The Wisconsin Badgers have waited a year to get their revenge on the Kentucky Wildcats after last year's Final Four loss. They got their shot in this year's Final Four, and what better way to do it than to end their perfect season. The Badgers did just that behind a double-double of 20 points and 11 rebounds from Frank Kaminsky to take down Kentucky 71-64 on Saturday night.
The win sets up a National Championship showdown with the Duke Blue Devils, who blew out the Michigan State Spartans 81-61 in game 1 of the Final Four. Wisconsin fell to Duke 80-70 in their only matchup of the season in December at Wisconsin. The over/under for Monday's title game has been set at 141 by Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
The Wildcats end the season at 38-1, two wins shy of becoming the first undefeated national champion since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. They become the first team to take a perfect record into the Final Four and lose since the 1991 UNLV squad.
Common trends on Twitter after the game were "38-and-Done" and "38-and-1".
Wisconsin went quiet in the second half after building a bit of a lead, going scoreless for 6 minutes during a Kentucky 8-0 run. That run gave the Wildcats a 4-point lead at the time. The Badgers finally woke up to respond with an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead and hold off the top team in the country.
Kaminsky, along with Bronson Koenig, combined to go 7-for-8 from the line in the final 24 seconds. This led Kaminsky, the AP Player of the Year and Wooden Award finalist, to celebrate his 22nd birthday in grad style.
Kentucky was led by Karl-Anthony Towns' 16 points and 9 rebounds, but he struggled from the line to help Wisconsin seal the victory. The Wildcats shot 48 percent from the floor and only committed 6 turnovers in the loss. Willie Cauley-Stein struggled with just 2 points and 5 rebounds on the night.
The Badgers finished the game shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, which is 13 points higher than what Kentucky allowed this season. They also finished a stellar 10-for-20 from beyond the arc and beat the Wildcats in the offensive rebound battle 12-6.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari said in the postgame press conference that he would take responsibility for his team's first loss of the year. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Badgers will get ready for the National Title game on Monday night against Duke. Tip-off will be at 9:18 p.m. EST. at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The win sets up a National Championship showdown with the Duke Blue Devils, who blew out the Michigan State Spartans 81-61 in game 1 of the Final Four. Wisconsin fell to Duke 80-70 in their only matchup of the season in December at Wisconsin. The over/under for Monday's title game has been set at 141 by Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook.
The Wildcats end the season at 38-1, two wins shy of becoming the first undefeated national champion since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. They become the first team to take a perfect record into the Final Four and lose since the 1991 UNLV squad.
Common trends on Twitter after the game were "38-and-Done" and "38-and-1".
Wisconsin went quiet in the second half after building a bit of a lead, going scoreless for 6 minutes during a Kentucky 8-0 run. That run gave the Wildcats a 4-point lead at the time. The Badgers finally woke up to respond with an 8-0 run of their own to take the lead and hold off the top team in the country.
Kaminsky, along with Bronson Koenig, combined to go 7-for-8 from the line in the final 24 seconds. This led Kaminsky, the AP Player of the Year and Wooden Award finalist, to celebrate his 22nd birthday in grad style.
Kentucky was led by Karl-Anthony Towns' 16 points and 9 rebounds, but he struggled from the line to help Wisconsin seal the victory. The Wildcats shot 48 percent from the floor and only committed 6 turnovers in the loss. Willie Cauley-Stein struggled with just 2 points and 5 rebounds on the night.
The Badgers finished the game shooting 47.9 percent from the floor, which is 13 points higher than what Kentucky allowed this season. They also finished a stellar 10-for-20 from beyond the arc and beat the Wildcats in the offensive rebound battle 12-6.
Kentucky head coach John Calipari said in the postgame press conference that he would take responsibility for his team's first loss of the year. Meanwhile, the Wisconsin Badgers will get ready for the National Title game on Monday night against Duke. Tip-off will be at 9:18 p.m. EST. at Lucas Oil Stadium.
