Duke’s defense came up big to start its NCAA tournament run right
Duke made things easy for underdog North Dakota State early in their NCAA tournament game Friday night.
On offense, the Blue Devils made few passes on their possessions before attempting a jump shot. Most of them missed.
After the 16th-seeded Bison built a pair seven-point leads, though, the top-seeded Blue Devils used their defense to right a game that was heading in the wrong direction.
“Once you get behind,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “there’s the confidence level of the other team and the pressure of the game. I thought our defense then picked up for the rest of the game after about 10 minutes.”
That was more than enough for the Blue Devils, far superior talent-wise to the Summit League champion Bison, to turn that deficit into a lead and roll to an 85-62 first-round win.
This aspect of Duke’s game separates it from past Blue Devils teams that suffered losses to lower-seeded underdogs in March.
Remember little Lehigh? The Hawks turned the ball over just eight times while beating Duke 75-70 in a 15 vs. 2 seed upset in Greensboro seven years ago.
Two years later, 14th-seeded Mercer carved up third-seeded Duke with 16 assists on 21 made field goals while also committing just eight turnovers against the passive Blue Devils defense in a 78-71 upset win at Raleigh’s PNC Arena.
Ok, ok. That’s enough of the nightmare stuff for Duke fans.
But what those games display is how important defense is for a team hoping to win a national championship.
Duke (30-5) entered the NCAA tournament No. 5 in the country in KenPom’s defensive efficiency metric, allowing just 88.4 points per 100 possessions (.884 per possession).
North Dakota State finished at .873 per possession as the Blue Devils moved to the NCAA tournament second round Friday night.
After leading 14-7, the Bison scored just once on its next 14 possessions. That included 1 of 8 shooting with six turnovers. Two of those turnovers were shot-clock violations as the Blue Devils suffocated their upstart foe.
“That’s Duke,” Bison coach David Richman said. “The length and athleticism is something that we don’t see. You have to experience those things. You get sped up.”
North Dakota State hit 36.7 percent of its 3-pointers this season, including 45 percent (9 of 20) while beating N.C. Central 78-74 in a First Four game on Wednesday night.
Duke limited the Bison to 2 of 15 shooting on 3-pointers in the first half. They finished 8 of 29 (27.6 percent) for the game.
“Sometimes you get a little bothered by their length and athleticism, but you’ve just got to prepare for that and shoot your shot,” Bison guard Tyson Ward said. “You can’t be overthinking sometimes. I think that’s what kind of happened a little bit. Overthinking really might have affected our shot a little bit.”
That’s what the Blue Devils hope to do from here on out over the next five wins they seek to win the NCAA championship. On 3-pointers or shots inside the arc, the Blue Devils want teams to feel their presence.
Duke leads the nation in blocked shots with 6.8 per game. The Blue Devils are No. 3 nationally in steals (9.5 per game).
Duke had seven blocked shots and six steals and the Bison finished with 13 turnovers.
Duke will play better offensive teams, armed with higher-level athletes, as the tournament progresses. Its defense will play a key role in how far its tournament run lasts.
In the first game against North Dakota State, it was that defense which put the Blue Devils on the path to victory.
This story was originally published March 22, 2019 at 11:16 PM.