INDIANAPOLIS—Slam Dekker. Tyus Stones. Call them what you want now, because when the national championship boils down to the final minutes of regulation, they have proven that no matter what happens, they will leave you speechless.
Duke freshman guard Tyus Jones and Wisconsin junior forward Sam Dekker are two of the most clutch players in college basketball and with the pair set to clash in Monday's national title game, fans everywhere can only hope that the game comes down to the wire. Because when it comes to the bright-light moments to win a title, these two are the best in the business.
For Jones, there have been plenty of defining moments in his rookie season. From a six-point effort in the final four minutes to upset Wisconsin at the Kohl Center to a last-second triple to secure Duke's upset of then-undefeated Virginia to his corner 3-pointer against St. John's to deliver Krzyzewski his 1,000th win, he has earned his nicknames.
In fact, the Wisconsin performance—a 22-point effort in a hostile environment—went down as what he called his best game of 2014.
"That was my best game of the season early on in the season," Jones said. "That was just really a game that gave me confidence. I credit my teammates for that, they were putting me in good positions to score the ball so I could help set them up and make plays."
But his defining moment, the one where everyone sat up and recognized that clutch was just in his genetic makeup, came Feb. 18—the night he welcomed himself to the Tobacco Road rivalry.
Facing a seven-point deficit with just 90 seconds remaining, Jones took over, scoring six points on layups—one of which he finished through a bump from 270-pound big man Kennedy Meeks—and three more on free throws to send the game to overtime. The extra session saw the Blue Devils prevail after a miraculous comeback, 92-90. After the game, senior captain Quinn Cook said what everyone was thinking about Jones' late-game heroics.
"He's got cold blood, he's got cold blood in his veins. It's amazing to watch," Cook said.
But Jones is not the only cold-blooded player in Monday's game who lives for the crunch-time, remember-my-name shots.
"I think I’ve hit a few big shots in my years here at Wisconsin," Dekker said. "People get remembered for that stuff so I have a lot of confidence and I’m not going to shy away from any of that. I’ve been fortunate enough to hit down a few of those shots in my time.”
Although Kentucky guard Aaron Harrison—who nailed a trio of notable last-second shots in last year's tournaments—and the Wildcats were given the boot, they may have been beaten by the one team and player that can match their excitement.
If Wisconsin wins the tournament Monday night, Dekker is a runaway candidate for the tournament's most outstanding player award. The forward—who forwent a chance to play in the NBA after last season and returned to Madison, Wis., for his junior campaign—is averaging 20.6 points per game in the tournament and shooting a mind-numbing 64.4 percent from the floor.
Numbers like those are normally reserved for the Jahlil Okafors and Frank Kaminskys of the world—centers whose shot selection largely consists of short-range shots and layups. But Dekker is knocking down jumpers from all over the court in the tournament, as he is 15-of-30 from behind the arc.
And as good as the Sheboygan, Wis., native has been from the floor throughout each game, it is when he is knocking down those shots that is turning heads.
Against No. 2 seed Arizona in the Elite Eight, Dekker put the entire nation on notice in the final four minutes. With the Wildcats threatening the Wisconsin lead, the junior put the Badgers on his back, scoring 11 of his game-high 27 points in the final 3:36, including a three-point play and pair of triples after Arizona had cut the lead to seven and five. The final treys with 20 seconds left—and five on the shot clock—sealed the Badgers' trip to the Final Four.
As the man dishing out the ball, point guard Bronson Koenig said that when the game is on the line, it's no coincidence that the ball ends up in Dekker's hands.
"Me being the point guard and being the distributor, I just tell him that we need him to be aggressive and stay on the attack and that I was going to get it to [Josh Gasser] and have him kick it to him," Koenig said. "And he did what I told him to do. He stayed aggressive and went to the basket and hit some big shots for us last night and the past couple games."
The big shot "last night" Koenig is referencing is the one that killed perfection—it was against Kentucky that Dekker truly made his mark on this tournament.
With 1:44 remaining and the game tied at 60, the junior nailed a triple to put the Badgers up three—a lead they would not surrender—and on the ensuing possessions, drew a charge on Trey Lyles and converted 1-of-2 from the charity stripe. Then, with just eight seconds left in the ballgame, his contention on Aaron Harrison's 3-pointer forced the sophomore to air-ball the shot and give the Badgers the remaining spot in Monday's title game.
"Last night I had another chance with about a minute left to get us a lead and saw an opportunity present itself and I’m going to put those shots up no matter what," Dekker said. "I’m not going to be afraid of that moment. That’s something as a player you’ve got to love. You can’t shy away from those moments."
If fans are lucky and the two teams duke it out as is expected, Monday will provide Jones and Dekker with another one of those moments they love so much. If it does, we know which two players to look for—the only question will be which one has the ball.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.