LOS ANGELES -- Wisconsin's fantastic Frank Kaminsky didn't get everything he wanted Saturday as the nation's presumed best basketball talent. Those 29 points and five rebounds against Arizona were nice and all but in a fleeting moment, a spunky Wisconsin teammate delivered a coarse reminder of who came first.
With 30 seconds left in the West Region final, Badgers guard Josh Gasser paused and turned to CBS analyst Reggie Miller. Dropping his hands together below his waist Gasser pantomimed the very obvious shape of ... well, let Gasser tell it.
"Big stones," Gasser said, "Sam Dekker."
Thanks for sanitizing it, Josh, because otherwise little was left to the imagination following Wisconsin's 85-78 win over Arizona.
A second half that was hotter than the early spring weather. A second consecutive Final Four appearance for the Badgers. A stiff-arm to the second-seeded Wildcats who waited a year to get this West Region rematch then participating in a demoralizing repeat.
All of it would have been upstaged by Kaminsky, the likely national player of the year. Frank just about tanked Arizona himself by twisting, driving and even complaining -- ask the officials -- to a most excellent performance.
But he didn't get everything he wanted. Dekker got the rest, namely 27 points. Namely 6-for-6 (5-for-5 from behind the arc) in the second half. Namely back-to-back career highs here at Staples Center against North Carolina and the shell-shocked Wildcats.
"I know it's hard for me to be speechless," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said after bouncing Arizona in the West Region final for the second-straight year.
Kaminsky is a given with his height and range and steady progression at a program that allows time for it.
But Dekker? Ryan fell in love with him coming out of Sheboygan Lutheran. The 6-foot-9 package can bring it up like a point guard, drive like a power forward and -- as Saturday showed -- bomb it from distance.
Three years ago Ryan was gushing about the newly recruited Dekker at the first-round site in Albuquerque, N.M. The kid had just hit the game-winning shot in the state championship game with two seconds left.
Then Dekker sort of re-enacted it on Saturday. With 1:49 left and shot clock winding down, he lofted an off-balance shot over an Arizona defender to make it 79-71 Badgers.
"[Ryan] thinks that was like the shot I had in high school to win state," Dekker said.
In three seasons, he will have been two Final Fours and perhaps made himself a top draft choice. Dekker was that poster boy for that second half for the ages. Arizona led by three at halftime. With five minutes left in the game, Wisconsin was shooting 80 percent in the second half (12 of 15) and was up by 11.
"You come back to school for moments like this," said Kaminsky, a senior who made the right decision to return. "A moment like this is the most memorable moment of our lives."
At one point, the Badgers were averaging almost 1.8 points per possessions. That is good, by the way. Ask Ken Pomeroy. The Badgers came back against one of the nation's best defensive teams. Arizona was No. 3 in kenpom’s adjusted defensive efficiency.
The points (85), 3s (12) and shooting percentage (55.6) were all season highs against the Wildcats.
"The discipline, the patience, the shot choice, that resilience," said one high-powered admirer of Wisconsin. "I thought it was spectacular."
That was one Mark Emmert, NCAA president, after handing the regional championship trophy to the Badgers.
In the second semester of his third season, Dekker has developed into Kaminsky's less-talkative little brother. For all the work ethic praise heaped about him, Kaminsky has an edgier side.
There was the time in the first half he comically flopped, setting physical comedy back decades. The officials wisely let it go. There was also the time he leaned into Arizona's Kaleb Tarczewski from the top of the key hoping to draw the call, the ball flying awkwardly out of his hands. Again, no call.
There was also the time early in the second half when Kaminsky has basically fouled out a post defender's position. Arizona's Brandon Ashley picked up two fouls in the first 90 seconds. Tarczewski had three fouls two minutes into the second half.
Dekker just keeps his head down, rarely emotes. His five second-half 3s were clutch giving the Badgers leads of two, five, four, eight and six points.
In the two games here, he missed only 8 of 26 shots in the becoming the region's most outstanding player.
"I know everybody thinks they're a pro," Arizona coach Sean Miller said. "I've got two of them -- Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. They're pros."
Now comes the week-long speculation. Can Wisconsin seal the deal? They seemingly have all the ingredients. Two guys who can get their own shots -- Kaminsky and Dekker. Point guard Bronson Koenig took over nicely for the injured Traevon Jackson. What Gasser lacks in talent he makes up as a mouthpiece.
A year ago, these teams met for the same stakes in Anaheim, Calif. Wisconsin won a grinder by a point. This year it's obvious that while the Wildcats have gotten better, the Badgers have gotten a lot better.
"Last year was like the end of the world. We made it there [to the Final Four]," Gasser said. "And now it's like, 'What’s next?'
"It's driven the team, for sure. We kind of smelled it. Coming into the summer it was all about national championships. We can beat anyone, we can get beat by anyone. But when we play like this, we're awful tough to beat."
Reggie Miller already had approved. When he made his "big stones" gesture Gasser said Miller "laughed, he agreed with me.
"He gave me a good head nod."
