Duke won the NCAA men’s basketball championship in a thrilling title contest, defeating Wisconsin 68-63 on Monday in Indianapolis.
NCAA Tournament
Two days after getting rid of Kentucky — and good riddance to those sore losers — a tougher opponent is awaiting Wisconsin. And it’s not the letdown factor. It’s just never easy to beat Mike Krzyzewski.
To suggest any Duke basketball team over the past 25 years has flown under the national radar is to suggest Tom Brady can walk into any restaurant across the Northeast unnoticed.
Duke has won five NCAA games by an average of 17.6 points in eliminating a 16 seed (Robert Morris), an 8 (San Diego State), a 5 (Utah), a 2 (Gonzaga) and a 7 (Michigan State).
The training table was hot dogs. The morning of the national championship game, he had a cream doughnut and a diet pop. There might have been one media member from a newspaper back home covering the game.
Wisconsin is the reason Kentucky’s season fell two wins short of undefeated, the Badgers having proved a better No. 1 seed with a 71-64 semifinal victory before a Final Four gathering of 72,238 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Kentucky finished 38-1. That close to perfect. That far away.
The Spartans weren’t very good on college basketball’s grandest stage Saturday, and the Blue Devils were, clearly proven in Duke’s 81-61 national semifinal victory. It means the Blue Devils advance Monday to a ninth national title game under coach Mike Krzyzewski, who will be seeking a fifth title.
The Wisconsin Badgers knocked off previously undefeated Kentucky 71-64 to advance to the NCAA men’s basketball championship game
Free throws and freshmen made for a winning combination as Duke breezed past Michigan State 81-61 on Saturday night to advance to the 2015 national championship game.
Kentucky has been in 17 Final Fours and won eight national titles. Wisconsin has been this far four times, winning it all in 1941. They will meet at approximately 5:49 p.m. Saturday in the second Final Four semifinal in Indianapolis.
Duke has advanced 16 times to the Final Four and won four national championships, and Michigan State has made the NCAA semifinals nine times and won two titles. They will meet at 3:09 p.m. Saturday in the first Final Four semifinal in Indianapolis.
Bo Ryan knows how to win basketball games these days, and winning always is cool. The misconception about the Badgers is they win ugly. Those were the old days. This team is different. Wisconsin has run the nation’s most efficient offense this season.
It has been a common theme during Tom Izzo’s 20 years as coach at Michigan State, advancing to seven Final Fours and winning a national title in 2000 without the surplus of can’t-miss players other heralded programs take for granted once the time arrives to recruit another class.
Barry Rohrssen, a former administrative assistant and director of operations at UNLV under Bill Bayno, is in his first season on John Calipari’s staff at Kentucky. “Slice” has made it to the big time. He never won with the Washington Generals. He hasn’t lost with the Wildcats.
It was April 2, 1990. Jerry Tarkanian, chewing a towel, was on one bench, with Mike Krzyzewski on the other. The UNLV-Duke showdown in the NCAA championship game in Denver was the headline show on the Strip. But Nevada sports books were banned from posting lines and taking action on the Rebels.
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