Wisconsin Hands Kentucky First Defeat
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Ronald Martinez/Getty Images(INDIANAPOLIS, In.) — The Wisconsin Badgers have done what no other team could do this season — defeat the Kentucky Wildcats.
With a 71-64 victory Saturday, the Badgers will move on to face Duke for the NCAA basketball championship.
“It’s a nice feeling to know that you’ve got a chance… A little bit better than Jim Carrey in ‘Dumb and Dumber,'” Badgers head coach Bo Ryan regarding the victory over the Wildcats. “There were times when it was a-million-to-one, but not this time.”
Forwards Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky led the way for the Badgers as they dropped 16 and 20 points respectively. Kaminsky also dominated in the paint as he grabbed 11 of Wisconsins 34 rebounds against the Wildcats big men.
Last season, Kentucky eliminated Wisconsin in the Final Four — though Dekker says it wasn’t the primary focus in the contest against the Wildcats.
Last year’s game obviously was motivation, not because of Kentucky, but because of how far we got.” Dekker said. “It didn’t matter who was in front of us, we just wanted to [get a] chance play for a National Title.
We set those goals out before the season and we were very vocal about it.”
Kentucky becomes the first undefeated team to lose in the Final Four since the 1991 UNLV Runnin’ Rebels lost to Duke.
“I’ve had some tough losses and some unbelievable wins at the buzzer,” coach John Calipari said. “My concern is that these guys keep it in perspective. They just had an historic year. If you want to blame anyone, blame me.”
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