ANAHEIM, Calif. - The ball was in Nick Johnson's hands again. Just as he hoped it would be when he and his Arizona teammates were given a late reprieve, a final chance in a game that had been full of missed opportunities.
When Johnson took one dribble to his left from the top of the circle, he could forget about the miserable shooting he had all weekend. When he took another, he could perish the memory of a late turnover. But then he took another dribble. And another.
And by the time he rose for a jump shot, the backboard flashed red - a sign that it was all over. The Wildcats' final chance to extend their season and seize a spot in the Final Four had failed.
As Wisconsin players came leaping off the bench, celebrating their 64-63 overtime victory in the West Regional final, all Johnson could do was stand at the other end of the court and stare.
Honda Center has been a theater of broken dreams for Arizona, and so it was again, the third time they have played here as a No. 1 seed in a West Regional final and lost. Three years ago, they faced a heartbreaking 65-63 loss to Connecticut when Jamelle
The Men's Bracket
Horne's shot at the buzzer did not fall.
But the drama Saturday was not limited to the final shot as the teams trading momentum-shifting shots - and often the lead, which was never more than 3 points for either team - over the final 17 minutes.
Nobody was at the center of more of those plays than Wisconsin center Frank Kaminsky, who had 28 points and 11 rebounds - none more meaningful than his tip-in of Traevon Jackson's drive to the basket with 1 minute 13 seconds remaining in overtime. It put the second-seeded Badgers ahead, 64-61, and proved to be the difference.
Kaminsky, who had 6 points in overtime, has created a cottage industry out of being underestimated. The 7-footer with droopy eyelids, a self-deprecating sense of humor and a single-digit vertical leap has evolved into the fulcrum of Wisconsin's inside-out attack.
In Thursday's rout of Baylor, he dissected the Bears' zone defense with an array of pump fakes and post moves. On Saturday night, he was even better against the freshman Aaron Gordon and Kaleb Tarczewski.
"Frank Kaminsky is the reason Wisconsin is in the Final Four," Arizona Coach Sean Miller said. "Obviously, it was almost as if he had a big night and we tried to shut everybody else down. That's not really what we wanted to do. But we could not overcome the 28 points he gave us."
When Kaminsky set screens for point guard Traevon Jackson, he got into the post or popped out for a 3-pointer. When he took the latter route, sinking a 3-pointer with 4:22 left in regulation, it gave Wisconsin a 50-48 lead.
Jackson drove to the basket to put Wisconsin ahead, 54-52, with 1:18 left in regulation, but the Wildcats evened the score when Rondae Hollis-Jefferson dunked home Johnson's air ball with 31 seconds left. The game went to overtime when Jackson, rather than pass to Kaminsky who had Johnson on him in the post, chose to shoot a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer. It missed.
In overtime, the ball went to Kaminsky - and when it did, good things happened for the Badgers. He scored over Johnson on a defensive switch to put Wisconsin ahead, 59-57. Then he pump faked against Tarczewski and spun around him for a lay-in to put the Badgers ahead, 61-59. With the Badgers clinging to a 62-61 lead, Jackson got to the basket, but his shot off the glass missed. Kaminsky tipped it in.
After Jordin Mayes tipped in Johnson's miss with 58 seconds left to trim the Badgers lead to a point, Johnson missed a drive to give the Wildcats a chance to win it. But Johnson was called for an offensive foul, extending his arm to ward off Josh Gasser as he drove to the basket. There were three seconds left.
But the Wildcats got another chance when the inbounds pass was deflected out of bounds. After originally ruling it was Wisconsin's ball, the officials reversed the call after reviewing video of the play. With 2.3 seconds left, the Wildcats had one more chance.
"If I had to go back and do it," Johnson said. "I probably would have taken one dribble less and try to pull up and get the shot off."
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Amzing Moment: Final Shift in Momentum Puts Wisconsin in Final Four