Final Four 2015: Box Scores, Stats, Top Moments and Projected Title Winner
On Monday night, the Duke Blue Devils and Wisconsin Badgers will play for the national championship. Saturday night, Duke blasted the Michigan State Spartans 81-61. The deficit might have been a surprise to some, but the Blue Devils were the better team.
Here's a look at the box score:
| Starters | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Jahlil Okafor | 18 | 6 | 0 |
| Justise Winslow | 19 | 9 | 2 |
| Tyus Jones | 9 | 2 | 4 |
| Quinn Cook | 17 | 2 | 2 |
| Matt Jones | 7 | 2 | 2 |
| Reserves | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Marshall Plumlee | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| Amile Jefferson | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Grayson Allen | 9 | 5 | 0 |
| Starters | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Branden Dawson | 12 | 7 | 0 |
| Gavin Schilling | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Travis Trice | 16 | 2 | 5 |
| Denzel Valentine | 22 | 11 | 0 |
| Lourawls Nairn Jr. | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| Reserves | Pts | Rebs | |
| Trevor Bohnhoff | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Costello | 6 | 3 | 0 |
| Colby Wollenman | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| Marvin Clark Jr. | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Bryn Forbes | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Keenan Wetzel | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alvin Ellis III | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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The Blue Devils simply had too much size and talent for the Spartans. After Michigan State jumped out to a 14-6 lead, Duke buckled down on defense and allowed Jahlil Okafor to be a dominant presence on the block.
Key Stat for Duke: Free-Throw Attempts
Duke simply pounded the Spartans in the paint. It knew Michigan State didn't have the size to match up with it, and it exploited this advantage. Duke shot 37 free throws compared to just 16 for the Spartans. Justise Winslow made nine free throws by himself, and the Spartans made 10 as a team.
Duke's Biggest Moment: Okafor's Follow Slam
Early in the first half, Winslow took the ball to the basket in transition and missed a layup off the glass. Seemingly out of nowhere, the hustling Okafor caught it with one hand and slammed it through.
Bleacher Report captured the putback in the tweet below:
Okafor's hands are massive, which makes these types of plays a little easier for him. The slam gave Duke the 18-16 lead. It would never relinquish the advantage.
Wisconsin vs. Kentucky
The Wisconsin win was a different situation. The previously undefeated Kentucky Wildcats ran into a more well-prepared team Saturday night and had their perfect season washed away. Here's the box score for that game:
| Starters | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Frank Kaminsky | 20 | 11 | 2 |
| Sam Dekker | 16 | 3 | 1 |
| Nigel Hayes | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| Josh Gasser | 3 | 4 | 0 |
| Bronson Koenig | 12 | 4 | 2 |
| Reserves | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Vitto Brown | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Duje Dukan | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Traevon Jackson | 6 | 2 | 2 |
| Zak Showalter | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Starters | Pts | Rebs | Assts |
| Willie Cauley-Stein | 2 | 5 | 1 |
| Karl-Anthony Towns | 16 | 9 | 1 |
| Trey Lyles | 9 | 1 | 0 |
| Aaron Harrison | 12 | 3 | 0 |
| Andrew Harrison | 13 | 2 | 4 |
| Reserves | Pts | Rebs | |
| Dakari Johnson | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Marcus Lee | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Devin Booker | 6 | 1 | 0 |
| Tyler Ulis | 6 | 0 | 1 |
Unlike Duke, Kentucky went away from its dominant big man. The Wildcats erased a seven-point deficit in the second half and took a four-point lead. However, Wisconsin wouldn't quit. Down the stretch, the Wildcats desperately needed a bucket but struggled to get the ball to Karl-Anthony Towns.
Instead, they settled for low-percentage shots from Andrew and Aaron Harrison on crucial possessions. Head coach John Calipari should have called a timeout when his offense was clearly bogged down to refocus the attack toward Towns, but that didn't happen.
Key Stat for Wisconsin: Rebounds
Despite all of Kentucky's size, the Badgers whooped them on the glass 34-22. Wisconsin also grabbed 12 offensive rebounds that helped break Kentucky's back.
Wisconsin's Biggest Moment: Sam Dekker's Step-Back Three
With one minute and 44 seconds left and the score tied at 60, Sam Dekker drilled a step-back three-pointer that gave Wisconsin the lead. He'd drive and make one of two free throws less than a minute later to put his team up four.
Those sequences delivered the knockout blows to Kentucky.
Title Game Prediction
The win Saturday seemed a lot like the national championship for the Badgers. They had been defeated by Kentucky in the Final Four last season. It was an emotional win to end Kentucky's undefeated season and to gain revenge for last year's bitter defeat.
What will they have left for a very good Duke team? Probably not enough. Duke's defense, smart offensive play and coaching should propel it to the championship.
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