LOS ANGELES – This time, there was no final shot, no final call.
Just another Elite Eight nightmare for the Arizona Wildcats.
Making eight of their first nine three-pointers in the second half, Wisconsin overcame a furious Arizona defensive effort in the first half and carried on to a 85-78 win.
The loss was UA’s fifth straight in Elite Eight games, again leaving the Wildcats short of the Final Four since they reached the 2001 national championship game. Arizona finished its season at 34-4.
It was also the fifth straight time the Wildcats have lost an Elite Eight game held in Southern California, dating back to Utah’s upset of the defending national champions in 1995.
The Wildcats had held Wisconsin to just 38.5 percent shooting in the first half while overcoming an early 10-2 deficit but allowed Wisconsin to shoot an astounding 78.9 percent in the second half.
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But some of the Badgers' shots were difficult, no more so than the final dagger, a high-arcing three that Sam Dekker threw up with 19 seconds to go, just before the shot-clock expired.
Wisconsin built leads as high as 11 points and hung on after UA cut it to five points twice in the final minutes.
Frank Kaminsky led Wisconsin with 29 points and six rebounds while Dekker had 27 points and five rebounds.
For UA, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Brandon Ashley had 17 points while T.J. McConnell had 14 points and five rebounds.
Wisconsin, which edged the Wildcats 64-63 in overtime during last season’s West Region final after a controversial call against Nick Johnson, moved on to its second straight Final Four at 35-3.Â
Arizona cut Wisconsin’s lead to 76-71 with a three-pointer from Gabe York with 2:21 to go. But Dekker answered with a three to make it 79-71 and the Badgers never lost control after that.Â
Early in the second half, Wisconsin quickly wiped away UA’s three-point halftime lead. The Badgers had a three-pointer from Kaminsky on their first possession and a three from Dekker that later gave Wisconsin a 36-34 lead.
It only became worse from there. UA had its moments offensively but couldn’t withstand Wisconsin’s torrid shooting.
Stanley Johnson missed four minutes early in the second half after he appeared to suffer a hit to his right eye. Replays indicated Brandon Ashley inadvertently swiped him near the basket.
Johnson returned with 13 minutes left but the Badgers were catching fire from three-point range at that point, building a nine-point lead when Nigel Hayes hit a three with 9:36 to go. A layup from Josh Gasser then gave Wisconsin a 62-51 lead, their biggest of the game to date.
Johnson fouled out with 3:36 to go , with just six points and two rebounds.
As expected, the game was well-played and intense from the beginning, with UA taking a 33-30 halftime lead.
Arizona overcame an early 10-2 deficit and fought back with effective defense against Wisconsin and center Frank Kaminsky, who led the Badgers with 13 points and five rebounds.
York gave UA its first lead of the half, 25-24, on a three-pointer with 3:15 left but Kaminsky returned 23 seconds later with a dunk to make it 26-25 and the game remained closed the rest of the half.
Hollis-Jefferson scored UA's final basket of the half at the shot-clock buzzer after he picked up a ball lost by T.J. McConnell.
Kaminsky scored 13 points by the time he dunked, but did so after going just 5 of 13 from the field, while the Badgers were shooting less than 40 percent at that point. Wisconsin finished shooting 38.5 percent for the half while Arizona shot 54.5 percent and outrebounded the Badgers 14-13.
Hollis-Jefferson led UA with eight points and five rebounds.
The game started ominously for the Wildcats. Ashley picked up a foul under the basket on Kaminsky during Wisconsin’s first possession, and another on Wisconsin’s third possession.
Ashley was benched and the Wildcats continued to slide. They trailed 10-2 and were just 1 of 8 from the field by the time UA coach Sean Miller called a timeout with 16:09 left.
The Wildcats picked up some momentum from there, getting a short pullup jumper and two free throws from Johnson, who drew a foul from Kaminsky with 12:56 left.
After sitting out about seven minutes, Ashley returned to play more effectively. He scored six points on 2-for-3 shooting and helped UA tie the game at 14.
