Voice Of Post

North Carolina vs Wisconsin, Frank Kaminsky got off to a slow start, his team couldn't make a shot in the first half and then fell behind by seven midway through the second half.

It looked like a repeat of the Big Ten Conference title game, when the Badgers were left for road kill against Michigan State before coming back to win in overtime.

The top-seeded Badgers again proved their grit, rallying in the final 10 minutes to hold off North Carolina 79-72 Thursday night and advance to the final eight of the NCAA Tournament.

Sam Dekker had a career-high 23 points and 10 rebounds, Kaminsky added 19 and Nigel Hayes 12 to send Wisconsin (34-3) into the West Regional final Saturday against No. 2 seed Arizona, which beat sixth-seeded Xavier 68-60. Wisconsin beat Arizona in overtime last season in the Elite Eight.

"The toughness that they showed today was really something," North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. "It's strange, the difference between winning and losing is so small."Marcus Paige hit consecutive 3-pointers that drew Carolina within one with 54 seconds to go, but Wisconsin made all eight of its free throws — four by Kaminsky — over the closing seconds.

"Everyone knows that once we get to free throw time at the end of the game, we've got to make our free throws or they're going to come down and score," Kaminsky said. "We've been through that a lot this season with situations like that. So it's just nice to be able to go out there and do it."

Zak Showalter came off the bench to score six points in the Badgers' 19-7 comeback run after they were forced into tough positions by Carolina's perimeter defense.

"The plays he made for us in that two-minute span, we wouldn't have won without them," Hayes said. "This was similar to the Michigan State game except it didn't go to overtime. We weren't really playing our type of basketball. We were letting them have their way and their will. All we needed was a couple plays to get us going."

The teams shot exactly the same — 46 percent — for the game, but the Badgers improved to 58 percent in the second half and made 20 of 23 free throws to keep their hopes of a second straight Final Four berth alive.These guys have been through a lot. They've seen the good runs. They've seen the bad runs," Badgers coach Bo Ryan said. "But this group never gets discouraged to the point where they get down on themselves or their teammates, and that's what's fun."

Brice Johnson and Justin Jackson scored 15 points each for the fourth-seeded Tar Heels (26-12), who got within one with 4:21 remaining but couldn't retake the lead. Paige finished with 12 points.

"We wanted to pressure them and not allow them to be comfortable, and we did that for the most part," Paige said. "The problem was we couldn't finish our defense on key possessions."

The Tar Heels appeared to have the game in hand when they were up by seven and Kaminsky went down with his hands covering his eyes, having gotten hit by Isaiah Hicks.

Turns out "Frank the Tank" was just getting his team revved up.With Kaminsky on the bench, the Badgers launched the 19-7 run that put them back in front, 65-60. Kaminsky quickly returned to hit a 3-pointer, and Showalter scored four straight, including a layup off his own steal, putting the red-clad Wisconsin fans in full-throated cheers.

"It's just great to have so many voices understanding what needs to happen and what we need to do out on the court, which was getting stops," Kaminsky said, "and then coming down and getting good, easy looks at the bucket and we were able to do so."

Carolina's Kennedy Meeks returned from a sprained left knee last weekend to bother Kaminsky early before getting in foul trouble.

Trailing by one, the Tar Heels outscored the Badgers 14-6 to take their largest lead, 53-46. Berry and Hicks had four apiece while the Badgers struggled to make a shot.

Kaminsky got hit on his layup that ended Carolina's run. He covered his face, but eventually got up and played the rest of the game with an eye that was open even less than his usual sleepy appearance.Dekker carried the Badgers offensively with 15 points in the first half, including a layup that just beat the buzzer to pull Wisconsin within 33-31, just the sixth time the Badgers trailed at the break this season.

"I just tried to stay on attack mode," Dekker said. "My shot wasn't falling like I'd like it to be, so I just tried to take it to the lane more and get some easy buckets and just cause a difference in there."

Neither team led by more than five points in the first half, when Carolina shot 50 percent.

TIP-INS

North Carolina: The Tar Heels fell to 4-2 as a fourth seed in the tournament. ... Alums Rick Fox, Antawn Jamison and Eric Montross chatted at halftime.

Wisconsin: Dekker shot 10 of 15 for a career high in field goals made. ... G Traevon Jackson returned after an 18-game absence due to injury and scored four points. ... Packers QB Aaron Rodgers was in the house, along with Cal Ripken Jr. and Billy Crystal. ... Asked about the enthusiastic Rodgers sitting behind the Badgers' bench, Ryan joked, "Aaron Rodgers? The guy that, not Erin Andrews? It was Aaron Rodgers behind our bench."

North Carolina vs Wisconsin, They joke a lot. The Wisconsin Badgers, who defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels  79-72 Thursday in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament, have become the blue-collar team that has, lately, cracked up the Internet.They can't walk down the street without making us chuckle.

Earlier this week, Frank Kaminsky interviewed Will Ferrell, the creator of the "Frank the Tank" nickname. Nigel Hayes got a shout-out from  Kobe Bryant, whose locker he is occupying this week at the Staples Center. Then Hayes made a comment about a woman's appearance -- he thought she was attractive -- at a news conference without realizing the entire room heard him.

Everybody laugh at and with the Wisconsin Badgers, right?

Right.

Until North Carolina had its foot on Wisconsin's neck Thursday night and threatened to ruin the Badgers' pursuit of a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, of course. There were no laughs then. No tweetable hijinks and "Don't you just love Wisconsin?" moments -- only the reality that the NCAA would put the favored Badgers on the first plane back to Madison, Wisconsin, if they couldn't find their way.

"I just told them to not give up, keep going and get to the free throw line and just keep going to the basket because they really like to pressure us," Bronson Koenig said after the game. "It was in a much louder tone."

That was the moment. With 12:16 to play, Marcus Paige's jumper gave North Carolina -- fervent, fiery and furious throughout the matchup -- a 51-44 advantage.

"Guys were hitting huge 3s for Carolina," Koenig said, "but I knew they would have to miss eventually, and I knew we had a run left in us."

Until that juncture, North Carolina had been the better team.

Yet after the game, the Badgers all claimed they weren't worried or concerned about the situation. They were too focused on their goals.

Lucas Oil Stadium. Indianapolis. A chance to wash their mouths of the lingering aftertaste from Aaron Harrison's clutch 3-pointer and  Kentucky's win in the previous season's Final Four. The Badgers want another shot.

They need it.

That's the difference. That 51-44 margin wasn't a deficit. It was just a minor setback offset by a 9-0 run that killed UNC's vibe.

After the game, the Badgers spoke about that make-or-break scenario the way a man talks about a fruitless fishing trip: unfortunate but not overly upsetting.

"It's one step closer to what we want to accomplish this season," Duje Dukan said.

Advancing isn't everything to Wisconsin and Bo Ryan. It is just a step.

A deficit isn't a reason to worry or turn into a pessimist. The Badgers refused to allow a rocky stretch to halt their plans.

Sam Dekker finished with 23 points and looked like a lottery pick. But he sounded like a guy who'd just won a game of Scrabble on family night as he discussed the victory and his effort.

"I thought I played a pretty good game," he said.

From Ryan: "We're certainly proud to represent the Big Ten and advance."

He didn't bring any pompoms with him, though. That's not his style, not their style.

Nonchalant on the biggest stage in college basketball. That's Wisconsin.

North Carolina vs Wisconsin, One of the all-time great NCAA basketball programs has found itself in a strange position tonight, as the North Carolina Tar Heels play the underdog role in a Sweet Sixteen matchup with the No.1 seed Wisconsin Badgers.

The Badgers enter the game riding high, winning 18 of their past 19 games. During this stretch, senior forward Frank Kaminsky has emerged as arguably the best player in the country. A tremendous ability to attack the basket, an array of dazzling post moves and an impressive shooting range that keeps defenders honest at all times has played a huge role in Wisconsin’s run to a No. 1 seed and another Sweet Sixteen appearance.

North Carolina will have their hands full tonight, no doubt. Kennedy Meeks, the Tar Heels best hope for slowing down Kaminsky, is still ailing from a sprained knee suffered during their win over Arkansas. If Meeks cannot go tonight, North Carolina will have to win with offensive firepower, not the most ideal strategy against a Wisconsin team that is very proficient from behind the 3-point line.

Marcus Paige appears to be the perfect candidate to provide such offense if-needed, as the junior point guard is fresh off a 20-point second half performance that saved the Tar Heels from an early-round exit last weekend.



1) Contain Frank Kaminsky

Finding a way to slow down Wisconsin’s 7-foot star forward will be by far the toughest task for Roy Williams’ squad tonight. Kaminsky has been nominated for numerous player of the year awards, and rightfully so. I say slow down, because I do not see anybody on the Tar Heels capable of stopping the Big 10 Player of the Year.

“Few players can keep up with Kaminsky on their own because he moves so well and can finish around the basket,” Adam Rittenberg of ESPN’s Big 10 Blog said. “He can also stretch defenses with his perimeter shooting.”

It will take a team effort, but North Carolina is definitely capable. After all, they have been facing elite big-men all season, Jahlil Okafor of Duke and Bobby Portis of Arkansas just to name a few.



2) Kennedy Meeks must be able to go

When discussing how to stop Kaminsky, all questions point to the health of North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks.Meeks, the Tar Heels anchor inside, may be three inches shorter than the Wisconsin center, but he what he lacks in height he makes up for in strength. Meeks has 41 pounds on Kaminsky, an advantage that North Carolina will desperately need inside if they hope to contain the versatile center.


3) Do not let Wisconsin’s shooters get hot

The Badgers have six players shooting 31.4% or better from behind the 3-point line, and if a handful of them catch fire tonight, North Carolina could be in big trouble. Kaminsky is a solid 3-point shooter, and if he connects on a few triples early on, the Tar Heels defense will be forced to focus extra attention on Wisconsin’s Wooden Award finalist. If this happens, expect it to be raining threes in the Staples Center tonight in the Badgers favor.

Rittenberg said, “You can’t constantly double-team him because of his superb passing skills and Wisconsin’s ability to shoot the 3.”

As with everything for the Tar Heels tonight, all keys to a victory surround their ability to limit the damage the talented Kaminsky can do. If North Carolina can disrupt his play, expect the rest of the Badgers to falter, especially behind the line. The less energy the Tar Heels expend of Kaminsky, the more they can spend shutting down Wisconsin’s other five sharpshooters.