Duke, Michigan State Are Matching Up In The West Region Of The NCAA Tournament This Evening In Greenville South Carolina With A Berth To The Sweet 16 On The Line
Duke, Michigan State are matching up in the West Region of the NCAA Tournament this evening in Greenville South Carolina with a berth to the sweet 16 on the line.
Why?
Duke who is a 2 seed in the West Region in the NCAA Tournament advanced to the second round of the NCAA Tournament with a 78-61 win over Cal State Fullerton Friday in Greenville South Carolina.
In Duke’s 78-61 win over Cal State Fullerton who was a 15th seed in NCAA Tournament Duke held Cal State Fullerton to 3-of-18 from the floor to open the game.
Duke jumped out to a double-digit lead in the first five minutes and remained in control throughout. Duke led by 10 at halftime and pushed the margin to 20 midway through the second half thanks to strong shooting (.517 from the field) and aggressive defense.
Paolo Banchero who is a freshman for Duke recorded 17 points and 10 rebounds.
Mark Williams who is a sophomore posted an eye-popping stat line with 15 points, seven boards, a career-high five assists and five blocked shots. In a two-and-a-half minute stretch early in the second half, the 7-foot-1 center converted an and-one opportunity, grabbed two rebounds, blocked a Fullerton attempt in the paint and fed Banchero for a layup to help Duke boost its lead to 18.
Wendell Moore Jr., who is a junior added 13 points to go with six rebounds and six assists, Jeremy Roach who is a sophomore scored 12 , dished out five assists in his first start since Feb. 12. Freshman AJ Griffin finished with 10, knocking down a pair of timely three-pointers in the second half as the Blue Devils pulled away.
”according to an article on goduke.com”
Paolo Banchero had this to say about Duke’s performance in the first round of the NCAA Tournament!
I think we’ve locked back in on the defensive end. We still can improve though , just with rebounding and stuff but I think our mindset’s there and our willingness to go out and do it is there. So we just have to keep building’’
Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski who is coaching in his final NCAA Tournament before retiring before Jon Scheyer who is currently his Associate Head Coach had this to say about his teams performance verses Cal State Fullerton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Its a big improvement . We’ve been a really good defensive team but the last four games we were a really bad defensive team.
Wendell Moore Jr. had this to say about his teams performance against Cal State Fullerton in the first round of the NCAA Tournament!
It’s really just a step in the right direction . We’ve had a great week of practice . We got better this week in practice as well . So I definitely feel like everything we worked on in practice kind of translated into the game today . So we can keep building on what we’ve been learning , what we’ve been working on . I think soon we’ll reach our full potential”.
“according Stephen Wiseman’s article on newsobserver.com”
Michigan State who is a 7 seed in the NCAA Tournament barely beat Davidson 74-73 who was a 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament Friday in Greenville South Carolina.
In Michigan State’s 74-73 win Redshirt senior forward Joey Hauser tied his career high with 27 points, as Michigan State came away with a 74-73 win over No. 10-seeded Davidson.
Joey Hauser's 27 points came on a night where he was 9-for-12 from the field, going 4-for-6 from three-point land and making 5-of-6 free throws while adding eight rebounds and two assists. Two other Spartans reach double figures, as sophomore guard A.J. Hoggard scored 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting and senior forward Gabe Brown had 12 points along with three assists.
Michigan State led by one at the break (32-31) and the game was back and forth over the opening minutes of the second half until a jumper from junior forward Julius Marble II and a driving layup from junior forward Malik Hall gave the Spartans a 49-45 lead with 12:50 to play.
Michigan State had a chance to extend the lead after a missed shot from Davidson but could not convert and a 3-pointer from Hyunjung Lee keyed a 7-0 run capped by a layup from Luka Brajkovic with 9:27 left, forcing MSU to call a timeout down 52-49.
Both teams went scoreless for over two minutes before Hoggard found the basket on a jumper at 7:23, but layups from Sam Mennenga and Brajkovic made it a five-point game in Davidson's favor (56-51).
A 10-0 run by the Spartans flipped the lead to 61-56 with 3:38 remaining, as Hauser and Brown hit 3-pointers in between and pair of Hoggard jumpers, but Davidson halted the run with a 3-pointer from Michael Jones.
The Spartans made four-straight free throws after a Marble layup earned him a trip to the line, as Marble sunk his shot, while Hauser both of his shots after being fouled and Brown made the first of two shots with 59 seconds left to make it 67-59.
Foster Loyer had an old-fashioned three-point play and Brajkovic made a 3-pointer after two Hauser free throws to cut the lead to 69-56 at 00:37.
Late 3-pointers from Loyer and Lee proved not enough, as MSU made 5-of-6 free throws in the final 25 seconds to preserve the victory.
Despite allowing Davidson to shoot 44.4% in the first half from beyond the arc, MSU limited its own mistakes to just four turnovers in the opening 20 minutes to hold a 32-21 advantage at the break.
Playing in front of a largely partisan crowd of Davidson supporters – just two hours north of Greenville – the Spartans jumped out to an early lead, taking an 8-2 lead at the 16:57 mark after back-to-back 3-pointers from Hauser and Brown.
Davidson took its first lead of the game, 14-12, on a basket from Nelson Boachie-Yiadom with 11:58 left.
Tied at 19-all, MSU would use a 7-2 run to take a 26-21 lead after a layup from Hauser at the 7:10 mark, but Davidson responded with an 8-0 run of its own to take a 29-26 lead on free throws from Foster Loyer
The Spartan responded with jumpers from freshman guard Max Christie, junior guard Tyson Walker and Hauser in the span of 1:30 to take a 32-29 edge, while a Mennenga layup in the paint with 38 seconds left closed out the first half scoring.
“according to an article on msuspartans.com”
Tip off is set for 5:15pm from Bonos Secours Wellness Arena that is home to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL that is a mid level professional ice hockey league that is based in Shrewsbury New Jersey.
The game is going to be televised on CBS with Grant Hill, Jim Nantz, Bill Raverty commentating!
During his collegiate career playing for Mike Krzyzewski Hill’s statistics at Duke University revealed his remarkable range of talent. In four years, he averaged 14.9 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, while hitting 53 percent of his shots and 70 percent of his free throws. Hill can also score from long distance as he buried 39 three-pointers in his senior year. Upon graduation, Hill stood ninth on the Duke all-time scoring list, sixth in assists and fourth in both blocks and steals.
During his four years of college, Hill helped lead Duke to one of the best four-year records since the John Wooden-led UCLA teams of the mid-1970’s. The Blue Devils won consecutive NCAA titles during Hill’s freshman and sophomore years, and posted a program-best four year mark of 118-23.
As soon as Hill arrived at Duke in 1990, the high school All-American became an integral part of Coach Mike Kryzewski’s team. A starter in 31 games, Hill earned Freshman All-American honors and developed a big game reputation with a solid performance in the NCAA Tournament.
In his sophomore season, Hill established himself as one of the premier players in college basketball with his versatility. During the regular season, Hill moved to point guard for five games to fill in for injured starter Bobby Hurley. Hill averaged 16.4 points and 5.6 assists in those games, which included a victory over a Shaquille O’Neal-led Louisiana State University team.
Hill played his best in pressure situations. In the 1992 ACC title game, Hill came off the bench and shot a perfect eight-for eight from the field and converting four free throws for 20 points. In the regional finals against Kentucky, he scored 11 points with 10 rebounds and seven assists, including the incredible and memorable ¾ court pass to Christian Laettner which set up the winning basket. And, in the national championship game against Michigan’s “ Fab Five”, Hill scored 18 points and added 10 rebounds. Kryzewski credited Hill as being the best player on the court during the game’s last seven minutes.
Throughout his junior year in 1992-93, Hill’s name was touted continuously as a lottery pick. After coming off a summer of scrimmaging against the Dream Team as a member of the Olympic Developmental squad, Hill led the Blue Devils in scoring at 18.0 per game and earned the Henry Iba Corinthian Award as the nation’s top defensive player.
During 1993-94, his senior year, Hill displayed impressive leadership as he took Duke to the national championship game against Arkansas. Hill earned Southeast Regional MVP honors by tallying 69 points, 30 rebounds and 23 assists in four contests. However, the numbers alone cannot show how Hill thwarted Marquette’s hopes of an upset with 16 second-half points or how Hill limited Purdue’s Glenn Robinson, the nation’s leading scorer, to just 13 points in the regional final.
Grant’s Collegiate Career Highlights
1990-1994
Ninth basketball player to have his number retired by Duke University
2-time member of NCAA Championship team (1991 & 1992)
Eleventh all-time for points scored at Duke (1,924)
Ninth all-time in assists at Duke (461)
Sixth all-time in steals (218) and in blocks (133) at Duke
Unanimous First Team All-American (1994)
Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) 1994 Player of the Year
Finalist for the 1994 Naismith, Wooden, and RVA/USBWA National Player of the Year Awards
NCAA All-Tournament Team and Southeastern Regional MVP (1994)
2-time First Team All-ACC (1993 & 1994)
USBWA Second Team All-American (1993)
1993 Henry Iba Corinthian Award as nation's top defensive player
2-time nominee to the UPI Second Team All-American (1992 & 1993)
Selected to the 1992 NCAA All-Final Four team
Member of the 1992 USA Olympic Development team
Voted to All-American Freshman and All-ACC Freshman teams (1991)
Member of the 1991 USA National Team at the Pan American Games