LOS ANGELES (AP) — Frank Kaminsky and the Wisconsin Badgers hung on to make the Final Four again.
“Frank the Tank” scored 29 points, Sam Dekker added his second straight career high of 27 and the West Regional’s top seed beat No. 2 Arizona 85-78 on Saturday to reach consecutive Final Fours for the first time in school history.
The Badgers (35-3) denied the Wildcats (34-4) a Final Four berth for the second straight year, having beaten them by one point in overtime in Anaheim a year ago when their seeds were reversed.
Wisconsin and 67-year-old coach Bo Ryan head to Indianapolis next week hoping for another shot at undefeated and top-seeded Kentucky, which beat the Badgers by one point in the national semifinals last year.
Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley scored 17 points each for the Wildcats, who once again failed to deliver a first-time Final Four appearance for coach Sean Miller. T.J. McConnell added 14 points in his last college game and Kaleb Tarczewski and Gabe York had 11 each.
Just like a year ago, Kaminsky came up big for the Badgers. He sidestepped and slithered, pivoted and deked in eluding the Wildcats’ lockdown defense. Arizona tossed its biggest bodies on the 7-footer and he still found ways to score inside and out.
The Badgers hit 10 of 12 3-point attempts in the second half, outscoring the Wildcats 30-3 from long range.
The Wildcats haven’t been to the Final Four since 2001, losing to Duke in the title game. ... Their 14-game winning streak ended. ... They shot 55 percent in the first half.
The Badgers won their 10th straight. ... Packers QB Aaron Rodgers and actress-girlfriend Olivia Munn sat behind the Badgers bench for the second straight game.