Connecticut Huskies 56, Kentucky Wildcats 55
Basketball can be a pretty complex sport. There's ball movement, off-the-ball movement, pick and rolls, pick and pops, screen and rolls, defensive rotations, off-ball and help defense, 2-3, 1-3-1, 3-2 and matchup zones ... lots of stuff goes into planning and scheming for an opponent, and all of that is pretty essential to winning the game.
But sometimes, it can just be distilled down to its most basic element: Putting the ball in the basket. That was something UConn was better at for forty minutes over UK, and that was pretty much all they needed.
Connecticut shot 47% from the field, Kentucky 34%. Connecticut made 9 of 11 of their free throws, Kentucky an appalling 4 of 12. If it wasn't for Kentucky nailing nine threes, grabbing 15 offensive rebounds and committing five turnovers less than their opponent, UConn would've run away from this.
Kemba Walker stroked his usual 18 points on 6 of 15 shooting, Jeremy Lamb added 12 points and 9 rebounds, and the usually offensively quiet Alex Oriakhi put in 8 points and 10 rebounds to lead UConn. For Kentucky, Brandon Knight, supposed blue chip NBA Draft point guard prospect, took an un-point guard-like 23 shots and made six of them (17 points). Doron Lamb chipped in 13 points, and Terrence Jones notched 11 points on five of eight shooting while grabbing 15 rebounds, but missed ALL of his five free throws. It was that kind of night for Kentucky, who finally saw their freshman jitters catch up with them.
UConn now faces the Butler Bulldogs (who beat VCU) in the NCAA Tournament Championship game Monday night.