ANAHEIM, Calif. - Frank Kaminsky scored 19 points and blocked six shots, and Wisconsin romped into the West Regional final with a dominant 69-52 victory over Baylor on Thursday night.
Ben Brust hit 3 three-pointers and scored 14 points for the second-seeded Badgers (29-7), who jumped to a 14-point lead in the first half and never let up on the overmatched Bears (26-12).
The 7-foot Kaminsky and his disciplined teammates shredded the Baylor zone defense that played so well in the first two games. Wisconsin also methodically shut down Baylor’s talented offense while moving into its second regional final in 13 years under Bo Ryan, who has never reached a Final Four in a 700-victory coaching career.
Cory Jefferson scored 15 points for the sixth-seeded Bears, who did little with their third Sweet 16 trip in five years.
Isaiah Austin and Kenny Chery scored 12 points apiece for Baylor, which made two of its 15 three-point attempts while trailing for the final 39 minutes.
The Bears needed a late rally just to match their lowest-scoring performance of the season in the final seconds.
Wisconsin advanced to face top-seeded Arizona in the regional final Saturday at Honda Center.
The Badgers won by countering everything the Bears do well. Wisconsin wrecked Baylor’s zone, negated their three-point shooting acumen with perimeter defense, kept the tempo at the Badgers’ preferred speed and even held a 39-33 rebounding edge on Baylor, one of the nation’s top rebounding teams.
Kaminsky added another remarkable performance to his junior season with the Badgers, racking up 10 points and four blocked shots while Wisconsin took a 29-16 lead into halftime.
Wisconsin held Baylor to a season-low in first-half points, and the Bears managed just one more point than the lowest-scoring half in coach Scott Drew’s career at the school.
Wisconsin is in its 16th consecutive NCAA Tournament, including all 13 years under Ryan, who took over the program in 2001. The Badgers haven’t been to the Final Four since 2000.
Baylor’s flexible zone defense caused numerous problems for Nebraska and Creighton in the Bears’ victories last week. With a few days to prepare, Ryan clearly figured out exactly how to attack it.
The Badgers got multiple open looks on nearly every possession in the first half, moving the ball around the perimeter for open three-point attempts or getting it down low to Kaminsky. Only a few open misses prevented Wisconsin from blowing it open early.
Sports, Pages 20 on 03/28/2014