Cnotes April's End of the College Basketball Season Final Four !

[CNOTES]

NCAAB

Monday, April 6

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Game of the Day: NCAA tournament national championship game
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(1) Wisconsin Badgers vs. (1) Duke Blue Devils (+1, 140)

The NCAA Tournament national championship game features two front-runners for the Wooden Award, two of the top coaches in the game and two teams looking to ride the momentum from impressive victories on Saturday. When fellow No. 1 seeds Wisconsin and Duke square off Monday in Indianapolis, all eyes will be focused on the matchup between the Badgers' Frank Kaminsky and the Blue Devils' Jahlil Okafor, although both big men are complemented by plenty of talent.

Perhaps nowhere is the talent display greater than on the sidelines, where Duke's Mike Krzyzewski is aiming for his fifth national title - and his third in Indianapolis - while Wisconsin's Bo Ryan is trying to lead the Badgers to their first championship since 1941. Kaminsky scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds Saturday as the Badgers upset previously undefeated Kentucky 71-64. The Blue Devils took Saturday's first semifinal with an 81-61 triumph against Michigan State led by Okafor's 18 points, six rebounds and two blocks. This game also is a rematch from a Dec. 3 contest that saw Duke shoot 65.2 percent in handing Wisconsin one of its three losses - and its only home defeat.

TV: 9:18 p.m. ET, CBS

LINE HISTORY: Most shops opened the game at a pick'em, but that's since been moved to Duke +1.

INJURY REPORT: No injuries to report.

ABOUT WISCONSIN (36-3): The Badgers have won 21 of their last 22 games, including each of the last four victories by exactly seven points, and avenged a 2014 Final Four loss to Kentucky with Saturday's emotional victory. “This is something we’ve been talking about since Day 1 this season,” Wisconsin forward Sam Dekker told reporters. “Look where we are now.” Kaminsky (18.7 points, 8.1 rebounds) was recently named the Associated Press Player of the Year and is the favorite for the Wooden Award, while Dekker (13.9 points) has averaged 20.6 points on 61.3 percent shooting during the NCAA Tournament.

ABOUT DUKE (34-4): The Blue Devils have won 17 of 18, capped by a rout of Michigan State in which Okafor was complemented by fellow freshman star Justise Winslow (19 points, nine rebounds) and sturdy senior Quinn Cook (17 points). "It's an amazing thing, I mean, just to be in the Final Four, but to play on Monday night is the ultimate honor," Krzyzewski said to the media. "I hope our guys get their rest and we can get the same type of effort we got tonight. Now they've got a chance to play for a national championship, and damn, damn, how great is that?" The keys for the Blue Devils will include getting off to a better start - they overcame an early 14-6 deficit versus Michigan State - and improved 3-point shooting, as they were 2-of-10 against the Spartans.

TRENDS:

*Under is 6-1 in Blue Devils last 7 overall.
*Blue Devils are 5-0 ATS in their last 5 games overall.
*Badgers are 5-2 ATS in their last 7 games overall.
*Over is 5-1 in Badgers last 6 overall.

CONSENSUS: According to Consensus, 51 percent of bettors are on the Badgers.

 

[CNOTES]

NCAAB

Monday, April 6


Duke stays hot ATS with Final Four win over MSU

Duke cashed in once again for bettors in Saturday's 81-61 Final Four victory over Michigan State.

The Dukies, who closed -5.5, have now covered the spread in each of their five NCAA tournament games.

 

[CNOTES]

A shot at history for Bo Ryan, Coach K


April 6, 2015


INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Wisconsin's Bo Ryan has spent three decades working to get to this point, leading the Badgers into the NCAA championship game with a shot at personal history on the line.


Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has a chance at college basketball history.


Their teams meet Monday night, with Ryan going for his first Division I championship - and the program's first since winning its only other one in 1941 - and Krzyzewski trying to become only the second men's coach to win five NCAA titles along with UCLA's John Wooden.


They both know success, with a combined 1,757 career wins and four national titles each to their credit - though Ryan's were in the Division III ranks. But both veteran coaches tried to divert attention toward their players Sunday rather than focus on their own role in what will be the final game of the 2014-15 season.


''I know I'm one of the really good coaches. I know we're one of the really good programs,'' Krzyzewski said. ''Monday night is about them. They shouldn't think of anything else. It has nothing to do with Duke historically or me.''


Both the Blue Devils (34-4) and the Badgers (36-3) are No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament and have been among the favorites to get here all season. And the winner - either the 68-year-old Krzyzewski or 67-year-old Ryan - will become the second-oldest ever to win the title behind former Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun (68 years, 10 months, 22 days) in 2011.


Ryan, in the Final Four with the Badgers for the second straight year, would be the oldest first-time winner in Division I history.


Ryan won four national titles at Wisconsin-Platteville in the 1990s, quite a change from the weekend's spectacle at Lucas Oil Stadium.


''Training table meal was hot dogs,'' he said of winning his first title in 1991. ''The morning of the game, I had a cream doughnut and a diet pop. Now we have the best, French toast, pancakes, eggs, omelets. We have people cooking omelets. ... All the fruit you could possibly think about eating.


''I think there was a stringer, one stringer, from the Madison paper that actually showed up and covered the game. So you ask me what it was like. It wasn't like this.''


While Ryan said the focus is ''watching these guys grow and their experiences together,'' junior Sam Dekker said the players would like to reward Ryan in a career that includes 740 wins.


''To win it for him would be huge,'' Dekker said. ''He deserves as much credit as any coach in the nation for what we've done here. And then to be a part of the team that would win it for him, potentially win it for him, would be something I would never forget.''


As for Krzyzewski, he already stands as the winningest coach in men's Division I history with 1,017 wins and tied Wooden this year with a record 12 Final Fours. In his 35th season at Duke, he won titles in 1991, 1992, 2001 and 2010 - the '91 and '10 crowns both came in Indianapolis - and is tied with late Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp for second behind Woodmen's record total of 10 championships.


This is Krzyzewski's ninth NCAA title game, the first coming in 1986.


''It's not just the title game, it's what you learn about coaching,'' Krzyzewski said of lessons from those experiences. ''You're constantly learning about the game. I'm a better coach now than I was in `86 or in `91 or `92. Just to be in the moment. ... I think the Final Four is a different animal like when you come in, just so you are not happy to be here, you know, that you're in this moment.''


Senior Quinn Cook said part of the moment is taking advantage of the opportunity, both for the players and their Hall of Fame coach.


''We obviously know what Coach has done and what this could do for Coach,'' Cook said. ''But Coach has stressed all year that this is about this team. ... He's made his season about us, our moment. So obviously we want to get No. 5 for him, but we want to get No. 1 for ourselves as well. That's what he wants. He wants his first one with this group.''