Kentucky and Wisconsin was a classic in the 2014 Final Four. Oh, and a great ‘what if’
You can’t ask for much more in a college basketball game than what happened between Kentucky and Wisconsin in the 2014 Final Four at AT&T Stadium.
The classic semifinal matchup featured two of college basketball’s top coaches in Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan and Kentucky’s John Calipari. It had plenty of star power with future first-round NBA Draft picks such as Kentucky’s Julius Randle and James Young, and Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker.
And, of course, it had drama and action throughout.
Anybody who attended likely hasn’t forgotten Kentucky’s Aaron Harrison draining a 25-footer with 5.7 seconds left, which proved to be the game-winner in a 74-73 victory.
For me, though, the game features the greatest ‘what if’ I’ve witnessed. Those words aren’t said lightly for someone who was on hand for Game 6 of the 2011 World Series (what if Ron Washington leaves Neftali Feliz in the game?!) and at the infamous ‘Dez catch’ game in the 2014 NFL playoffs at Lambeau Field (what if officials ruled Dez Bryant caught it?!).
But one of my favorite sports-bar conversations is bringing up this semifinal matchup between Wisconsin and Kentucky. I’ve always thought that Wisconsin wasted a golden opportunity to win the game on the final possession.
After Harrison made the 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left, Wisconsin called a timeout to set up its final play. The inbounds pass went to Traevon Jackson, who drove the floor and missed an errant jump shot at the buzzer.
But, from my seat on press row, I distinctly remember thinking how open Kaminsky became as he went toward the basket. We’re talking no defender even close to the 7-footer and the basket with 3.1 seconds left.
A nice lob pass by Jackson to Kaminsky would have resulted in a wide-open dunk for the win. Yes, hindsight is always 20-20, but if that play is made, I always think Wisconsin would have won the national championship.
UConn ended up knocking off Kentucky in the title game, 60-54, but I would’ve taken that Wisconsin team over UConn all day. Kentucky missed 11 free throws in the championship game.
But that semifinal game between Wisconsin and Kentucky was the highlight of the Final Four in Arlington. That game was worth the price of admission, especially compared to the snoozefest of the Florida-UConn game to kick it off.
Florida and UConn scored 47 points combined in the first half. UConn ended up winning 63-53, as Florida matched its season-low point total and went just 1 for 10 from 3-point range.
(Side note 1.0: I remember how fortunate I felt that night to avoid being assigned to cover that game. As the Rangers beat writer at the time who had covered a number of deadline-tight baseball games, the Star-Telegram assigned me as the lead writer off Wisconsin-Kentucky as the nightcap as it would be up against the print deadline.)
(Side note 2.0: Going into the night, I assumed the Sunday sports centerpiece would be the early game between UConn and Florida regardless of what happened. That was the early game and would have given the desk more time. I was wrong, fortunately. When I mentioned that to one of our desk guys over beers the next day, he looked at me almost dumbfounded. “Kentucky-Wisconsin was always going to be the centerpiece.”)
.png "image0 (1).png")
Wisconsin “avenged” the loss to Kentucky a year later in the 2015 Final Four, knocking off the Wildcats 71-64 in a less thrilling semifinal matchup. Still, Wisconsin fell short of the ultimate prize in a 68-63 loss to Duke in the championship game.
Sometimes, the window is so narrow for teams and programs to win it all. The Texas Rangers had a window and failed to win a World Series when they got there in 2010 and 2011. The Dallas Mavericks had a window, too, and got it done in 2011.
The Dallas Cowboys whiffed in their two best chances with Tony Romo (2007, 2014), and so far with Dak Prescott (2016).
For Wisconsin men’s basketball, it still hasn’t won a championship since 1941 and Ryan retired during the 2015-16 season.
To this day, I still wonder how different it all looks if Jackson sees Kaminsky all alone in the lane.
This story was originally published April 11, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
