Kentucky, UConn rebound in championship fashion

ARLINGTON, Texas — If 2013 didn’t exist, we would be looking at a classic NCAA Tournament national championship pitting the past two seasons’ champions. But, of course, 2013 happened. And it just so happens that neither the Kentucky Wildcats, the 2012 national champion, nor the Connecticut Huskies, the 2011 national champion, even made the tournament […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Oh, brother, Harrison helps Kentucky past Wisconsin

ARLINGTON, Texas –- Moments after his brother made what could have been a season-ending mistake, Kentucky freshman guard Aaron Harrison drilled the shot that kept the Wildcats’ national championship dreams alive. Harrison’s 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left lifted Kentucky past Wisconsin 74-73 and into Monday night’s matchup with Connecticut for the national title at AT&T […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Kentucky 74, Wisconsin 73

ARLINGTON, Texas –- Moments after his brother made what could have been a season-ending mistake, Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison drilled the shot that kept the Wildcats’ national championship dreams alive. Harrison’s 3-pointer with 5.7 seconds left lifted Kentucky past Wisconsin 74-73 and into Monday night’s matchup with Connecticut for the national title at AT&T Stadium. […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Daniels steps up for UConn in semifinal win

ARLINGTON, Texas — Florida was supposed to be the team with the balanced scoring that would make it difficult for Connecticut to keep up if guard Shabazz Napier did not take the Huskies’ scoring load on his shoulders. Except Connecticut forward DeAndre Daniels and guard Ryan Boatright made everyone check that logic in the first […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Connecticut rallies past Florida into title game

ARLINGTON, Texas — Connecticut proved its early season victory over top-ranked Florida was not a fluke by punching its ticket to the national championship game with a 63-53 victory over the Gators on Saturday in the Final Four. The Huskies (31-8) rallied from an early 12-point deficit to upend the only No. 1 seed to […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Connecticut 63, Florida 53

ARLINGTON, Texas –- Connecticut proved its early season victory over top-ranked Florida was not a fluke by punching its ticket to the national championship game with a 63-53 victory over the Gators on Saturday in the Final Four. The Huskies (31-8) rallied from an early 12-point deficit to upend the only No. 1 seed to […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Final Four notebook: Kentucky’s Cauley-Stein might play

Kentucky center Willie Cauley-Stein has not ruled the possibility of playing in Saturday’s national semifinal game against Wisconsin despite an ankle injury that kept him out of the Wildcats’ victory over Michigan on Sunday. “I’m not really sure [if I’ll play],” Cauley-Stein said Friday, according to ESPN.com. “I will say that it is getting better […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
College basketball roundup: McDermott wins Wooden Award

Creighton senior forward Doug McDermott won the Wooden Award as the national player of the year on Friday. McDermott led the nation with an average of 26.7 points per game this season. He shot 52.6 percent, including 44.9 percent from 3-point range, and led the Bluejays to the NCAA Tournament for the third straight year. […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021
Wake Forest hires Manning as coach

After two seasons as Tulsa’s coach, Danny Manning was hired by Wake Forest to take over its program on Friday. Manning, who starred as a player at Kansas in the 1980s and spent 15 seasons in the NBA, brings name recognition to the Demon Deacons. The 47-year-old was hired Friday after interviewing for the job […]

Jeff Hawkins  •  15 Oct 2021