March Madness 2014: Updated Bracket and UConn vs. Kentucky Breakdown
Aaron Harrison's late-game heroics have become a familiar sight for Kentucky fans. Nonetheless, the freshman has propelled the Wildcats back into the national championship game for the second time in three years.
But one last hurdle stands in Kentucky's way of a ninth national crown: the scorching-hot Connecticut Huskies.
Led by senior point guard Shabazz Napier and junior forward DeAndre Daniels, the Huskies have reached the title game for the second time in four years and can secure their third national championship since 2004 with another triumph in North Texas on Monday night.
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Here, we'll get you set for Monday's winner-take-all showdown.
When: Monday, April 7 at 9:10 p.m. ET
Where: AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Watch: CBS
Live Stream: March Madness Live
Spread*: Kentucky (-2.5)
*according to Covers.com.
All Your Bracket Essentials:
| Final Four | National Championship Game |
| No. 1 Florida 53 | |
| No. 7 Connecticut 63 | |
| No. 7 Connecticut | |
| No. 8 Kentucky | |
| No. 2 Wisconsin, 73 | |
| No. 8 Kentucky 74 |
Wildcats Wise Beyond Their Years
Although Kentucky is led by a handful of freshmen, the Wildcats have proved to be a mature and savvy basketball team. Furthermore, those freshmen now have experience and momentum on their side, having won five NCAA tournament games in a row.
Midseason struggles had John Calipari's squad flying way under the radar at season's end, but sophomore Alex Poythress believes it was a players-only meeting prior to the SEC tournament last month that turned things around, per ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf: "I feel like when we had the players-only meetings, I feel like everybody just spoke their mind, spoke what was on their heart to what was troubling them. I feel like we came together as a team."
Freshman forward Julius Randle has been Kentucky's most consistent player over the course of the season and throughout the NCAA tournament, but it's the Wildcats' ability to play unselfish basketball and feed the hot hand that truly makes them special.
On Monday night, the 6'9", 250-pound Randle, who's averaging 15.8 points and 10.6 rebounds per game through five tournament games, will need to be a force inside on both ends of the floor in order for Kentucky to exploit Connecticut's lack of size and strength down low. If Randle can score 16 or so points on 6-of-10 or 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, the Wildcats will be in great shape.
Huskies Doing It with Defense
Kevin Ollie's Huskies are proving that defense wins championships in college basketball. Against Florida in the Final Four on Saturday, Napier and backcourt mate Ryan Boatright turned up their defensive pressure after falling into a 16-4 hole midway through the first half and quickly turned the game in Connecticut's favor.
Florida would score just 37 points over the final 30 minutes and finish with 53 for the game.
CBS Sports' Jon Rothstein points out how Ollie's in-game adjustments boosted his squad from an offensive standpoint:
"Trailing Florida 16-4 in the first half on Saturday, Ollie made the decision to go to a smaller lineup with three guards and DeAndre Daniels at center in a move completely changed the entire complexion of the game. After that adjustment, the Huskies had better spacing on offense and the Gators simply couldn't push the UConn offense off-balance. Ollie spent many years in the NBA as a point guard, and his ability to read situations and tweak things have paid major dividends in just his second season as a college head coach.
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On top of that, the Huskies received a huge lift offensively from Daniels, who will be the X-factor against Kentucky on Monday.
Daniels hit timely three-pointers in the first half and finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. If Daniels can stretch the floor and draw Kentucky's bigs out to the arc by sinking shots, it'll open up driving lanes for Napier and Boatright.
If Connecticut has a weakness, it's a lack of scorers and playmakers. Napier, Boatright and Daniels have accounted for a significant portion of the Huskies' offensive production in the NCAA tournament, and Connecticut will need all three to deliver against an explosive Kentucky team.
Prediction
Although Ollie has been pushing all the right buttons for the Huskies this spring, you'd be hard-pressed to find a more talented team than the Wildcats.
A lack of experience and chemistry was a big concern coming into the year and the NCAA tournament. However, Kentucky has proved it can play as one unit, getting the ball into the right hands in the right situations.
When you combine the Wildcats' overall growth with their frontcourt depth and size across the board, it's clear that they possess an advantage.
With freshmen like Dakari Johnson and Marcus Lee now stepping up, there appears to be no stopping Kentucky from accomplishing what many experts believed it would back in the preseason: winning the national championship.
Kentucky 73, Connecticut 68
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