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NCAA Tournament

Kaminsky, Wisconsin easily handle Coastal Carolina in opening game

Mar 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Frank Kaminsky (44) drives to the basket against Coastal Carolina Chanticleers forward Marcus Freeman (35) during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wisconsin Badgers head coach Bo Ryan during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Duje Dukan (13) shoots against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers during the first half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 20, 2015; Omaha, NE, USA; Wisconsin Badgers forward Frank Kaminsky (44) reaches for a rebound against Coastal Carolina Chanticleers guard Warren Gillis (0) during the second half in the second round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament at CenturyLink Center. Mandatory Credit: Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports
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REUTERS
March 20, 2015 - 8:17 pm
 

OMAHA, Neb. — Center Frank Kaminsky scored 27 points and grabbed 12 rebounds, and No. 1 seed Wisconsin avoided trouble in its NCAA Tournament opener, defeating No. 16 seed Coastal Carolina 86-72 in Friday’s second round of the Midwest Regional at Century Link Center Omaha.

A top seed for the first time in school history, Wisconsin (32-3) advances to play Oregon (26-9) in Sunday’s regional quarterfinals.

Forwards Sam Dekker and Nigel Hayes added 20 and 15 points, respectively, as Wisconsin capitalized on its decisive size advantage en route to shooting 54.1 percent. The 7-foot Kaminsky shot 10-of-14 from the field against a team that played nobody taller than 6-7.

“We were able to get some stuff in the paint — 40 points in the paint, that’s pretty good, and hopefully that will be a staple of our team in the tournament,” Kaminsky said. “We were able to get it into the paint, kick it out, get some open 3s, so we were just trying to work through the paint and see what we could do.”

The Badgers led by 15 at halftime and were ahead by as many as 24 points with 3:42 remaining.

Guard Warren Gillis scored 22 points and sophomore guard Elijah Wilson scored 20 to pace Coastal Carolina (24-10). The Chanticleers were making their fourth overall NCAA Tournament appearance, and second in a row.

“We made shots we needed to have to be able to pull this off, but defensively we never could find anything, whether it was our man-to-man, whether it was our zone,” Coastal Carolina coach Cliff Ellis said. “Nothing was really effective. They don’t have any flaws offensively. They really don’t.”

NOTES: Coastal Carolina fell to 0-4 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, but its head coach, Cliff Ellis, entered the game with an 8-9 NCAA Tournament record, with a pair of Sweet 16 appearances (Clemson in 1990, Auburn in 2003). … Wisconsin entered the game leading the nation in fewest fouls per game (12), fewest turnovers per game (7.4) and fewest free-throw attempts allowed per game (11). … Wisconsin has been to the NCAA Tournament in each of coach Bo Ryan’s 14 seasons and improved to 21-13 all-time under Ryan in the tournament.

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