Wisconsin celebrates Kentucky win, but moves on quickly to Duke
INDIANAPOLIS — Five minutes after Wisconsin had slayed Kentucky’s undefeated season, the speakers at Lucas Oil Stadium started playing the familiar strains of “Jump Around.” The House of Pain song is a staple at Camp Randall on fall Saturdays in Madison and the delirious Badgers fans who had made the trip to Indiana hopped up and down in celebration.
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As for the actual basketball squad that had inspired the partying with the 71-64 victory over the top-ranked Wildcats in Saturday’s Final Four?
Well, it was quietly ensconced back in its locker room. If it had done any jumping it had been contained to hugs and high-fives on the floor and in the 10-minute cooling-off period before the media entered the locker room. The happy-go-lucky Wisconsin team that has provided feature writers with plenty of material all spring was a lot more reserved than usual.
A Monday night date with Duke is next with the national title on the line.
“It’s the biggest win in school history and it’ll last for two days,” guard Josh Gasser said.
While guard Bronson Koenig allowed the quiet room was partly due to the fatigue of the instant classic, he and the rest of his teammates cited two other factors for acting like they had just recorded a routine victory over Purdue in mid-February.
One, they expected to win.
Two, there is still work to be done.
“We know it wasn’t an upset,” senior guard Traevon Jackson said with a set of subdued but puffy eyes. “I’m not crying because it was an upset. I’m crying because it was something we expected and prayed for.”
Getting another shot at Kentucky was something Wisconsin had pined for ever since the Wildcats recorded a 74-73 win in last year’s national semifinal. It was a loss that spurred the return of stars Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker and one that stuck with them so long that Gasser acknowledged the team was happy another semifinal matchup would be possible when the brackets came out two weeks ago.
But while many college basketball observers allowed Wisconsin’s top-rated offense would match up well against Kentucky’s top-rated defense, the Badgers were among the few who believed those mismatches would result in a victory.
“I expected it for sure,” Koenig said. “Just because they had everything to lose with the undefeated season and all of that. And I thought, of anyone, we matched up with them better than anybody.”
Koenig and all those college basketball observers were proven right in a win that was more Frazier over Ali than Douglas over Tyson. Kentucky may have been 38-0 coming into the game, but Wisconsin was 35-3, a back-to-back Final Four participant and a team that harbored national title dreams of its own.
That confidence showed as the Badgers opened up a lead of nine points in the first half and eight points in the second half. It never trailed by more than five points, not even when it went more than seven minutes without a field goal in the second half.
Kaminsky, who scored 20 points and recorded 11 rebounds, turned 22 years old on Saturday and told an courtside interviewer that the win was the best gift he’d ever received.
The previous favorite? A “N-64” video game system that he once received and being driven by his father to get his driver’s license on his 16th birthday.
Kaminsky’s answer to that question was one of the lone glimpses of the eager-to-laugh Badgers after the game. But if you were looking for any giddy “can you believe we just ruined Kentucky’s undefeated season?” quotes, you went home empty-handed.
“Last year’s game obviously was motivation, not because of Kentucky, but just because of how far we got,” said Dekker, who scored 16 points including a clutch three-pointer that gave the Badgers a 63-60 lead it would never relinquish. “You know, that was a hump we wanted to get over. It didn’t matter who was in front of us. We just wanted to get a chance to play for the national title.”
The Badgers will now get that chance, the first for the school since its 1941 championship team. That title was won in Kansas City, Mo., when the NCAA field consisted of only eight teams and the United States’ entry into World War II was still nine months away.
Standing in their way is a Duke squad that dealt Wisconsin its only home loss of the season, an 80-70 defeat back in December’s ACC/Big Ten challenge. Win that rematch and the Badgers will have beaten four elite programs (North Carolina, Arizona, Kentucky and Duke) in four straight games to win the national title.
“There’s always something next,” Gasser said late Saturday night. “That’s why I’m looking forward to this Duke game. Win and then we can celebrate.”
Even jump around a bit with the fans in Indy?
“Yes, I’ll definitely be out there then,” Gasser said.
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Kevin Kaduk is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
