UConn vs. Kentucky: An Unlikely Title Game
The UConn Huskies meet the Kentucky Wildcats for the 2014 NCAA Championship.
486. Kind of a high number isn’t it? But when you stack it up against tens of millions its essentially pennies in that old pair of jeans you’ve been meaning to wash. That’s the best way that I could describe the amount of people that correctly picked the 2014 NCAA Championship matchup of 7th seeded University of Connecticut vs. 8th seeded Kentucky in Yahoo.com’s bracket tournament. Yahoo! Sports has a nice breakdown about how this is the most unlikely matchup in NCAA history.
On Saturday we saw UConn hand number one overall seed Florida their first loss since a one point loss on December 2nd against, whom else but UConn. In one of the most exciting games of the past few years, Kentucky beat Wisconsin 74–73 with a three-pointer by Aaron Harrison that left just seconds on the clock. Their combined rank of 15 is the highest the tournament has EVER seen. But should we really be surprised that these teams are facing off on the biggest stage in college basketball? Let’s take a look at how they got there.
UConn
In the first year of the newly created American Athletic Conference, formerly the Big East, the UConn Huskies went 26–8 throughout the season with a 12–6 conference record under second year head coach, former NBAer and Husky himself Kevin Ollie. Senior Guard Shabazz Napier filled the stat sheet every night leading the team in almost every category by the end of the season. He was flanked by Juniors DeAndre Daniels (Forward) and Ryan Boatright (Guard).
Biggest Wins Before NCAA Tournament
December 2nd against #15 Florida 65–64
March 1st against #11 Cincinnati 51–45
Biggest Losses Before NCAA Tournament
December 18th against unranked Stanford 53–51
January 18th against #18 Louisville 76–64
February 23rd against unranked Southern Methodist University 64–55
The Tournament
In a first round overtime thriller against St. Joseph, Napier’s scored 9 of his 24 points in the OT to help the Huskies closed out the game. They then went on to dismantle #2 seed and former Big East foe Villanova 77–65 in an upset that not too many people saw coming. The next round saw them against Iowa State, coached by Ollie’s former NBA teammate Fred Hoiberg. While Iowa States Dustin Hogue put up an impressive 34 point, 6 rebound performance, it was no match for the on fire Huskies led tonight by Daniels’ 27 points and 10 rebounds along with some clutch free throws in the closing minutes. An Elite 8 Matchup against the Michigan State Spartans couldn’t slow them down either. After being down 9 in the second half, Napier seemed like he couldn’t miss from the free throw lines, the 3-point line, or anywhere on the court scoring 17 of his 25 points in the second half. Against Florida the train kept rolling and the Huskies mirrored their December win against Florida but this time with a little more breathing room winning by ten, 63–53.
Kentucky
The University of Kentucky is a powerhouse in the College Basketball world, but not necessarily the most consistent of teams. Led by coach John Calipari, the Wildcats won the 2012 NCAA Tournament. But the roster of that 2012 team looks a lot different than the 2014 team, heck, even a lot different than the 2013 team. The 2012 championship team was led by a group of young players turned NBA players one year later: Anthony Davis (1st overall), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2nd), Terrence Jones (18th), Marquis Teague (29th), Doron Lamb (42nd) and Darius Miller (46th). The 2013 team had the number 1 recruiting class but injuries and inconsistent play led them to the NIT Tournament and a first round upset, not the way you want to follow up a championship season. But the 2013–2014 team was led by a new group of freshmen (6 of them McDonald’s All Americans!) Julius Randle, twins Andrew and Aaron Harrison, James Young, Dakari Johnson, and Marcus Lee to join talented sophomores that stayed: Forward Alex Poythress and Center Willie Cauley-Stein. While being ranked the preseason #1, the new look Wildcats disappointed during the regular season, going 22–9.
Biggest Wins Before NCAA Tournament
December 28th against #6 Louisville 73–66
February 1st against Missouri 84–79
March 15th against Georgia 70–58
Biggest Losses Before NCAA Tournament
3x to Florida:
– February 15th (Gators #3) 69–59
– March 8th (Gators #1) 84–65
– March 16th (Gators #1) 61–60
February 27th to unranked Arkansas 71–67 in Overtime
March 1st against South Carolina 72–67
The Tournament
The Wildcats came in to the Tournament as the 8th seed in the talent filled Midwest. A first round match-up against Kansas State didn’t prove to be too challenging, as the ‘Cats won 56–49 led by Julius Randle and Aaron Harrison. This win put them in a tough second round match-up against the 2013 Final Four Wichita State team that hadn’t lost a game all year. A back and forth, tug of war, type game ended when the Shockers missed a last second three that bounced off the rim, leading to a Kentucky 78–76 victory. The Harrison twins combined for 39 points and Julius Randle had 13 points and 10 boards. Kentucky then went on to face SEC rival Louisville in the Sweet 16. The Wildcats played behind for most of the game, only leading for 65 seconds. A big time 3 by Aaron Harrison (not the last time I’ll say these words) put the Wildcats ahead with 39 seconds left and they didn’t look back. Against Michigan in the Elite 8, Kentucky was up 72–67 with two minutes to go. After a Glenn Robinson III 3 pointer and a nifty layup by Jordan Morgan, Michigan had the momentum in the final minutes. But with less than 30 seconds to go, the ball was in Kentucky’s hands and once again Aaron Harrison stepped up with a clutch 3 with only three seconds left, sealing a trip to another Final Four. #2 Wisconsin jumped out to a 17–9 lead early in the game and held a four point advantage going into the second half. The 2nd saw the score teeter totter back and forth with both teams holding leads and then losing them. In the final minute, Traevon Jackson hit 2 clutch free throws to break a tie and give the Badgers a 73–71 lead with 16 seconds to go. But once again, Aaron Harrison hit ANOTHER 3 from almost the exact same spot on the floor as his previous game winner to give the Wildcats the 74–73 victory and a trip to the NCAA Championship.
The Final
Who do I think is going to win this final game between two teams that at the start of March had no one but their die-hard fans making it this far? I think that Kentucky with their Fabulous Freshmen (sorry 92 Michigan team) and Alex Poythress take the Tourney over the Huskies. Look for a big game from DeAndre Daniels of UConn as Kentucky will be without star Center Willie Cauley-Stein once again and Shabazz Napier will be fired up to try to close out his collegiate career with a championship. I’m sure it will be a close game, but Kentucky has the talent, the offensive fire power, and a little bit of luck on their side that I think gives them the advantage…as long as they make sure to have Aaron Harrison with the ball in his hands if the game is close in the final seconds. Make sure to watch the game tonight 7:10 EST / 8:10 CT on CBS.
