All good things must come to an end and Duke’s journey this season ends a few wins shy of the goal with the Kansas Jayhawks moving on to the final four. Kansas moves on with an 85-81 victory over the young Blue Devils in an overtime classic.
In the end Kansas was able to get stops against the Blue Devils in the waning moments of regulation and overtime. Rebounding, which is usually a strength of Duke all season long was a glaring weakness against Kansas with freshman Wendell Carter Jr. saddled with foul trouble. Kansas out-reboudned Duke by a 47-32 margin and while they didn’t turn that into a significant advantage in second chance points it did limit Dukes ability to get them. Also Dukes inability to hit shots, which has haunted them so far this tournament was a big factor. Kansas hit 13 of 36 from 3 point range while Duke was only 7 of 29. A fifth foul picked up by freshmen Wendell Carter Jr. was a death knell for the Devils who were not able to recover.
In his final Duke game Grayson Allen scored 12 points for the Blue Devils, and nearly won the game in regulation at the buzzer but his shot went in and then out and then off the rim before spinning away to force overtime.
Next up for Duke will be working to finish off recruiting for the year and trying to cobble together a lineup for next year. Tentatively the roster looks like this but a lot can chance in an offseason for the good and the bad.
Tre Jones – Jodan Goldwire
R.J. Barrett – Alex O’Connell
Cam Reddish
Zion Williamson – Jack White – Justin Robinson
Marques Bolden – Javin DeLaurier – Antonio Vrankovic
