Senior Week.

Basketball fans in Kentucky, did you notice time hurry off your clock?

Rushed across the map like a big wind or gale force of worn-out cliches from Dick Vitale’s mouth?

Tickets and travel times and tip times. Clips of 10 seconds, 35 seconds, endless coach-then-television time-outs, referee reviews, 20 minute halves, 40 minutes of Kidd-Gilchrist, 40 more of Isaiah Canaan, then whoooosh – Senior Week.

Think of the radio parade of pre-game primers and post-game punch lines; teevee replays, referee analysis and hoping Vitale shuts up some time before the rooster crows.

All of the carnival maximized by Jay Bilas at Sports Center and capsulized via Clark Kellogg personalized vocabulary.

For three months there was lock-step among fans in Big Blue Nation, Murray State Racer World and Louisville Yummers. All wanted to know: “When’s the next poll come out?”

It was that kind of season.

At the top, 20 wins-in-a-row Kentucky; Murray hovered around 10th and Louisville bobbed and wobbled in the Top 25 middle. Western Kentucky added suspense with a head coach re-fit.

Suddenly, Senior Week … Sayin’ good bye time.

Kyle Kuric at Louisville, Darius Miller at Kentucky to Ivan Aska at Murray State who said farewell at CFSB Center last week, it’s the last roundup on home boards. Where did time go?

Senior Week.

At Kentucky this one’s different, more sad than usual. An exodus to test severe loyalty and passion in Big Blue Nation. A roster wipe out that saddens college basketball purists.

Two seniors, two freshmen and two sophomores will play their last at Rupp Arena this week.

Head of the list? Anthony Davis.

Comets come by rarely. In football, a John Unitas. At the track, Secretariat. Golf, Jack Nicklaus. UK Basketball, Davis.

As game clocks clicked down this winter, and because television makes Kentucky America’s team, fans everywhere got to see Davis. The rarity of what he brought cannot be overstated. Dunks and blocked shots and poised play, yes, but here was a teenager with gumption and stamina and role model presence. Order your No. 23 today.

• A once-upon-a-time Chicago two-guard, he resurrected the blocked shot as a tool instead of slam into the fifth row that redeems nothing.

• Kentucky’s Mr. Long-&-Lean 6-10 Man showed us a jump shot at the shot clock, jump hook, slams from Mars, and my favorite, a falling down scoop shot prayer.

• Davis ignored the trash, weathered the punishment and played with dignity and devotion to team and game. Bill Russell.

• College player of the year? By a Cawood Ledford mile, it’s Davis.

All this said, freshman Anthony Davis shows up in home whites for the last time at Rupp Arena Thursday night. Kid celebrates a birthday next week (born March 11, 1993).

Between now and June, NBA general managers will stomp on each other’s faces for the chance to stuff millions into the hands of 19-year-old.

Sound good? If making possible dreams-come-true-today for Davis’ family, yes. For those of us who’ve lived long enough to know time is more precious than gold, no!

The seasons of being 18-to-22 are pinnacle ones. Time to be cool, sparkle, dream, have fun, see the new in everything and wise to put one foot in front of the other and not rush.

Anthony Davis is special. Barring injury, he is destined for greatness on a basketball court. Off it, when the ball stops bouncing, who knows?

What Kentuckians who love the game know for sure, gratitude that he came this way made himself a treasure to us in our time.

MILLER: ‘THE DAGGER’

Hunch here – Darius Miller, The Dagger, will have a thoroughbred kind of run in post-season. One UK fans last witnessed in 1998 when, at every critical moment, senior Jeff Sheppard stepped up, led Kentucky to the national championship and was MVP at the Final Four.

Miller, as he did against Vanderbilt and Ole Miss, shows an uncanny sense of timing, sticking a dagger (three ball) into an opponent to kill a run at the Wildcats.

What to watch for Thursday: When Miller and his parents step onto the Rupp Arena, who will cry first, the kid or his Mother?

TERRENCE JONES

In part because Terrence Jones has adjusted to an Anthony Davis-Michael Kidd-Gilchrist marquee this season, the 6-8 forward has almost certainly played himself down in the NBA draft first round.

Jones’ uneven play leaves pro general managers to wonder, “will this kid give us our money’s worth 85 nights a season?”

Conclusion? With another batch of John Calipari one-and-dones on the way, wouldn’t it be interesting (and profitable) if Jones returned to Kentucky next season, be the team’s elder?

WESTERN KENTUCKY

Notable. Hilltoppers coach Ray Harper is 2-and-0. As coach without interim in front of his name. Equally important, 2-0 for the Hilltoppers final home stand at Diddle Arena, closing with a win over Middle Tennessee in front of a sell-out crowd, that primes the Hilltoppers for tournament play and rivals Willie Taggart’s renaissance across the parking lot.

WORTH REPEATING DEPT.

NBA All-Time points scored leader, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was asked in an interview with Time Magazine, “Do you think if you were in your prime now, you’d still be an All-Star?”

“Players today are tremendously gifted, but they don’t understand the game as well as players from my generation who got to play in college and learn the nuances, when situations arise that lead to victory or defeat,” Abdul-Jabbar replied. “They think it’s about being on (ESPN) Play of the Day.”

And so it goes.