by: Bryant “B-Boy” Worthing @bboyworthing
Its rare for two one seeds to meet in the NCAA championship game, but in 2015 it happened making for a title match up not soon to be forgotten. Duke versus Wisconsin was an epic battle. With a tie score at the half of 31-31 the fireworks really popped off in the second half with the Blue Devils outscoring the Badgers by 14 points in the last 13 minutes for a 68-63 victory. It is Duke’s fifth NCAA championship with hall of fame coach Mike Kryzewski at the helm and the school’s first tile since 2010.
Wisconsin was lead by senior National Player of the Year Frank Kaminsky with 21 points and 12 rebounds, but the guy they called ‘Frank the Tank’ and the rest of Badgers went cold down the stretch. At one point in the game Wisconsin was up nine points only to face an eight point deficit with 1:22 left. It was UW’s first championship game appearance since 1941.
Freshman guard Tyus Jones led Duke and earned MVP honors with 23 points and five rebounds, but the big surprise was fellow freshman reserve Grayson Allen coming off the bench with 16 points adding a spark plug to a struggling Duke offense early in the second half. The likely number one pick for the 2015 NBA draft is 6-foot-11 center Jahlil Okafor who was held to just 10 points and three rebounds. Okafor was in foul trouble all game long while defending Kaminsky, but did manage two key baskets in the final minutes to help secure the victory. In the end, Okafor didn’t need to be the top freshman on the floor, because his fellow freshman teammates rose to the occasion on a day he had a rough game.
