They didn’t have to play UNC or Florida, but the Badgers will happily take their Battle 4 Atlantis trophy home to Madison as they prepare for Wednesday’s heavyweight match against Duke. Wisconsin won the tournament by way of a 69-56 victory over Oklahoma in the final.
Although they took a 34-33 lead into halftime, it was a frustrating half for the Badgers, as senior center Frank Kaminsky was forced to sit for almost 15 minutes and an hour of real time due to two early fouls. Senior guards Traevon Jackson and Josh Gasser also registered two first half fouls. While having three starters in foul trouble would hurt many teams, it allowed for Wisconsin’s breakout star in the Bahamas, the bench, to once again show its muscle.
Redshirt senior forward Duje Dukan came off the bench and excelled, nailing three 3-pointers and going into halftime with 11 total points, adequately filling in for the absent Kaminsky. Sophomore guard Bronson Koenig also chipped in five first-half assists, further adding to his resume as an elite backup point guard and a future star for UW.
That was just the first half. The second half, well, let’s just say Kaminsky woke up. The 7-footer threw down 14 second-half points to finish with a game-high 17 and also tied the game-high for rebounds with eight (seven in the second half). After Thursday’s struggles against Georgetown and the 350-pound Josh Smith, Kaminsky was back in his comfort zone in the final 20 minutes. Wednesday's matchup with Duke’s star freshman center Jahlil Okafor will include arguably the two best offensive big men in the country.
No single player stood out for Oklahoma, which had seven players score six or more points but none more than 10. Wisconsin looked strong on defense, holding the Sooners to 17-of-46 shooting (37 percent) and forcing 21 turnovers.
It needs to be said: Oklahoma and Georgetown are good teams that will compete in top conferences and eventually be ranked. The Badgers dispatching these two is impressive, even if UNC would have been an easier opponent to sell as quality.
With the trophy in hand and some tans likely worked on, the Badgers now turn their attention to Duke, a game the teams, their fans and the college basketball world has been looking forward to for a long time. It’s going to be a season-defining game with tough matchups across the board for the starters. When asked by ESPN’s Andy Katz what he had to say about Duke, Kaminsky only had two words ready: “We’re coming.”
