Kentucky is stunned and done after loss to Wisconsin
Monday’s national championship game will match top seeds, but not the two that were expected.
Kentucky was supposed to be there and continue its quest to become college basketball’s first team to finish undefeated since 1976.
But Wisconsin pulled off the stunner, 71-64, and ended the Wildcats’ season with a 38-1 record.
The Badgers on Monday will meet Duke, an 81-61 winner over Michigan State in the other semifinal.
It will be a regular-season rematch. The Blue Devils beat Wisconsin 80-70 in Madison on Dec. 3.
Can Wisconsin come down from this emotional high?
“This was a historic day,” said Bill Walton, the former UCLA star and Hall of Fame player.
The outcome will be remembered in the same category as Duke over undefeated and seemingly unbeatable UNLV in 1991.
But it may be a while before Kentucky gets over the hurt of this one.
Kentucky junior Willie Cauley-Stein, who graduated from Olathe Northwest, was asked if he were proud of the Wildcats’ season.
“Pride’s one thing,” Cauley-Stein said. “A championship is another.”
This story was originally published April 4, 2015 at 11:54 PM with the headline "Kentucky is stunned and done after loss to Wisconsin."