Wisconsin Set To Meet Duke For NCAA Championship

INDIANAPOLIS -- Nobody ever said they were perfect. Now, the Kentucky Wildcats aren't undefeated, either. The hard-nosed Wisconsin Badgers did what nobody else could this season: They knocked off the Wildcats 71-64 on Saturday night behind 20 points and 11 rebounds from birthday boy Frank Kaminsky and a clutch comeback down the stretch.

Now, instead of Kentucky going for history, it's Wisconsin heading to the final Monday night to play Duke. The Badgers lost 80-70 to Duke in a December meeting in Madison.

Some of the Kentucky players skulked off without shaking their opponents' hands. The Wildcats close the season at 38-1 -- two wins short of becoming the first undefeated team in college basketball since the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers. Instead, this NBA-ready group joins the star-studded 1991 UNLV team as the latest to take an undefeated record into the Final Four but lose in the semifinals.

Wisconsin had every reason to turtle, going without a point for six minutes during an 8-0 Kentucky run that put the Wildcats up by four and left the Badgers gasping for breath and resting their hands on their knees.

Instead, they answered the Kentucky run with an 8-0 run of their own to set up the pullaway. It was a Kentucky-like effort, the kind the Wildcats pulled off yet again last week in a two-point win over Notre Dame in the regional final that made them look more gritty than invincible.

Duke 81, Michigan State 61

Two star freshmen, a solid senior and some of the trademark defense Duke has long been known for have the Blue Devils back in the national championship game. And in Indianapolis, no less.

Justise Winslow scored 19 points, fellow freshman Jahlil Okafor added 18, and senior Quinn Cook had 17 to lead top-seeded Duke to an 81-61 victory over Michigan State on Saturday and into yet another title game in the city known for a 500-mile auto race.

The Blue Devils won it all in Indianapolis in 1991, their first title under Mike Krzyzewski. The winningest men's Division I coach, who has a 9-3 record in national semifinal games, led them to their fourth and most recent title in 2010, also in Indianapolis.

Tonight's championship begins at 8:18 p.m.