Rush The Court

March Madness is finally upon us, and we here at RTC are here to make everything a little bit easier for you. From the First Four until One Shining Moment, we’ll be dropping daily tidbits of knowledge regarding the teams in each region.

Duke

• Duke has been criticized this season for not being as defensively sharp as some of the past Blue Devils teams. After last night’s dominant Final Four victory over Michigan State, however, the doubters are starting to come around. “A lot of people said we couldn’t play defense,” Duke guard Matt Jones said. “For the most part in the NCAA Tournament, we’ve been a very good defensive team. Now we just have to do it one more time on Monday.”
• Taunting or not, there’s no doubt that Grayson Allen‘s monster dunk sent a message to Michigan State.
• On Monday night, Duke will play for a National Championship in the same place where it won its last one: Indianapolis.
• Jahlil Okafor‘s father believes that his son should have been named National Player of the Year over Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky. Okafor will have the chance to prove it on Monday, as the Blue Devils will go up against Kaminsky’s team.
• Justise Winslow is a name you might want to remember for the future… Take it from Charles Barkley. During the pregame show last night, Barkley referred to Winslow as “Winstons Justice.” Ouch.

Wisconsin

• Sam Dekker wasn’t as dominant as he had been in the past two games, but he was just as clutch. Tied 60-60, Dekker hit a step-back three to give Wisconsin the lead, then drew a charge on Kentucky’s very next possession.
• Perhaps Frank Kaminsky‘s 2011 Tweet of “I hate Kentucky” foreshadowed last night’s victory over the previously undefeated Wildcats.
• Wisconsin did it. Against all odds, the Badgers gave Kentucky its first loss of the season in a matchup they’ve wanted since last March. “This is something we’ve been talking about since day one this season,” Sam Dekker said. “Look where we are now.”
• Somehow, Trey Lyle’s slap on Josh Gasser wasn’t called a flagrant one foul, but it didn’t matter for Wisconsin.
• Wisconsin lost to Duke earlier this season but the Badgers are far from scared. “They were a tough team,” [point guard Bronson] Koenig said. “They have a great backcourt and they’ve got Jahlil [Okafor]. So it’s going to be a tough game.”

Kentucky

• The 40-0 “dream” is over for Kentucky. Despite having a late lead, Wisconsin proved too much for the Wildcats down the stretch in a 71-64 victory.
• There were several controversial non-calls last night against both teams, but perhaps none more blatant than a missed Wisconsin shot clock violation. The fact that the officials couldn’t review it (because there were more than two minutes remaining) was tough for Kentucky to swallow.
• After last night’s devastating loss, it looks like Willie Cauley-Stein is leaning toward forgoing his senior season in favor of the NBA Draft. “It’s time to take another step,” Cauley-Stein said. “I mean, obviously, I’m not 100 percent on it, but I’m pretty sure I know what I want to do. Gotta talk to a couple more people, but probably was my last game here.”
• Despite falling short of history, John Calipari has nothing but positive things to say about his players. “I could not be more proud of this group of young people,” said Calipari. “There are things I probably should have done, but we normally execute down the stretch and we didn’t. They did. They made plays. This season is still historic. I just can’t believe anybody is going to do what these kids did to get to this point unblemished with how they did it.”
• Kentucky‘s loss was definitely painful, but if nothing else, at least the Wildcats can lose with class. “They played a great game, and we just didn’t play our best game,” Kentucky freshman Tyler Ulis said.

Michigan State

• Michigan State suffered a brutal loss to Duke yesterday, but junior (now rising senior) Denzel Valentine is still confident. “I just looked at him and said, ‘I’m gonna get you here next year, coach,” Valentine said after the game.
• Unfortunately for Michigan State, yesterday’s game went about as well as this fan’s attempt at winning over CBS reporter Allie LaForce.
• Branden Dawson‘s career at Michigan State is over, but he is trying to see the glass as half-full. “We’ve got nothing to hang our heads about,” Dawson said. “We got to the Final Four. This is something we can tell our kids and our grandkids about. I’m going to take this moment and it’s something I’m never going to forget.”
• Tom Izzo isn’t pleased with how college basketball is called by the officials nowadays, but he’s not making any excuses for Michigan State’s loss. “It’s not as much fun to coach when you’re constantly telling guys, ‘Don’t touch ’em, don’t move,’ ” Izzo said. “We had some fouls we deserved, but there were to me probably some right calls, but bizarre. I don’t want to complain about the fouls anymore. We got our butts beat. I still say most of it was our fault.”
• After Michigan State’s loss to Duke yesterday, Tom Izzo revealed that Matt Costello will likely undergo knee surgery this offseason. Costello averaged seven points and five rebounds per game during his junior campaign, and is likely to come back as a key contributor for the Spartans next season.