Duke struggles but gets first-round win
The best thing we can say about defending NCAA champion Duke is the team made the tournament in the first place.
After all, Kentucky went from 2012 titlists to a firstround NIT knockout a year later, and Connecticut did the same thing last season, a year after winning it all.
Duke avoided that fate and earned a No. 4 seed, but looked anything like a juggernaut in trailing at the half against the University of North Carolina Wilmington, before rallying for a 93- 85 victory on Thursday.
A lot of people picked Duke to go far at this tournament, largely thanks to legendary head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s nearly peerless track record and the presence of unstoppable stringbean forward Brandon Ingram, who might go No. 1 overall at June’s NBA draft.
They won’t be brimming with confidence after seeing the Blue Devils – known for being a dreadful defensive team – get scored on repeatedly by a Seahawks squad that is led by a walk- on, Chris Flemmings, including six makes on eight possessions at one point in the opening half.
Marshall Plumlee, the last in what feels a bit like an endless line of giant Plumlee brothers toiling for the school ( the first two currently play in the NBA) had a huge afternoon, scoring a career-high 23 points.
Duke will meet No. 12 Yale next, with the Bulldogs looking for another upset after stunning No. 5 Baylor 77-75 on Thursday for the first tourney win in Yale history.
It was the first appearance for the school since 1962 and Makai Mason made the most of it, scoring a career-high 31 points.
Not to be outdone, another No. 12, Arkansas-Little Rock, beat No. 5 Purdue 8583 in a rare double overtime contest that won’t soon be forgotten.
Senior Jo s h Hagi n s picked a fine time to play the game of his life, sealing a rally from 12 points down with under four minutes remaining by making a Steph Curry-esque shot from near midcourt to force the first overtime. Hagins later hit another miracle shot, a banker no less, to force the second extra period, then hit another and his team never trailed again.
“Don’t ever count the little guy out,” first- year head coach Chris Beard reportedly said afterward.
OTHER BATTLES
There were a couple of mild upsets early on, with No. 9 Butler topping No. 8 Texas Tech 71- 61.
The Bulldogs, galvanized by the recent deaths of a former school star and a child of an assistant coach, rode a huge second half from Kelan Martin ( all 11 of his points) and 23 from Kellen Dunham to improve to 22-10.
Butler, a school that made two memorable runs to the Final Four not too long ago, has now won at least one tournament game in eight of its past nine appearances.
In Iowa, Connecticut had to rally back from an 11-point deficit at the half to defeat No. 8 Colorado 74- 67. Huskies head coach Kevin Ollie remained undefeated at the tournament.
There was no upset in Denver, where No. 4 Iowa State clubbed No. 13 Iona 9481 to move on.
All five Cyclones starters hit double- figures as the team won for the first time in March.
No. 14 Buffalo f ought hard, trailing by only a basket at the half, but couldn’t quite do enough defensively to get by No. 3 Miami. The Hurricanes prevailed 79-72.
NO DOUBTERS
Top seeded Virginia demolished Hampton 81- 45 and the only scare for the Cavaliers was head coach Tony Bennett collapsing from dehydration just before the first half ended.
Fel l ow No. 1 Kansas lived up to its billing with a 105- 79 bashing of Austin Peay, with sophomore Svi Mykhailiuk scoring 23 points, t he most he has scored for the school.
In Iowa, Indiana showed off its stellar offence, shooting 64.9 per cent from the field in an easy 99-74 win over Chattanooga.