Game Rewind | Wisconsin topples UK
Refresh often (or click here) for updates throughout Kentucky's Final Four game Saturday against Wisconsin at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Final: Wisconsin 71, UK 64.
38-1 it is. The Badgers, unlike Cats does before, didn't fade down the stretch.
Wisconsin's on to a national championship game matchup with Duke.
Said coach Bo Ryan: "It gives us another 40 minutes, I know that. Believe me. I never talked about trying to break a streak...It was all about what these guys could do to get 40 more minutes."
The Badgers made 18 of 22 free throws, shot 47.9 from the field and out-rebounded UK 34-22 in UK's first and only loss of the season.
See a full box score: http://bit.ly/1xPw7Gz
0:12, 2H: Bronson Koenig hit a pair of free throws after Karl-Anthony Towns made just 1 of 2. It's a 68-64 UK lead with the undefeated season in jeopardy.
0:24, 2H: Frank Kaminsky drew a foul and hit them both. Timeout, but UK will have the ball down 66-63. The Cats are 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.
0:56, 2H: Who else? Aaron Harrison got the basket and foul with UK down four. The Cats had to have it. And he hit the free throw. 64-63.
1:25, 2H: UK's on the ropes. Sam Dekker hit a 3-pointer at one end and drew an offensive foul at the other. It's a 63-60 game.
2:25, 2H: It's all tied, and on a questionable call. Nigel Hayes hit a bucket with the shot clock apparently already at zero, but officials didn't blow their whistles, likely because of crowd noise. 60-60. UK hasn't scored in nearly four minutes.
3:16, 2H: Attendance for this mega-show? More than 72,000. At the final media timeout, UK's lead is 60-58, and though Wisconsin's struggling to make a shot, the Cats have recently had problems simply getting one off before the clock hits zero.
For the game, Karl-Anthony Towns leads UK with 15 points. Wisconsin's Frank Kaminsky has 16.
4:21, 2H: Wisconsin ended a 7-minute scoring drought with a Sam Dekker jumper. Seven. Minutes. And yet this is still a tight game, now 60-58.
6:35, 2H: UK's extending its lead now. Karl-Anthony Towns grabbed a pair of offensive rebounds before hitting a turnaround jumper, making it 60-56. The Cats' fresher legs starting to make gains?
7:32, 2H: Seconds after the Wisconsin timeout, Willie Cauley-Stein fouled Frank Kaminsky, and it's back to a break. The Badgers' big man will have free throws, his team down 58-56. UK's held Wisconsin scoreless for the last 3:02, forcing 6 of 7 shots to miss in the process.
7:40, 2H: Here comes the UK run. No surprise there. Timeout, Wisconsin, a sequence after the Badgers had a 3-pointer called off for an offensive foul and Aaron Harrison hit a layup at the other end. The Cats have the lead back, up 58-56. In all, it's a 6-0 spurt over 1:40.
9:20, 2H: Wisconsin's shooting in the bonus from here. UK, down 56-54, isn't quite there yet. If the Cats are to make a run, this is the time. Frank Kaminsky is on the bench getting what may be his final breather.
11:24, 2H: UK got some much-needed momentum into the under-12 timeout with a Trey Lyles basket and foul, making it 54-51. Lyles has a free throw out of the break, too. It was a Tyler Ulis 3-pointer that pulled the Cats back into contention, cutting the Wisconsin lead in half. Give young UK credit. The players who haven't been on this stage before have stepped up.
12:45, 2H: Wisconsin missed a couple 3-pointers, but UK didn't help itself when Aaron Harrison was called for a foul -- his third -- on a rebound. Then, Devin Booker picked up his third on the same possession, the Badgers up 52-46.
14:40, 2H: Wisconsin's working a 9-0 run -- it also had a pair of 7-0 runs in the first half -- and UK just committed a turnover. Timeout, Cats -- again. They trail 52-44 in a game where they've led by as many as 9.
15:47, 2H: Sam Dekker dribbled, made a spin move and completed a basket and foul play into the under-16 timeout, giving Wisconsin a 48-44 lead. It was essentially a 4-point swing for UK, whose Devin Booker missed a layup at one end and fouled at the other.
To start the half, Wisconsin is 5 of 6 and UK 4 of 7. Yes, this is good basketball.
18:00, 2H: It's a battle of the bigs to open the second half. Karl-Anthony Towns and Frank Kaminsky took the first four shots. Wisconsin leads 43-42.
20:00, 2H: Out to start the second half for UK are the regulars with one exception. Joining Tyler Ulis, Devin Booker, Willie Cauley-Stein and Karl-Anthony Towns is Trey Lyles. No Harrisons.
As for the big guys Cauley-Stein and Towns, who scored 7 points total, "They faded away on some shots," coach John Calipari said. "The issue for us are straight line drives and offensive rebounds...If we rebound the ball, we'll be fine."
Halftime: UK 36, Wisconsin 36.
Bronson Koenig hit a long, long jumper at the buzzer to send this one to the half all tied up.
"We had our run and then they had their run," said Badgers coach Bo Ryan, whose team shot 13 of 28 (46.4 percent). Somehow, the Cats did better, sinking 15 of 25 (60 percent) of shots from the field.
Andrew Harrison scored 11 points, brother Aaron chipped in 7 and Trey Lyles added 6 to lead UK. For Wisconsin, Frank Kaminsky has 9.
See a full box score: http://bit.ly/1xPw7Gz
2:03, 1H: With an Aaron Harrison basket and foul, UK's come all the way back from 9 points down to tie at 32-32 before the half. The Cats are getting it done in the paint, where they now have a 16-10 edge even with Karl-Anthony Towns on the bench.
2:20, 1H: The Cats are riding a 6-0 run and have come nearly all the way back, pushed by a Trey Lyles runner in the lane. Wisconsin hasn't scored in three minutes, its lead now just 30-29.
3:43, 1H: UK had a shot to tie before the under-four timeout, but Devin Booker's shot bounced off the rim and over the backboard. Back to Wisconsin, which leads 30-27. With both teams shooting at least 50 percent, the difference so far has come on the glass, where the Badgers have a 12-8 edge.
4:47, 1H: Karl-Anthony Towns is on the bench with two fouls, but since the UK big man took a seat, UK's hit a bucket and forced a turnover. The Cats trail 30-25.
5:52, 1H: The story of this thus-far frustrating game for UK played out on Wisconsin's last possession. The Cats forced the Badgers into a heave late in the shot clock, they Frank Kaminsky recovered the rebound, and Josh Gasser hit a 3-pointer. Make it 28-21.
7:41, 1H: A Wisconsin foul took this one to the under-eight. Andrew Harrison, who has 7 points to lead UK, ended a second 7-0 Badgers run to make it a 23-16 deficit for the Cats. While UK's 7 of 14 from the field, the Badgers have been just as good, hitting 9 of 18 shots. The rebounding edge is 11-6 in favor of Wisconsin, points in the paint are an even 8-8 and the Cats are still looking for their first trip to the free throw line.
9:06, 1H: The lead's growing, now to 23-14 with a Sam Dekker basket and foul. After that, Karl-Anthony Towns picked up his first foul at the offensive end -- UK's third turnover.
10:33, 1H: At one end, Frank Kaminsky battled a UK post player for a defensive rebound. At the other, the AP Player of the Year hit a straightaway 3-pointer to make it a 21-14 Wisconsin lead. Timeout, UK.
It's the Cats' largest deficit of the tournament.
11:20, 1H: Wisconsin's up 18-14, representing its largest lead, at the under-12 timeout. The Badgers certainly came to play, and they have a UK-esque box scoring working so far with five players having scored, spreading the ball around well.
13:05, 1H: Wisconsin's 5 of 10 from the field and leads 13-11. Just when the Badgers pushed ahead for the first time, Dakari Johnson wound up with an offensive foul. It was Andrew Harrison who remained on the floor with UK's second platoon.
15:21, 1H: What a game. So far this one, with an up-and-down pace, is living up to expectations. It's 9-9 at the first media timeout with UK's Andrew Harrison and Wisconsin's Sam Dekker both having scored 5 points. Notably, the Badgers are out-rebounding the Cats 5-1.
18:42, 1H: UK couldn't have asked for a better start. The Cats lead 5-0 out of the gate behind a dunk from Willie Cauley-Stein and an Andrew Harrison 3-pointer.
20:00, 1H: Duke easily handled Michigan State in the first national semifinal, which ended before 8:25 p.m. UK-Wisconsin will start a tad later than originally expected. Regular Cats starters are in. For Wisconsin, it's guards Josh Gasser and guard Bronson Koenig with forwards Sam Dekker, Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky.
PREGAME: Any argument about UK's strength of schedule -- or lack thereof -- ends with the Cats' game against Wisconsin. A Final Four rematch with the Badgers represents the toughest game thus far on UK's path toward 40-0.
Coach John Calipari's team enters a 5 1/2-point favorite.
Stick with this blog for score updates, key stats and real-time highlights. We'll also feed in tweets from local and national sports writers chatting about the Cats from Indianapolis.
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