Saturday was a tale of two games in Indianapolis as the Duke Blue Devils secured a big win over seventh-seeded Michigan State while the Wisconsin Badgers overcame the undefeated Kentucky Wildcats and referees to avenge last season’s loss at the same stage of the competition.
Semi-Final One: #7 Michigan State vs. #1 Duke
The Spartans got off to a promising start but it didn’t last for long. Duke quickly took control of the game and never looked back. Spartans guard Denzel Valentine had a strong outing in the loss with a double-double, 22 points and 11 rebounds. Unfortunately their hot start led to them going ice cold during the rest of the first half, causing them to have to play from behind the rest of the way.
The Blue Devils put together two solid halves of basketball after surviving the early Spartan rush. The Devils were well rounded in their scoring as Quinn Cook (guard), Justise Winslow (forward) and Jahlil Okafor (center) each had big games. Cook scored 17 points on .500 shooting and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line with four assists and two steals; Winslow made his living on a ridiculously efficient 5-for-7 from the field and 9-for-11 at the line for a team-high 19 points, adding nine rebounds, two steals and two assists.
The big story has to be Jahlil Okafor. Not only is he one of the highest-rated draft prospects, heading for a championship game, but a major contributor to Blue Devil success and will be called into action against the Badgers center, Frank Kaminsky. Okafor, projected very highly in the upcoming NBA draft, shot 7-for-11 in 30 minutes and added four from the line, going for 18 points, six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
Semi-Final Two: #1 Kentucky vs. #1 Wisconsin
Karl-Anthony Towns, the referees, Willie Cauley-Stein, Andrew Harrison, Drake, Aaron Harrison. That is a list of people who could not derail the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday night. This game was much closer than the final score indicated as the Badgers stretched a first half lead to nine before watching it disappear by half-time which left the teams tied. In the second half, the Wildcats led at one point by four and the Badgers had also pushed another lead to nine. In the end, some fantastic defense from the Badgers and some made free-throws after a killer Sam Dekker step-back three-pointer led to the Wildcats suffering their one-and-only defeat of the 2014-15 season.
There were a lot of names that might soon be on NBA jerseys out on the court during the showdown between the Wildcats and Badgers. Kentucky boasts one of the deepest teams and easily one of the most talented, NBA-ready rosters in college basketball over the last decade. Andrew Harrison, the Wildcats talented point guard, put up 13 points on 5-11 shooting, largely responsible for keeping the Wildcats in the game when it looked like the Badgers might try to pull away in the first half. Andrew’s brother, Aaron, was no slouch himself, putting up 12 points on 5-10 shooting but picked up no rebounds or assists. Off the bench, guard Tyler Ulis put in a solid 17 minutes of play, shooting 2-for-4, both makes being three-point shots. Ulis also picked up an assist and two steals, adding to his pre-draft value in limited time on the court.
In the front court, Willie Cauley-Stein had the kind of game that doesn’t do a player any favors to help their draft stock. There are plenty of skeptics and critics of Cauley-Stein’s offensive game; unfortunately he did nothing to prove them wrong on this night. Cauley-Stein finished 1-for-4 for two points, five rebounds, two blocks and a steal. The blocks and steal indicate Cauley-Stein’s defensive ability. Some scouts considered Andrew Wiggins a high-potential player entering last year’s draft because offense can be taught, but defensive intelligence is harder to come by. Cauley-Stein must be hoping for the same this year. Who knows, the Bucks do love length, right?
Saving the best of Kentucky for last: Karl-Anthony Towns. While there were moments where he was defended well, Towns was able to establish position very deep on several occasions and finished well, shooting 7-for-11 on the night. It was also Towns who had Kentucky on the verge of putting the Badgers away during a stretch in which the Badgers went 0-for-4 as a team and committed six turnovers. Towns pulled down nine total rebounds, five of them on offense. On one sequence, this allowed him two put-back attempts, with the second falling. The other offensive rebounds extended Kentucky possessions late in the second half, where it seemed like the Badgers had stalled out. Towns almost single-handedly had enough to stave off the Badgers. Towns has to be considered one of the very best possible picks for the upcoming draft.
For the Badgers, it was a team effort but still came back to the team’s two stars – Dekker and Kaminsky. Sam Dekker again had a very efficient night and hit an incredible step-back three-point dagger late in the game which put the Badgers up 63-60, the three most important points of the 16 he scored. Dekker shot 6-for-9 to continue his hot-streak shooting through the tournament. It’s hard to not see Dekker moving up a number of draft boards with each game he plays.
Frank “The Tank” Kaminsky, the new crowned AP Player of the Year and Oscar Robertson Award winner, had a big game he needed it most. Kaminsky scored a game-high 20 points on 7-for-11 shooting and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Kaminsky also led all players with 11 rebounds, adding two assists and two blocks. Kaminsky is the man of the hour and tonight’s performance shows why. His performance in a national semi-final would have been great under any circumstance, but doing it for an “underdog” Badgers team against a Kentucky frontcourt of two future NBA players is all the more remarkable.
The Wildcats had one of the best NCAA runs that we have ever seen, losing just one game – the last game of their season. We are certain to see many of their players on NBA courts as soon as October. For now, we get one more game to watch Okafor, Winslow, Cook, Dekker and Kaminsky wow us all. It seems that a lot of people would like to see Dekker or Kaminsky suiting up in Milwaukee next year, but I can’t help but feel like Bo Ryan prepped these boys to step into roles somewhere deeper in Texas, a place where they could trade in the red and white of Wisconsin for a black and silver uniform.
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