One More Win: Badgers Hope To Take Home First Men’s Basketball Championship In Decades

The University of Wisconsin plays for the national championship of men’s college basketball on Monday night.

The Badgers have only lost three games all season, but one of those losses was to their opponent in the championship, Duke. Wisconsin doesn’t lose many games at the Kohl Center, but the Blue Devils beat the Badgers convincingly, 80-70, back on Dec. 3.

A lot has changed since then. Both teams got better on defense, and Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker has recovered from an ankle injury.

The “new and improved” Duke team boasts three talented freshmen; Jahlil Okafor, Tyus Jones, and Justise Winslow can score three-point shots and drive hard to the basket.

The Badgers counter with the top two scorers in the NCAA tournament — Dekker and Associated Press national player of the year Frank Kaminsky.

The teams’ coaches are no strangers to success. Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski has led his team to four Division I championships, while Badgers coach Bo Ryan has four Division III titles, all at UW-Platteville.

Wisconsin’s last national championship was in 1941.