four points of the half on layups from Robinson and Taylor.

Kentucky, the NCAA Tournament's No. 1 overall seed, is after its eighth title and first since 1998.

Kansas is trying to win its fourth championship and second in the last five seasons.

Jayhawks coach Bill Self guided the team to the 2008 title over Memphis, which was led by current Kentucky coach John Calipari.