Duke Blitzed By Arizona, Season Ends In Sweet 16

Four minutes and 28 seconds.

That’s all it took to end the season for Duke.

During those 268 seconds a six-point lead turned into an 11-point deficit as Arizona went on a 19-2 run and killed the will of Duke. After being punched in the face with a 17-point swing the Blue Devils looked lost and never really played hard enough to get back into the game.

“They just got on a real roll. When you get on a roll, you have more energy than the other guy,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We had no stop for them, and you kind of get overwhelmed there for a little bit. They knocked us back and got that double-digit lead.”

In that stretch Arizona shot 7-of-10, including three lay-ups and a dunk. They also pulled down every rebound on both ends of the floor. The Wildcats had eight (5 defensive, 3 offensive) and the Blue Devils had zero. Duke also lost the game battle of the boards, 40-27.

“After we lost the lead, I think everyone got a little rattled,” Kyrie Irving said. “We tried to settle down, but by then it was too late.”

It was too late, even though there was still 12 minutes left in the game when the Arizona run ended. Duke had no answer for the quickness of Arizona, who shot 54% from the floor, including 9-of-15 from 3-point land. The last 10 minutes of the game it looked like Arizona was running a practice, lay-up followed lay-up, with the occasional dunk thrown in to ignite the Wildcats fans.

The loss in the Sweet 16 was not the way seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith wanted to end their careers. Especially Smith, who was held to just 8 points (3-of-14) and turned the ball over six times.

“The way they played in the second half, they should win it all,” Smith said. “Williams is a monster. They hit us full force, and kept hitting. They did everything right, and we did a ton of things wrong.”

Without the ball in his hands Smith looked lost on the offensive end and went 16 minutes in the second half between field goals. During that scoreless stretch Smith went 0-for-6 with four turnovers.

Not all of Smith’s problems can be blamed on the fact that the offensive was running through Irving, some of it was the way Arizona played defense against him. Smith was harried all game and joins the list of Duke players who went out with a whimper, instead of a bang in their final game.

Singler, on the other hand, hit his season average of 18 in his final game and leaves Duke with a 125-23 record and a National Championship. The Blue Devils were led by Irving who scored 28 points in what might be his final game in a Duke uniform, but he did leave the door open.

“I could definitely see myself wearing a Duke uniform again,” he said. “I don’t want to take it off right now.”

Duke v Arizona Preview

First up for the Duke Blue Devils are the Arizona Wildcats.

To move on to the Elite Eight Duke must stop Derrick WIlliams, the best player in the country you’ve never heard of. If it wasn’t for Jimmer, he would have been the talk of the West coast and a reason to watch a college basketball game AFTER SportsCenter during the year.

The problem for Duke is that they have no one inside who matches up with WIlliams. He is too quick and has too much range to be guarded by Ryan Kelly or the Plumlees, so that means the job of defending him will fall to Kyle Singler.

It will be Singler’s toughest job of the season, even tougher than when he had to guard Harrison Barnes.

Williams is bigger and stronger than Barnes, and he may be bigger and stronger than Singler. It should be easy for Singler to cover him out on the perimeter, but when he goes inside, Duke will most likely double-team him and force him to give up the ball.

The Arizona sophomore averages over 19 points a game and is the only Wildcat who scores in double digits, he also has twice as many turnovers than assists. So Duke will look to try to contain him and force him to give up the ball, if they do then they have a real good shot at moving on to the Elite 8.

Another test for Duke will be making threes against Arizona. The Wildcats rank nationally in the top 10 of 3-point field gold percentage allowed and for Duke to move on, they need to make their threes. Something they had trouble with against Michigan in the round of 32 as they shot just 5-of-20.

The good news for Duke is that they present plenty of problems for Arizona, namely the back court of Nolan Smith and Kyrie Irving. Coach K has said that Irving will see ‘significantly more minutes’ going forward in the NCAA Tournament, something that many Duke fans, myself included, thought was near impossible just a month ago.

Smith was his normal spectacular self, dropping 24 on Michigan, after playing barely more than a half in their opening round game. The ACC Player of the Year will need to continue the strong play against Arizona. Irving, on the other hand, didn’t score from the field until the last two minutes of Michigan game, yet he was still effective. His basket may have been the most important of the game.

Duke also has the experience factor in their corner. The defending National Champions have two seniors in the starting lineup, while Arizona didn’t even make the NIT last year. There is also the coach factor. Coach K has four rings, while Sean Miller is the only coach in this bracket without a National Championship.

Another stat that shouldn’t be over looked is that Arizona was 5-6 against teams in the NCAA Tournament, while Duke was 10-3. Arizona is 0-2 against teams still alive, while Duke is 4-2.

If Duke is able to contain Williams and they make their threes than the Blue Devils will move on and play again on Saturday. Duke by 12.

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