The Road To The 2015 Final Four

The 2015 Final Four was defined by Kentucky’s pursuit of history and an epic rematch with Wisconsin. But it ended with a familiar sight—Mike Krzyzewski and the Duke Blue Devils hoisting their fifth NCAA championship banner. Here’s a look back at the paths Duke, Wisconsin, Kentucky, and Michigan State all took to get to Indianapolis:

DUKE

After winning Coach K’s fourth ring in 2010, the Blue Devils had gone on what was, at least for them, a bit of a March dry spell. Their usual high seeds hadn’t turned into a Final Four trip over the last four seasons and two of those—including 2014—were marked by embarrassing losses in the Round of 64.

To rectify that, Krzyzewski went out and got a recruiting haul—three “one-and-done” freshmen, all of whom would be first-round NBA draft picks just months after the Final Four. Jahlil Okafor averaged 17 points/9 rebounds per game in the low post. Justice Winslow averaged 13/7 from the forward spot. Guard Tyus Jones was a versatile playmaker, averaging 12 points/4 rebounds/6 assists. This trio was joined by senior guard Quinn Cook, who hit 40 percent of his three-point shots.

Duke opened the season at #4, and their December non-conference run would be foreshadowing—they went to Indianapolis and won a game with Michigan State. And they went on the road to Wisconsin and won.

The Blue Devils would start 14-0 before a couple mid-January losses proved costly in the ACC race. Duke’s 15-3 conference record left them one game back of Virginia. The Blue Devils then lost to Notre Dame in the semis of the conference tournament. But the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee liked the overall resume, and Duke was slotted as the 1-seed in the South Regional.

Charlotte was the host for opening weekend. The Dookies predictably dismantled Robert Morris 86-65, shooting 63%, while holding the Colonials to 38%. Cook scored 22 and Okafor added 21. Two days later, Duke kept the defense rolling with a 68-49 win over San Diego State. The Blue Devils shot 55%, held the Aztecs to 33%, and got 26 points from Okafor.

It was on the regionals in Houston, for a date with 5-seed Utah. Duke continued to D it up, holding the Utes to 35% from the floor. They also got to the free throw line, hitting 20/26 foul shots, compared to 11/15 for Utah. Winslow posted 21 points and 10 rebounds to key a 63-57 win.

2-seed Gonzaga held serve on the bottom half of the bracket. The Zags drew 11-seed UCLA in the Sweet 16, after third-seeded Iowa State had gone out in the Round of 64. Gonzaga got their win over the Bruins much like Duke had—with defense and the foul line. They held UCLA to 38% shooting, enjoyed a 16-6 scoring edge at the charity stripe and won 74-62.

In Sunday’s regional final, the Blue Devils didn’t shoot the ball well, hitting just 38 percent from the floor. The Zags shot 44 percent. But Duke hit 8-for-19 behind the arc, while Gonzaga only went 2-for-10. And again, the Dookies got to the foul line. They hit 16/19 free throws compared to just 6/9 for the Zags. The final was 66-52.

Tyus Jones, with 15 points and six assists, was named the region’s Most Outstanding Player. Matt Jones added 16 more. Winslow, with 16 points of his own, would have been a more deserving MOP pick for his weekend-long performance. But in either case, Duke was going to the Final Four.

WISCONSIN

Wisconsin had made a Final Four breakthrough for veteran head coach Bo Ryan in 2014, before losing a heartbreaking national semifinal to Kentucky. The Badgers had most of the key pieces back from that team, were ranked #3 to start the season and expectations were soaring in Madison.

Frank Kaminsky won National Player of the Year honors. The 7’0” senior averaged 18 points/8 rebounds per game. Sam Dekker, the talented junior forward, averaged 14/5, while sophomore forward Nigel Hayes added a 12/6 line. Bronson Koenig was a good three-point shooter leading a balanced backcourt.

Despite the early loss to Duke, Wisconsin mostly coasted through the regular season. They won the Big Ten regular season title by two games and also captured the conference tournament. They were the #1 seed in the West. Their NCAA Tournament path was set up to look a lot like the previous year, right down to being in the West bracket, and being lined up for two potential rematches from ‘14—the Round of 32 with Oregon and the Elite Eight against Arizona.

First things first. The Badgers went to Omaha and dispatched Coastal Carolina 86-72, behind 54% shooting and a 34-24 rebounding advantage. Kaminsky went for a 27/12 night, while Dekker knocked down 20. The Oregon game was a tougher battle. But the Badgers got to the foul line—21/29 from the stripe to just 5/7 for the Ducks. With Dekker getting 17, and Kaminsky chipping in 16 more, it was enough to chisel out a 72-65 win.

Los Angeles was the host for the regionals and Wisconsin squared off with 4-seed North Carolina. The Badgers trailed in the second half. But they outrebounded the Tar Heels 33-26 and hit 20/23 foul shots. Dekker posted a 23/10 line, while Kaminsky added 19/8. UW survived, 79-72.

Arizona was waiting. With 3-seed Baylor upset early, the Wildcats dispatched 6-seed Xavier 68-60 in the Sweet 16 behind 17 points/7 rebounds/5 assists from T.J. McConnell. The Wildcats and Badgers would reprise a classic overtime game from 2014.

This one wasn’t quite as dramatic. Even though Wisconsin trailed 33-30 at the half, they were hitting their threes. The Badgers were a sizzling 12/18 from behind the arc, compared to 2/6 for Arizona. That was the difference in a game where both teams shot 56% and got the free throw line at least 30 times each. The Badgers built up a comfortable lead and closed it out, 85-78. Kaminsky scored 29. Dekker, hitting five of his six three-point shots, finished with 27, and got Most Outstanding Player. Wisconsin was returning to the Final Four where another familiar foe would be waiting.

KENTUCKY

John Calipari came to Lexington in 2010. He made the Final Four in 2011, and won the national championship in 2012. In 2014, Calipari’s ‘Cats made the NCAA final. This year’s team was his best-regarded yet.

A loaded freshmen class was keyed by Karl Anthony-Towns, who went 6’11” and averaged 10 points/7 rebounds per game. Willie Cauley-Stein, a 7’0” freshman further anchored the middle. Devin Booker was another part of that class and a double-digit scorer. Aaron Harrison, the “old man” of the group as a sophomore, averaged 11ppg.

Kentucky was #1 in the country to open the season. They blasted Kansas in non-conference play, and also dispatched with North Carolina and Louisville. The Wildcats steamrolled the SEC, both regular season and tournament. When the NCAA Tournament arrived, they were more than just the #1 seed in the Midwest. They were 34-0, the top-heavy favorite to win it all, and aiming to be the first team since 1976 to go undefeated.

The journey began in Louisville with an easy 79-56 win over Hampton, with Kentucky dominating both defensively and on the glass. Towns and Stein finished with 11 rebounds apiece. The Wildcat big men didn’t play as well in the Round of 32 against Cincinnati, as Kentucky got outrebounded 43-35. But they forced the Bearcats into 31% shooting. They got to the foul line, outscoring Cincy 20-9 on free points. And when the first two freshmen big men don’t play well, just go to a third—Trey Lyles scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds, and keyed the ultimate 64-51 win.

Cleveland was the site of the regionals and fifth-seeded West Virginia was the opponent. The Kentucky defense found another level, forcing the Mountaineers into an awful 24 percent shooting night, and winning the rebounding battle 41-30. Stein had ten boards and the final was 78-39.

It was 3-seed Notre Dame that came out of the bottom half of the bracket. Kansas, the 2-seed, had been upset by Wichita State in the Round of 32. The Irish then beat the Shockers 81-70 behind 56 percent shooting and 20 points from Demetrius Jackson.

The regional final would be a thriller that went down to the wire. But Kentucky played its best offensive game of the tournament, shooting 53 percent. Towns hit eight of eleven shots and scored 25 points, en route to Most Outstanding Player honors. The Wildcats won 68-66 to punch their fourth Final Four ticket in the last five years.

MICHIGAN STATE

The great Tom Izzo had taken Michigan State to six Final Fours and won a national championship back in 2000. This year’s Spartan edition was led by the backcourt of Travis Trice and Denzel Valentine, along with the frontcourt presence of Branden Dawson. Collectively, the trio averaged 42 points per game. Trice and Valentine were both good passers who could move the offense, and Dawson hit the boards.

But for much of this year this didn’t look like a vintage Izzo team. They were #18 to start the year and in Wisconsin’s shadow in the Big Ten. Sparty took the aforementioned pounding to Duke, and lost to Kansas and Notre Dame. Michigan State finished 12-6 in the Big Ten and were unranked much of the year. But they reached the final of the conference tournament and took Wisconsin to overtime. They were still slotted as the 7-seed in the East, but they had some momentum.

Sparty took that momentum to Charlotte where they beat Georgia 70-63, holding the Bulldogs to 33% shooting and getting a combined 45 points from Trice, Valentine, and Dawson. Two days later, Michigan State took on 2-seed Virginia. A year earlier, in the Sweet 16, the Spartans had knocked off a top-seeded Cavalier team. Michigan State did it again this year. They got 23 points from Trice, a 15/9 line from Dawson, held UVA to 30 percent shooting and won 60-54.

The Spartans went to Syracuse for the regionals against 3-seed Oklahoma. It was a defensive battle, with neither team shooting 40 percent. But Trice was hot. He 7-for-14 from the floor, scored 24 points and was the difference in a 62-58 win.

Villanova was the East’s #1 seed, but the Wildcats were upset early by N.C. State. That opened the door for fourth-seeded Louisville to knock off the Wolfpack in the Sweet 16. The Cardinals got 17 points/14 rebounds from guard Terry Rozier and a 24/7 line from Montrezl Harris in winning 75-65.

Thus, the regional final pitted Izzo against another legend in Louisville boss Rick Pitino. It was also a rematch of a 2009 Elite Eight game where Michigan State had knocked off a Cardinal team that was ranked #1 in the nation. In this game, Sparty fell behind 40-32 at the half. But they were continuing to play defense, holding the ‘Ville to 36 percent from the floor. And Michigan State found some offense. Trice and Valentine scored 15 apiece. Bryn Forbes came off the bench to chip in 14. Dawson grabbed 11 rebounds. The Spartans rallied to pull even, and ultimately won in overtime, 76-70. Trice was MOP. Izzo had another Final Four on his belt.

THE 2015 FINAL FOUR

Duke and Michigan State played the early evening game on Saturday in Indianapolis. The Blue Devils were in control from the outset, building a 36-25 lead by halftime. Sparty’s core trio got their numbers—especially Valentine, who delivered 22 points/11 rebounds. But Duke got a combined 54 points from Winslow, Okafor, and Cook. And the Blue Devils enjoyed statistical advantages in every key area—52% to 40% on shooting, 36-31 on the glass, 14-8 on turnovers, and 27-10 in free throw scoring. It was a beatdown and it ended 81-61.

That set the stage for Kentucky and Wisconsin. The rematch was as good and as taut as the ’14 game had been on this same prime-time Saturday stage. It was tied 36-all at halftime. Kaminsky was playing well, going for 20 points/11 rebounds. Towns answered with 16/9. The difference is that the Badgers were, surprisingly, winning the battle of the boards, 30-22. Less surprising was Wisconsin’s edge in three-point shooting—7/17 to 3/5 for Kentucky. The biggest three was a step-back from Dekker late in a game that was still tied. A subsequent defensive stop allowed the Badgers to close out a 71-64 win from the foul line. The Wildcat bid for history would come up short.

Monday Night was a hard-fought finale. Duke and Wisconsin were tied 31-31 at the half, and the Badgers spurted to a nine-point lead in the first part of the second half. Kaminsky put up a 21/12 line. But Dekker was struggling, missing all six of his three-point shots and the Badgers only shot 41 percent as a team. The Blue Devils shot 47 percent. Tyus Jones knocked down 23 point, grabbed five rebounds and handed out five assists. A freshman, Grayson Allen, came off the bench and became an X-factor, with 16 points. Duke turned the tide and ultimately won 68-63. Jones was the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. And Coach K was cutting down the nets yet again.