National Basketball Association
Wisconsin 71, Kentucky 64
When: 8:49 PM ET, Saturday, April 4, 2015
Where: Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Indiana
Officials:
# Verne Harris, # John Higgins, # Doug Sirmons
Attendance:
72238
By SportsDirect Inc.
Wisconsin 71, Kentucky 64: Frank Kaminsky registered 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Badgers upset the previously undefeated Wildcats in Indianapolis to advance to the NCAA Tournament championship game.
Sam Dekker added 16 points for Wisconsin (36-3), which exacted revenge on Kentucky from the 2014 Final Four and will face Duke - a 20-point winner over Michigan State earlier in the night - in Monday's title game. The Badgers, whose only NCAA title came in 1941, will hope for another strong performance from Kaminsky and Dekker as well as Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig, who scored 12 points apiece Saturday.
Kentucky (38-1), which was looking to become the first undefeated champion since Indiana in 1976, walked off in defeat for the first time since falling to Connecticut in last year's title game. Karl-Anthony Towns had 16 points and nine rebounds, Andrew Harrison had 13 points and Aaron Harrison chipped in 12 for the Wildcats, who were outrebounded 34-22 by the scrappy Badgers.
Wisconsin trailed 60-56 when Dekker made a driving hook, a 3-pointer and a foul shot during an 8-0 run before Aaron Harrison's three-point play with 56.2 seconds left drew Kentucky within 64-63. Kaminsky's two foul shots with 24.5 seconds remaining restored a three-point cushion and Towns split a pair at the line before Koenig went 2-of-2 with 12.2 seconds showing and Aaron Harrison's airballed 3-pointer essentially sealed the outcome.
The Wildcats shot 60 percent from the field and did not miss from the arc (2-of-2) or the foul line (4-of-4) in the first half, but still went into the break tied at 36 when Koenig drained a long jumper just before the buzzer. Koenig's 3-pointer just over five minutes into the second half put the Badgers ahead 52-44, but the momentum promptly swung on a 16-4 burst by Kentucky, highlighted by three buckets by Towns and a three-point play by Trey Lyles.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Lyles had nine points and Tyler Ulis made two of the three 3-pointers for Kentucky, which has nine former McDonald's All-Americans on its roster, compared to zero for Wisconsin. ... The Wildcats won last season's Final Four meeting 74-73 on Aaron Harrison's 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left. ... The Badgers shot 7-of-17 from 3-point range and 18-of-22 from the foul line.
Top Game Performances
| Kentucky |
|
Wisconsin |
|
Karl-Anthony Towns 16 |
Scoring |
Frank Kaminsky 20 |
|
Andrew Harrison 4 |
Assists |
Traevon Jackson 2 |
|
Karl-Anthony Towns 9 |
Rebounds |
Frank Kaminsky 11 |
|
Trey Lyles 3 |
Free Throws Made |
Frank Kaminsky 5 |
|
Tyler Ulis 2 |
Steals |
Bronson Koenig 1 |
|
Willie Cauley-Stein 2 |
Blocks |
Frank Kaminsky 2 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
| Kentucky
|
64 |
48.1 |
3-5 |
9-10 |
7 |
22 |
4 |
5 |
6 |
| Wisconsin
|
71 |
47.9 |
7-17 |
18-22 |
10 |
30 |
2 |
1 |
10 |
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