Perfect no more: the Wildcats see 2015 final four exit!
John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats men’s basketball team had a chance to etch their name in the history books as the ninth ever division-1 program to complete a perfect season. Wisconsin ended their chances of obtaining a perfect 40-0 season with a Final Four victory Saturday night.
Led by the heroic efforts of Frank Kaminsky with 20 points, 11 boards, 2 assist and 2 blocks – the Badgers pulled off ultimately the biggest upset we’ve seen in college basketball this century. Kentucky started the game down by nearly double digits, which gave their opponents early momentum and confidence heading forward and were tied at half-time. The Badgers would come out and put pressure on the Wildcats throughout the majority of the 2nd half, playing a back-and-forth battle until the 2-minute mark.
38-1 tonight. 47-1 on May 2.
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) April 5, 2015
Although Kentucky had obvious multiple possessions with a 34-22 rebound edge, the underdog Wisconsin collective held their own to force shot clock violations and turnovers through key stretches of the game. With the game tied at 80 all, previously mentioned with two minutes remaining, the Badgers would outscore their opponents 11-4 to complete their ticket to tomorrow’s National Championship game.
The Wildcats would surprisingly only score 2 FGs in the final 6:37 of the game, which many have cited Calipari’s coaching as the reasoning for their losing with slowing down the tempo of the game playing the clock. Kentucky now becomes the first undefeated team to lose in the Final Four since the 1991 University of Nevada, Las Vegas squad, which we’re expected their multiple members from their starting core to be in this June’s NBA Draft.
Wisconsin now moves on to face the Duke Blue Devils for an epic Monday night National Championship meeting on CBS. This will be their first chance at a tournament title bid since 1941 season, where they won it all.
FINAL: WIS 71 | KEN 64