by James Finneral
After all the madness this March we are finally down to two teams. The Wisconsin Badgers have hit their stride in the tournament and are coming off a big win against the formerly undefeated, Kentucky Wildcats. Another team that has peaked in the tournament is the Duke Blue Devils. The Blue Devils have been battle tested in both the regular season and the tournament. Both teams are loaded with talent and this game will probably come down to the wire.
#1 Wisconsin vs. #1 Duke:
These teams matchup very well against each other. The battle between Frank Kaminsky and Jahlil Okafor will be one for the ages. Both Kaminsky and Okafor will get their fill, but they will have to earn it. The Justise Winslow matchup against Sam Dekker and/or Nigel Hayes will also be fun to watch. All three of these guys are very athletic and can dribble drive to the rim. It will be interesting to see who Coach K sticks on Dekker and who he sticks on Hayes. This will definitely be a close game, but I think the difference in this game will be Quinn Cook of Duke. Duke has many young players who will be drafted to the NBA, but the heart and soul of this Blue Devils team is Quinn Cook. Cook has been productive all year and has been a model of consistency in the tournament. He is yet to score under 10 points in the tournament. Wisconsin will be game planning for Jahlil Okafor when they should probably be worrying about how to slow down Cook. I believe Cook will get it going from three point range and give the Blue Devils the push they need to come out on top in the end. As I said in my Final Four predictions, if Sam Dekker is able to keep playing at a high level then Wisconsin will be tough to beat. With a very athletic Winslow on him, I think Dekker will be slightly slowed down and Wisconsin will not get the same production out of him as they have in the past two games. This one can go either way, but I believe Coach K will add another incredible feat to his resume.
Prediction: #1 Duke 71........... #1 Wisconsin 69
