The Kentucky Wildcats play the Connecticut Huskies on Monday in the 2014 NCAA Championship. Tipoff is at 9:10 p.m. ET. Watch the free live stream or find the TV schedule below.
Kentucky's freshmen starters stepped up together and got hot when it mattered most. After a shaky start to the season, Kentucky coach John Calipari has his team clicking on all cylinders. Freshman guard Aaron Harrison is one of the starting five who has stepped up in the tournament, making clutch three-pointers in the waning seconds of each of Kentucky's last two games.
His latest three-pointer, made with 5.7 seconds left, gave Kentucky a 74-73 win against Wisconsin in the semifinals and a spot in the championship.
"The biggest thing is he's not afraid to miss," Calipari told the Associated Press. "He's OK with it. He's comfortable in his own skin. ... If you're going to make those kind (sic) of shots, you absolutely cannot be afraid to miss them."
Connecticut isn't a Cinderella story, but their rise to the NCAA Tournament final is nonetheless impressive after academic troubles got them banned from the 2013 tournament. While some players transferred before last year's lost season, senior guard Shabazz Napier chose to stay.
Napier is reaping the rewards of his loyalty. He now has the chance to end his collegiate career with an NCAA championship, and his NBA draft stock certainly hasn't been hurt by the season -- he leads the Huskies in scoring (17.4), rebounds (5.9) and assists (4.9) per game.
Connecticut's key to winning is their defense, which coach Kevin Ollie acknowledged got them to Monday night.
"Hopefully we have an opportunity to fall back on our defense," Ollie said. "We have been doing that the whole year."
The TV broadcast will be on CBS. CBS is also offering a free live stream HERE.
You can listen to the live radio broadcast HERE.
