Despite Gray’s injury, Davis powers Gamecocks into Sweet 16

“G’s a tough kid”, Duke guard Frank Jackson said. It’s rare to see the blue Devils play without poise, but they simply got outplayed and outclassed by their opponent.

The Blue Devils, a popular pick for a deep run based on its fast finish, fell to SC 88-81 on Sunday night, capping a miserable opening weekend for the ACC. There are many different players and different factors that go into the reason that so many college basketball fans hate Duke.

“They had it rocking. They gave us [their] best shot and we’re very fortunate to have played on our home court in front of our fans that willed us to another victory”.

And when we all thought the East Region opened up for Duke after No. 1 overall seed Villanova got dropped by Wisconsin, the Blue Devils got steamrolled by a team that lost six of their last nine games before the start of the tournament.

That sound you hear is all the air coming out of this week’s East Regional at Madison Square Garden.

Chris Silva and Duane Notice pumped in 17 apiece and Rakym Felder provided 15 points for SC (24-10). The All-American finished with just 11 points on a paltry 1-of-6 from the field before fouling out in just 28 minutes of play. “We have the utmost faith in our team and our coaching staff that we can go out and beat anybody”. Blue Devils starting point guard Kyra Lambert, who was averaging 7.9 points, 3.8 rebounds and 3.6 assists, suffered a season-ending injury after logging only 10 minutes. Wilson went to the foul line for USC and hit both to put them up three with 15 seconds left.

SC pulled ahead 39-38 with 15:10 left.

The Gamecocks came out looking like the hungrier team in the second half, and lit it up from everywhere on the court.

Three Duke starters faced foul trouble early and its leading scorer sat on the bench with four while SC captured a 49-48 lead with 12:03 left, a lead that would end up sticking.

“They’re young, but they have a will to win and play with courage and are skilled basketball players and great kids who share”, Coach John Calipari said of his players.

For the game, they got five more offensive rebounds than the Blue Devils, leading to second-chance points. Asheville was competitive for the first five minutes before SC ran away.

It began to feel destined, especially after Dozier’s fall-away jumper with the shot clock running down danced all around the rim – and fell in, for a nine-point lead with 6:23 remaining. “We were down 10 and we needed to get to work”. And then we were in a lot of foul trouble. First, the Gamecocks had to feature that hard-nosed defensive-minded-mentality that Martin’s teams always feature.

“We came in the locker room at the half a little shocked, but Coach said we were in good shape only being down seven points”, Felder said. It should have been we win it or we go to overtime.

Turner Thorne and Staley both agreed Arizona State deserved higher than an eighth seed and this matchup shouldn’t have happened in the second round.

Yet the Big Ten already has sent three teams to the Sweet 16 with Purdue, Wisconsin and MI advancing.

“It just to give the team that extra boost”, he said.

Arizona State never wilted in playing No. 1 seed SC on its home floor in the second round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament.

Ohio State 82, Kentucky 68: Tori McCoy scored six straight points midway through the fourth quarter to help Ohio State withstand Kentucky’s furious rally from a 19-point second-half deficit and escape.