At halftime, it was all tied up at 31 setting the stage for a potential classic game and in the second half, the 2 number one seeds definitely didn’t disappoint.
Freshman phenom Jahlil Okafor struggled with fouls late but fellow freshman Tyus Jones shot the lights out and helped lift Duke to its fifth national title, all under coach Mike Kryzewski Monday night in a 68-63 comeback win over the Wisconsin Badgers.
Okafor spent big chunks of the second half on the bench after drawing four fouls trying to defend Badgers big man Frank Kaminsky. When Jahlil returned, he beat Kaminksy for a pair of buckets, then Jones hit a 3-pointer to complete a run from down nine to up eight with under 90 seconds left.
It was a pair of freshman guards for the Blue Devils that powered the comeback in the second half. Tyus Jones led Duke with 23 points on the night while also being named Most Outstanding Player in the Final Four. The hero of the game though was Grayson Allen. Allen came off the bench to score 16 points after only scoring 18 points in the entire NCAA tournament before this game. Justise Winslow scored 11 along with 9 rebounds to help Duke.
Kaminsky outscored Okafor 21-10 but came up short in his last game with Wisconsin, as the Badgers senior couldn’t duplicate their thrilling win over Kentucky two nights earlier. Nigel Hayes scored 13 points and Sam Dekker scored 13 points with 8 rebounds and he walked off the court in tears as the Badgers season ended on the final game.
Coach K, who won another title in the city of Indianapolis for the third time, captured his fifth title, putting him in second place alone behind John Wooden, passing Kentucky coach Adolf Rupp.
