( CNN ) -- The University of Kansas men 's basketball team squeaked by Ohio State late Saturday night , setting up a NCAA tournament championship showdown with top-seeded Kentucky . Hours earlier , the Wildcats defeated Louisville in its own semifinal . They and the Jayhawks will play Monday night for the title at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans . Under coach John Calipari , Kentucky posted a 32-2 record over the course of this season -- with its only losses coming at the hands of Indiana and Vanderbilt , the latter coming in the Southeastern Conference tourney . It entered the 68-team NCAA tournament as the No . 1 seed in the South bracket , and the favorite to win it all in the eyes of many pundits . The team was led by Anthony Davis , a freshman who was recently named the Associated Press 's college basketball player of the year . But a win in Saturday 's contest against Kentucky 's in-state rival , Louisville , was hardly a given . The Cardinals , for one , had a head coach with a national title to his credits -- Rick Pitino , who ironically won that distinction in 1996 as head coach at Kentucky . Louisville entered the NCAAs with momentum after winning the Big East post-season tournament . The Cardinals battled Kentucky tight throughout Saturday 's game , tying the score , 49-49 , at one point early in the second half . But the Wildcats eventually pulled away , winning by a 69-61 margin . Ohio State and Kansas entered the night 's second tilt as No . 2 seeds , having both defeated the top seeds in their brackets -- Syracuse and North Carolina , respectively -- during the Elite 8 . The Jayhawks were paced by forward Thomas Robinson , this season 's lone unanimous AP All-American pick . On the other side of the court was the Buckeyes ' Jared Sullinger , who himself earned first-team honors for the second straight year . On Saturday night , Ohio State jumped ahead early , carrying a 34-25 advantage into the half . But Kansas stormed back after the intermission , notching the game up at 38-38 with 14 minutes left in the game . The rest of the game was nip-and-tuck , with rarely more than a few points separating the two teams and several lead changes in the final minutes . Kansas edged ahead with just over a minute to go and held on , thanks to some pivotal free throws and an Ohio State lane violation call , for a 64-62 victory .
NEW : Kansas narrowly defeats Ohio State , 64-62 , to advance to the NCAA finals . They will face Kentucky , which beat Louisville 69-61 earlier in the night . Comment: