Final Four Scheduled To Play Saturday

INDIANAPOLIS -- For the second year in a row, Willie Cauley-Stein is a member of a Kentucky Wildcats squad that has reached the Final Four, where it will again face the Wisconsin Badgers on Saturday.

The future NBA lottery pick is still amazed by his team’s return trip this season. And he’s pumped for the opportunity to compete after missing last year’s Wisconsin-Kentucky Final Four matchup and the Wildcats’ loss to UConn in the national title game due to injury.

“I’m super excited to play,” Cauley-Stein said Thursday during pregame media availability. “It’s a dream. When you’re young and you’re playing in your driveway, you’re playing one-on-one against yourself, this is the moment that you’re playing against. So it is definitely a dream and a blessing to be here. But I can’t say that I would have made a difference in the (national title game last year). I’m not a fortune teller. I can’t really say that. I mean, I would like to think so, but I can’t really say on that.”

With Kentucky facing a pair of future first-round NBA draft picks in Sam Dekker and Frank Kaminsky in Saturday’s game, Cauley-Stein will be the most important defender on the floor. Kaminsky can attack inside and outside -- he’s shooting 42 percent from the 3-point line while averaging 18.7 points and 8.0 rebounds per game this season. Dekker has upped his NBA draft stock with his performances in the NCAA tournament, including a 27-point burst against Arizona in the Elite Eight.

Saturday, April 4 Schedule (Times Central)

(7) Michigan St vs (1) Duke, 5:09 p.m.

(1) Wisconsin vs (1) Kentucky, 7:49 p.m.