Aaron Harrison just became a legend in Lexington with his deep three pointer to send his program to the Final Four for the 16th time.
In the first half, the young Wildcats came out sluggish and Michigan was playing well. Michigan was led by Nik Stauskas who scored 18 first half points. Neither team seems to really feel like boxing out which seems to have become a lost art in college basketball. The first half play of Marcus Lee was a huge surprise for Kentucky as he had 10 points and four rebounds in the first half.
As the teams started the second half tied up, Kentucky seemed to have a real focus on getting the ball inside to Julius Randle and Dakari Johnson. Neither team could really pull away with Kentucky having their largest lead of seven in the 2nd half. After having 18 points in the first half, Big Ten Player of the Year Nik Stauskas finished the game with 24 points to lead all scorers in a losing effort. Most Outstanding Player Julius Randle finished the game with 16 points and 11 rebounds, giving him his 24th double double of the season.
The hero of the game though, Aaron Harrison scored all 12 of his points in the second half including the game winner with 2.6 seconds left.
Kentucky has had the light bulb come on for them and they are Final Four bound. Coach Calipari said it best when he said:
This team is empowered right now and you can tell that it’s their team. My job right now is just to call a timeout here or there to encourage them or calm them down. It’s their job to go play and have a ball.
Talk about boys growing into men at just the right time.