If you thought the Final Four semifinal between Kentucky and Wisconsin was a thriller and left wanting more on Monday night, you got your wish.
Duke and Wisconsin played a great National Championship tilt. You had experience vs future NBA first round freshman. Bo Ryan vs Coach K. Top offense in KenPom (Wisconsin) vs a suffocating and ever improving defense (Duke). Frank Kaminsky vs Jahlil Okafor. Sam Dekker vs. Justise Winslow.
Wisconsin got what they wanted as far as getting both Winslow, and Okafor in foul trouble. Both had two fouls and sat for stretches in the first half, and in the second both ended up playing with four fouls. Okafor sat for quite a long stretch during the middle of the second half, and Duke went small by moving Amile Jefferson to the low post and having him front Kaminsky. The Badgers just could not take advantage of Duke’s misfortunes due to foul trouble. Instead of going inside and taking advantage of their height they seemed content to jack up perimeter shots.
The Badgers shot just 7/21 from three, 25/61 from the field. Dekker was 0/6 from three while Kaminsky was 2/4, and Nigel Hayes 3/4, Bronson Koeing 1/3, Duje Dukan 1/2.
The Badgers won the rebounding battle only by two 35-33, but lost the defensive board battle 27-24 (won the offensive boards 11-6).
Duke at one point found themselves down nine with 14 mintues and change to go, plus had Okafor and Winslow both on the bench in deep foul trouble. The Blue Devils seemed to be dead in the water until Grayson Allen caught fire and scored 8 straight points by himself to get Duke within one. After that he left the job of putting the championship away to Tyus “Stones” Jones and Okafor chipped in for some key buckets to help stave off the desperate Badgers.
“He got in some foul trouble, but because of his positive attitude, he made some big plays down the stretch,” Jones said.
“It was fun to watch my teammates do what they do,” Okafor said. “They have my back the entire season, and it was no different tonight.”
The Blue Devils outscored the Badgers by 14 points during that stretch to give Duke an eight point lead with 1:22 to go.
Wisconsin refused to go quietly into the good night though and trimmed the lead to 66-63 with under 15 seconds to go. Duke added two free throws and won 68-63.
“It was heaven,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said of Final Four tournaments held in Indianapolis, where he’s now 4-0. “It was really divine.”
Wisconsin shot 41 percent from the field which was seven points under their season average.
“Shots just weren’t falling, and they were getting to the line, and when the tide changes like that, it’s kind of hard to get back in the flow,” Sam Dekker said.
“All these guys have become students of the game, and they share knowledge,” Krzyzewski said.
That knowledge and early season growing pains the Blue Devils went through on the defensive side of the ball is what helped them become forever known as National Champions.
