Tag Archives: NCAA Tournament

Weekend recap: Duke in the NCAA Tournament

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Five Duke teams opened NCAA Tournament play this weekend, and all five survived the weekend with some dramatic wins. Here’s a look at how the Blue Devils have fare thus far in postseason action:

Freshman Case Matheis scored three goals to lead Duke past Loyola in a double-overtime thriller. (Eric Lin/The Chronicle)

Case Matheis scored three goals to lead Duke past Loyola in double-overtime. (Eric Lin/The Chronicle)

Men’s lacrosse: Freshman Case Matheis scored the game-tying and game-winning goals for the Blue Devils as seventh-seeded Duke defeated Loyola 12-11 in double-overtime Sunday at Koskinen Stadium. The Blue Devils advance to their seventh straight appearance in the NCAA quarterfinal, where they will face No. 2 seed Notre Dame Sunday at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

Women’s lacrosse: The Blue Devils got some sudden-death magic of their own this weekend. Duke battled Princeton in double-overtime without leading scorer Makenzie Hommel. Freshman Maddy Acton played the role of unlikely hero for the Blue Devils, scoring to give Duke a 10-9 victory in Annapolis, Md. Advancing to the second round, Duke took on eighth-seeded Navy and held Jasmine DePompeo—the leading scorer in the country—to no goals and one assists on seven shots, defeating the Midshipmen 10-5 to advance to the quarterfinals. The Blue Devils will take on top-seeded Maryland in College Park, Md. Saturday at noon.

Henrique Cunha remained perfect on the season in singles play as the Blue Devils won two NCAA Tournament matches. (Eric Lin/The Chronicle)

Henrique Cunha remained perfect on the season in singles play as the Blue Devils won two NCAA Tournament matches. (Eric Lin/The Chronicle)

Men’s tennis: Ninth-seeded Duke cruised through its first two NCAA Tournament matches, sweeping Coastal Carolina 4-0 Friday and following that up with a 4-0 dismantling of UNC-Wilmington in the Blue Devils’ second-round match Saturday at Ambler Tennis Stadium. Senior Henrique Cunha continued his winning ways, improving to 18-0 on the season in dual singles matches. Duke advances to the Round of 16, where it will square off with No. 8 seed Kentucky Thursday at 8 p.m. in Urbana, Ill.

Women’s tennis: Despite competing with just five players and being forced to forfeit a singles match and a doubles match, Duke found a way to survive and advance with two weekend wins in Lubbock, Texas. Strong doubles play helped the Blue Devils to defeat Ole Miss 4-1 in their first round match Saturday, but Duke ran into some trouble in the second round against 16th-seeded Texas Tech. The Blue Devils rallied from a 3-2 deficit to take a 4-3 victory Sunday against the Red Raiders and earn a spot in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 16. Duke will face top-seeded Florida in Urbana, Ill. Friday at 10 a.m.

Women’s golf: The Blue Devils dug themselves out of a six-stroke hole on the final day of competition to take the NCAA Central Regional championship in Norman, Okla. Duke shot a 12-under-par as a team on the final round to surge past its host, fourth-ranked Oklahoma, to take the championship by six shots. Senior Courtney Ellenbogen shot the best round of her career Saturday with a five-under 67 in the final round. Alejandra Cangrejo turned in the best three-hole performance of her career, finishing at a five-under-par 211 and tying for second place individually. The Blue Devils advance to the NCAA Championships in Athens, Ga. next week, where they will take on top programs Alabama and Southern Cal.

Check out all of The Chronicle’s NCAA Tournament coverage at www.dukechronicle.com.

Photos: Duke basketball returns to campus after Elite Eight loss

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A host of Duke fans assembled outside Cameron Indoor Stadium to cheer on the Duke basketball team after it returned to campus early Monday morning following its Elite Eight loss to Louisville.

Here are some photos taken by Jisoo Yoon of The Chronicle at about 1 a.m.:

Seth Curry at front and Alex Murphy in front get off the bus in front of cameramen and Duke fans:

Coach K, tie still on, toting his Nordstrom suit bag:

Redshirt freshman Marshall Plumlee gets off the bus:

The lights still on for fans outside Cameron:

#AskChron: Duke basketball vs. Michigan State

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We’re about three hours from Duke basketball’s Sweet 16 showdown with Michigan State.

If you missed them, here is our game preview and here is a profile of Coach K’s relationship with Tom Izzo.

We took a few minutes to answer a few minutes on Twitter. Here are some of the highlights:

Krzyzewski and Plumlee talk Michigan State and Collins

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Duke will leave for Indianapolis and the Midwest Regional Wed. afternoon following the team’s practice. Prior to the departure, head coach Mike Krzyzewski and senior center Mason Plumlee spoke with the media about the upcoming matchup with the third-seeded Spartans Fri. at 9:45 pm, as well as the report of associate head coach Chris Collins being hired as the head basketball coach at Northwestern.

Here are some highlights from the press conference.

Krzyzewski on the team’s health:

“We have recovered pretty well from the weekend in Philly. Usually, in the NCAA Tournament one week doesn’t go into another, but in our case it did because of playing so late. So we didn’t get back here to Cameron until 4:30 in the morning on Monday…Hopefully we’ll be in real good shape. We are healthy. Ryan and Seth are fine. We are going to practice here today and leave right after practice…”

Krzyzewski on the matchup with Michigan State:

“On Friday night, I think you are going to have two excellent basketball teams playing against one another on a huge stage—it’s that 9:45 game Friday night with really two of the best programs over the last long period of time. It’s a big-time game. Their guys are good. Our guys are good…It’s going to be an honor being in such an elite game.”

Krzyzewski on having played Michigan State the past two seasons:

“I think each team takes on a little bit of its own personality. The consistent factor for them is that they are an outstanding rebounding team. You all have the stats from the last two games how they’ve dominated on the boards. Pretty much when they go on the court they are the best offensive rebounding team on the court. And we have not done that. To me that is one of the key areas.”

Krzyzewski on the report of associate head coach Chris Collins being hired at Northwestern:

“I hope that’s what it turns out to be. That’s not a done deal yet, but I hope that it will be, and that’ll be terrific. And I’ll comment on it if that’s what happens.”

Krzyzewski on the potential distraction of Collins going to Northwestern:

“No. Our program and our infrastructure and everything is strong enough to deal with successes and when things go wrong too. You have to be good enough to handle that during this time—during anytime, but especially during this time.”

Krzyzewski on his relationship with Spartan head coach Tom Izzo:

“Great. We are very close friends. I really like him a lot. I think he’s a coach’s coach. He’s a guy’s guy. With all the success, he’s a humble guy. He’s okay if someone else does well, which a lot of people are not in any profession—just a hard worker, an honest guy. When he says something, you can believe him. There’s not a thing I don’t like about Tom. And he’s becoming a great friend over the years.”

Krzyzewski on Kelly’s recent offensive struggles:

“I don’t know if struggle is the right word. I thought he played a great game against Creighton. You cover McDermott and see how you do offensively…I thought really some of the fouls he had were crazy. He played a very disciplined tough game. You know he’s still not in the shape to play great—against Miami he shot great and against Creighton he played great defense and he handled the ball well…The longer we play, he has a chance to get in better shape. It’s tough to be a good scorer with tired legs.”

Mason Plumlee on watching Michigan State on film:

“Quite a bit. I actually watched quite a bit of their regular season games. Obviously they are very talented, athletic. I think their first five are really strong and they bring in a couple good guys off the bench too. We’re going to have to be ready for a physical game.”

Plumlee on the sense of urgency of the team, especially the underclassmen:

“I think they are more responsive when you get on them in practice and in games—more receptive to being yelled at, or positive stuff… I just think there’s like a no non-sense kind of attitude on our team right now. Whatever said isn’t personal, it just needs to be said. We just address things quickly. It’s just all about winning. We don’t have time for people’s feelings.”

Plumlee on Michigan State’s physicality and prowess on the glass:

“We just have to be smarter. I think if I in particular and Ryan we do our work early, we’ll stay out of foul trouble. I can’t imagine the game being called with that high number of fouls again.”

Plumlee on Collins likely leaving:

“He was the first person that recruited me. First of all, I think that’s a great, great fit for him. I mean I’m not a coach myself, but knowing coach Collins he knows that area very well. He’s a guy that players respect. I think just being around him in my first week of practice here I was like, ‘This guy knows what he’s doing, knows what he’s talking about.’ Obviously, he has had the experience. He’s been around great coaches his whole life. I think he’s going to fit into that mold very well…I’m just glad he hung around for me last year. He’s fun to be around just practice, in the locker room. He’s a fun coach.”

NCAA tournament update: West region

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This week, The Chronicle will look at the opening weekend in each of the four regions of the NCAA tournament in advance of the Sweet Sixteen. Today, we continue with the West region.

Sweet 16 teams:

No. 9 Wichita State vs. No. 13 La Salle, No. 2 Ohio State vs. No. 6 Arizona

How those teams advanced:

Wichita State—The Shockers cruised past eighth-seeded Pittsburgh in the Round of 64, knocking off the Panthers 73-55. Wichita State showed its strength defending the perimeter, allowing Pittsburgh to hit just 1-of-17 shots from beyond the arc and forcing 15 turnovers. The Shockers then shocked top-seeded Gonzaga in the Round of 32, becoming the first and only team to topple a No. 1 seed in this year’s NCAA Tournament. This time it was Wichita State’s long-range shooting on display, knocking down 14-of-28 from 3-point range in the game. Cleanthony Early and Ron Baker each knocked down four triples for the Shockers and led the team with 16 points apiece. The Bulldogs mounted a late comeback attempt, but Wichita State was able to knock down its free throws and advance with a 76-70 victory.

La Salle—This team may have been overshadowed by the success of 15th-seeded Florida Gulf Coast in the South region, but what a journey it has been for the 13th-seeded Explorers. La Salle had to fight its way into the Round of 64 with an 80-71 First Four victory against Boise State before notching a pair of two-point victories to earn a spot in the Sweet 16. A shooting barrage in the first half left fourth-seeded Kansas State down 18 points to the Explorers at halftime, but the Wildcats came storming back in the second half to take the contest down to the wire. Forward Jerrell Wright, who scored 21 points and added eight rebounds for La Salle, knocked down three free throws in the final 30 seconds of the game before the Explorers clamped down on defense to preserve a 63-61 victory. La Salle faced gritty guard Marshall Henderson and 12th-seeded Mississippi in the Round of 32. The action was back-and-forth throughout the contest but Tyrone Garland’s layup with 2.5 seconds to go gave the Explorers a 76-74 victory. Garland scored 17 points off the bench for La Salle and Ramon Galloway led the way with 24.

Ohio State—The Buckeyes had no trouble getting past 15th-seeded Iona in the Round of 64, running away with a 95-70 victory behind 24 points from forward Deshaun Thomas and a career-high 20 points and 10 boards for Sam Thompson. Ohio State’s Round of 32 matchup with Iowa State was not nearly as easy. The Cyclones lit it up from deep, knocking down 12 shots from beyond the arc in the contest, but the Buckeyes still had Iowa State on its heels in the second half. Poor free throw shooting and sloppy execution down the stretch allowed the Cyclones to claw their way back into the contest and take a 75-74 lead with 2:22 to play. With the score tied at 75 and the clock winding down, Ohio State point guard Aaron Craft isolated himself against a taller defender and launched a 3-pointer from the right wing. The shot found the bottom of the net with 0.5 seconds remaining and sent the Buckeyes to the Sweet 16 despite their subpar play in the closing minutes.

Arizona—With so many surprising teams in this year’s field, the Wildcats have flown under the radar during their run to the Sweet 16. Arizona seemed to come into its Round of 64 game as an underdog against 11th-seeded Belmont, but never allowed the Bruins to keep the game close. Mark Lyons led the Wildcats with 22 points and Arizona out-rebounded Belmont 42-15 in a convincing 81-64 win. Fresh off one of the biggest upsets of the Big Dance’s opening weekend, 14th-seeded Harvard awaited the Wildcats in the Round of 32. But Arizona assured that the Crimson’s Cinderella dreams would come to an end, opening the game on a 30-9 run and cruising to a 74-51 victory. Lyons was once again the main man for the Wildcats, pouring in 27 points on 12-of-17 shooting from the field. With two convincing victories, people are beginning to remember why Arizona was ranked in the top 10 for most of the season.

Biggest disappointment:

It’s hard to pick a single disappointment because the West region has been full of them thus far. Starting at the top, No. 1 seed Gonzaga was given a gift by the NCAA Tournament selection committee, being placed in a region close to home with arguably the weakest top four seeds of any region in the Big Dance. But the Bulldogs couldn’t survive the Tournament’s opening weekend, nearly becoming the first top-seeded team to lose to a No. 16 seed before falling to Wichita State in the Round of 32. Third-seeded New Mexico was a popular Final Four pick because of the team’s athleticism and the strength of the Mountain West Conference. But the pride of the Mountain West was shocked by Ivy League champion Harvard—a team that lost two of its starters before the season to an academic scandal—in the Round of 64. These two teams had lofty expectations heading into the Big Dance and were meant to show that mid-major powerhouses could make a deep run in this year’s Tournament, but won’t be making the trip to Los Angeles this week. Teams from power conferences fared no better in the wild West region, with fourth-seeded Kansas State and fifth-seeded Wisconsin both falling in the Round of 64 as well.

Region MVP to date:

Arizona’s Mark Lyons has been impressive, but the MVP of the West region thus far is La Salle’s Ramon Galloway. The Philadelphia native struggled in the Explorers’ final games of the regular season, but has turned it on in the Big Dance. In La Salle’s three Tournament games, Galloway is averaging 21.3 points per game and is shooting a 52.2-percent clip from beyond the arc. The 6-foot-3 guard has also played lockdown defense and been the Explorers’ emotional leader on both ends of the floor. He is a big part of the reason why La Salle is taking a trip to Los Angeles this weekend for the Sweet 16.

Previous regions updated: South, East

Duke Basketball vs. Creighton Live Updates

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Duke 66, Creighton 50 (FINAL): Curry and Sulaimon, combining for 38 points, finished off the Blue Jays, and Duke marches on to the Sweet Sixteen and a matchup against No. 3 seed Michigan State.

Duke 45, Creighton 34 (7:31 second half): The Blue Jays look sloppy on the offensive end, turning the ball over and failing to find McDermott, their only real threat thus far in the game. Duke, on the other hand, has started to find some rhythm. Curry converted a pair of free throws to join Sulaimon in double-digit scoring, and Jefferson scored from the block for his first points of the night.

Hairston fouled out with over nine minutes left to play, and now the Blue Devils might just have to hold onto their slim lead if their bigs all exit the game on fouls. But with Curry’s play on the offensive end—the senior now has 13 points—the Blue Devils might be able to survive even if all their interior players are gone.

Duke 39, Creighton 32 (11:54 second half): Duke came out of the timeout, and Kelly made a sweet dish in the lane to Cook for an easy bucket to restart the Blue Devil offense.

Hairston then proceeded to pick up his third and fourth fouls on the same defensive possession. Freshman Amile Jefferson came off the bench, and will likely see extended minutes the rest of the way.

Curry finally found his stroke from long range, benefitting from a loose ball situation that resulted in an open look from downtown and the senior guard’s first 3-pointer of the night. After an empty possession for the Blue Jays, Curry converted an easy layup off an inbounds play to put Duke up by nine. But Kelly quickly picked up his fourth personal foul, and now the Blue Devils could be facing a dire situation with their three bigs all close to fouling out.

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