Tatum, Kennard & Jackson Each Score 20 in 79-72 Win

And what everyone was saying about this bracket or that bracket, we just said we’ve got a chance if we can keep winning with a chance to play against the best in the conference.

The freshman forward finished a spectacular week in Brooklyn with 19 points and eight rebounds for the fifth-seeded Blue Devils (27-8). We were fortunate enough to play in the semis in the Garden, we never got to the Saturday night. But Duke ended a six-year ACC title drought (the second-longest of Krzyzewski’s tenure) by showing its best form of the season and destabilizing its opponents with second-half surges fueled by defense and the perimeter shooting of guard Luke Kennard, named the tournament MVP.

Derrick Walton Jr. had 29 points, nine assists and five rebounds to carry eighth-seeded MI into the title game with an 84-77 victory over fourth-seeded Minnesota.

“We haven’t played our best basketball yet, we’re seeing things come together that will be huge for us in the (NCAA) tournament“.

Gavitt’s comments were revealing enough to adjust the projected bracket and move OR up to a No. 1 seed, replacing North Carolina. Now, they must contend with a frontcourt featuring 6-foot-9 IN transfer Hanner Mosquera-Perea (8.4 ppg, 43 blocks) and 6-8 Wichita State transfer Tevin Glass (8.9 ppg, 6.2 rpg).

“It’s a journey that’s kind of hard to describe”, Krzyzewski said, “and like I was trying to tell the guys, the kids in the locker room, I said, ‘You know, we’ve won a lot of these. Thank you. I thank my guys for doing it”.

“We’re used to Joel being out there at all times“, Britt said, “and I think that had something to do with our offense being stagnant”.

Notre Dame answered quickly to get back within two points.

Notre Dame couldn’t recover from there, and when the Blue Devils’ Matt Jones, who’s been in an bad shooting slump (he’d gone 132 game minutes without a field goal), drilled a 3-pointer from the right side with 48 seconds left to put Duke up 71-67, it was the exclamation point on the victory. “For me, it’s fun playing close to home, a lot of family and friends here”.

“I love my guys”.

“We just wanted to be special, we wanted to overcome everything we’ve been through throughout the entire season”, he said.

Dwayne Bacon topped No. 16 Florida State (25-8), seeded second. At one point in the second half, Duke committed five turnovers in two minutes – a botched dunk attempt by Harry Giles, then four turnovers by Grayson Allen. Beachem had 15 points, and Farrell had 13 points and seven assists. He scored eight straight points to bump the Irish up by five with 12:52 remaining.

Toward the end of the first half, Leonard Hamilton absolutely let his team have it.

Under NCAA travel regulations, Notre Dame would bus to Milwaukee. He can give you that spark, he can create plays and he can score the ball. “It’s time to move on to the next one, and we’re excited for it”. Credit to Notre Dame; they’re really good.

Freshman Jayson Tatum scored 19 points and tournament MVP Luke Kennard added 16, while Matt Jones’ only basket of the game was the biggest of them all as Duke found a way to win despite its own exhausted legs and a remarkable 29-point, nine-rebound performance from the Irish’s Bonzie Colson. It rimmed out. And, just a few seconds later, he attempted his first of two free throws.

Four days doesn’t make an entire season and Duke is not worthy of a No. 1 seed.