Badgers To Face Duke For Championship
The Kentucky Wildcats’ bid for perfection ended Saturday night at the hands of the Wisconsin Badgers, who rallied for a tough 71-64 victory in the NCAA men’s basketball Final Four in Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.
They will meet four-time national champ Duke in tonight’s title game. The Blue Devils dominated Michigan State 81-61 in the first semifinal contest Saturday night.
National player of the year finalist Frank Kaminsky led Wisconsin with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Junior forward Sam Dekker added 16 points.
“These guys just gutted it out.,” Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan said. “We just kept battling on every possession.”
Freshman Karl-Anthony Towns led Kentucky with 16 points. Sophomore Andrew Harrison chipped in 13 points while Aaron Harrison had 12 points.
Kentucky came into the game as the first men’s team to have a 38-0 record.
But the Badgers fought back from a 60-56 deficit with 6:39 left in the game. Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run to regain a lead it never relinquished. It will be looking to win its first title since 1941.
Duke shut down Michigan State to earn yet another shot at a national title. Freshman Justise Winslow led the Blue Devils with 19 points. Freshman Jahlil Okafor scored 18 points and senior Quinn Cook 17 for Duke.