And so only four remained. That was the notion after yet another crazy weekend of basketball in what has turned out to be a thrilling March Madness. The Western part of the bracket brought excitement, heartbreak and hope. No. 4 seed San Diego State was eliminated when they failed to capitalize on an early lead against No. 1 seed Arizona. The Aztecs led 32-28 after the first half and carried a lead into the second half, but that’s when things unraveled.
Pac-12 Player of the Year Nick Johnson was able to score all 15 of his points in the final 2:45 and produce a 70-64 win and an Elite Eight berth for the Wildcats. Despite missing his first ten shots of the game, Johnson showed why college basketball is played for forty minutes. The Wildcats however, weren’t able to continue on any further as they ran into the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the West region’s No.2 seed.
The Badgers haven’t let any of the first three games get too close, as they defeated American University, Oregon University and Baylor by 40, eight and 17 points respectively. The Arizona game proved to be their big test. If the Badgers wanted any chance of seeing a national championship, they’d have to beat arguably the best team in the country. This game proved to be the best game so far of the 64-team tournament.
The Wildcats took the lead in the half 28-25 but the Badgers outscored the Wildcats 29-26 in the second half, forcing overtime. How could an overtime between the number one and number two seeds get any better? What if the final score was 64-63? The Arizona Wildcats saw their title hopes dissipate in front of them by one point, as they were only able to score nine points and not take advantage of an out of bounds ruled their ball with less than three seconds left in the game.
Wisconsin clinched their first Final Four Berth since 2001. The only thing standing in between them and a possible national championship is John Calipari and the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Kentucky has had to fight for their position, upsetting fourth seed Louisville and second seed Michigan over the weekend. Despite only being ranked eighth in the Midwest, they are still one of the nation’s top programs, and a team with highly talented players. Wisconsin has a tough challenge ahead of them and if they can’t hold off the red-hot Wildcats, we could very well see an all SEC final.
Connor Anthony can be reached at connor.anthony@spartans.ut.edu.