Duke Rallies Past Wisconsin for Fifth NCAA Title
Duke won its fifth NCAA Division I men's basketball title on Monday night, getting 23 points from freshman guard Tyus Jones in a 68-63 win over Wisconsin in Indianapolis.
College basketball's player of the year, Frank Kaminsky, led the Badgers with 21 points and 12 rebounds in the battle of No. 1 seeds at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Blue Devils (35-4), who had dispatched Michigan State 81-61 in the semis on Saturday night, also got 16 points from Grayson Allen, 11 points and nine rebounds from Justise Winslow and 10 points from Jahlil Okafor.
Duke has won all its NCAA titles under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the winningest coach in Division I history. The Blue Devils also won in 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010 and have made the NCAA Final Four 12 times under Krzyzewski.
Wisconsin (36-4), which won the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles, also got 13 points from Nigel Hayes, 12 points and eight rebounds from Sam Dekker and 10 points and four assists from Bronson Koenig.
The Badgers had led 48-39 with 13 minutes, 17 seconds left in the second half. But the Blue Devils rallied to take a 66-58 lead on a Jones three-pointers with 1:10 remaining.
Wisconsin was seeking its first NCAA title since 1941. Badgers Coach Bo Ryan had previously won four NCAA Division III titles at Wisconsin-Platteville.
The Badgers had ousted previously-unbeaten Kentucky 71-64 on Saturday night in the other semifinal.