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Wisconsin Badgers: 3 Thoughts on Epic Win Against the Kentucky Wildcats

By Daniel Tran

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“ACNEIUHFJCN!!!!!” – Every Wisconsin Badgers Fan after they took down the Kentucky Wildcats in their Final Four matchup.

1. Never EVER question this group’s toughness.

The common theme with every talented opponent that the Kentucky Wildcats have faced is that they will test the Wildcats with everything they have and they might be successful; for how long is always the issue. Wisconsin was finally the team that pushed Kentucky their limits and never relented until the clock hit triple zeros.

Legs failing him at the end, Frank Kaminsky gutted out an incredible performance, notching 20 points and 11 rebounds while getting checked by Karl-Anthony Towns and Dakari Johnson all night. Kaminsky would also hit his last four free throws to ice the game.

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Sam Dekker, hidden for much of the game, exploded when the Badgers needed him the most. With Wisconsin down by four points, 4:28 left in the game, and the Badgers scoreless in six minutes, Dekker scored six of the teams next eight points to help put Wisconsin up by four.

The team finished with nine offensive rebounds, which contributed to the Badgers’ 30-22 rebound advantage. They outworked a much bigger Kentucky team even when the game was seemingly slipping away from them.

The trust and confidence that the players have in one another on this Wisconsin Badgers team oozes from all of them when they step onto the hardwood. It is that chemistry that has carried them into the National Championship game.

2. The Wisconsin Badgers are basically America’s team.

If you did not fall in love with this team after their fascination of stenographers, breathless confessions of attraction towards said stenographers, or talk of “suckoffs” in their video game lives, then you probably did after watching this game against Kentucky. Poor officiating tends to do that.

Exhibit A: This slap job that Trey Lyles put on Josh Gasser that wasn’t ruled a flagrant one even after being reviewed by the referees.

Look at the subsequent reaction.

By the end of the game when Wisconsin secured the victory, you had tweets like this coming in.

With the universally reviled Duke vying for the title against Wisconsin on Monday, is there really a question about who the country is rooting for?

3. An aggressive Wisconsin, is a winning Wisconsin

Far from being timid, the Wisconsin Badgers took the fight to Kentucky all night long offensively and kept going until the final buzzer sounded. Though the swing offense will generate a lot of open looks from the outside, Wisconsin rarely settled and took the ball to the basket, putting a lot of pressure on Kentucky to defend without fouling, which didn’t happen.

By the end of the night, the Badgers forced 20 Kentucky fouls, which resulted in 22 foul shots for Wisconsin. Once the Badgers get to the line, they do considerable damage, ranking 11th in the nation in free-throw percentage. Tonight against Kentucky, they converted on 82 percent of their free throws to down the Wildcats.

The Badgers ended up shooting 12 more free throws than Kentucky, and made nine more shots from the charity stripe. Far from being the only reason they won, but the five free throws that the Wisconsin made at the end of the game is all the evidence needed to show how important the foul line was for them tonight.

Next: 3 Thoughts on Kentucky's Lost Perfect Season

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