Tyler Ulis describes pain of Wisconsin loss: "It hurt my soul."

Over eight years later, Tyler Ulis still isn’t over it. On paper, the Wildcats did enough. Kentucky shot 48.1% from the field, 60% from three and 90% at the line, only turned the ball over six times. Six players scored multiple field goals, three with five or more.

But it was Wisconsin coming out victorious on April 4, 2015, ruining perfection for John Calipari and the Cats. 40-0 dreams crushed, the historic win streak ending at 38 games. A chance to do something no one could ever top in college basketball, permanent residence in the record books.

71-64 final.

You remember where you were when it happened and how you felt when the clock hit triple zero. Odds are good you haven’t watched the replay since that day — beyond the nightmares, of course.

Ulis couldn’t, either. Not until last year, seven years after the loss. And it took a life-threatening car wreck for him to even do that, taking a trip down memory lane to revisit the good times and bad of his playing career after suffering a broken ankle and broken bones in his foot and wrists.

“I finally watched the game when I was on bed rest after my car accident,” Ulis told KSR.

What’d he think looking back at the heartbreaking loss all these years later? The former consensus first-team All-American and Bob Cousy Award winner admits he saw what most Kentucky fans noticed in real-time. And it certainly didn’t make him feel any better.

“My main thing is the shot clock violation and a few bad calls late on the other end,” he said. “I think Nigel Hayes made a shot that should have been a shot clock violation. There were questionable calls late.”

Ah, the Nigel Hayes shot clock violation — or lack thereof. Down 60-58, the Badger forward drove baseline and went up for a contested layup, blocked by Karl-Anthony Towns. He quickly caught the rebound and took it back up for the putback to tie the game with 2:40 to go, though replay revealed a clear violation with Hayes’ hands still on the ball. Rather than a forced turnover for the Wildcats, it was a momentum-shifting bucket and the ultimate turning point of the game.

2015 Final Four: Under three minutes left, Wisconsin’s Nigel Hayes scores on a clear shot clock violation against Kentucky. Basket counted. pic.twitter.com/592zinj9qU

— Bad Sports Refs (@BadSportsRefs) March 17, 2020

Sam Dekker hits a 3-pointer to take a 63-60 lead with 1:44 to go, followed by another free throw to go up four with 1:06 remaining. One and-one bucket for Aaron Harrison to make it 64-63 with 56 seconds to go, then seven makes at the line for Wisconsin compared to just one more for Kentucky. And that was that.

Ulis played 17 minutes that game, scoring six points on 2-4 shooting and 2-3 from deep while adding two steals and an assist. Devin Booker added six of his own on 3-6 shooting in 19 minutes off the bench. As for the starting guards, Andrew Harrison played 31 minutes, finishing with 13 points on 5-11 shooting with our assists and two rebounds. His twin brother added 12 points on 5-10 shooting in 27 minutes.

In a game of countless what-ifs, many fans wonder how things would have unfolded had Ulis and Booker gotten more run. The former had played over 20 minutes in 11 straight games with four over 30, just five games total before that point under 20. The latter had scored double figures in back-to-back NCAA Tournament matchups to get to that point, 20 games total of ten-plus overall. Both had been playing well.

Ulis may disagree with the late-game officiating, but he understands Calipari’s decision to roll with the Harrison Twins. After all, they did send the Wildcats to the title game against the same opponent the year before.

“I think Coach went with guys who took him to the championship the year before,” he told KSR. “It came down to a few possessions and it just didn’t work out in our favor. Those guys played really well, Sam Dekker, Frank Kaminsky, they played a great game. I wish we could’ve gotten that, but it didn’t work out. They had a good game and came out with the win.”

That doesn’t make the loss feel any better, even today. Wisconsin played well, but Kentucky was clearly capable of playing better and winning that game. That was a title team without the hardware to show for it. And that’s something those players unfortunately have to live with forever.

The pain, he says, is permanent.

“It hurt, obviously. It hurt really bad, especially watching it unfold and not being a part of it,” Ulis said. “That definitely hurt. But I guess that’s just how the story was supposed to go, you know? 38-0, you can’t beat it. 38-1, it hurt my soul, but we’ve just got to move on.

“It’s going to hurt forever, for sure.”