College basketball’s most potent 1-2 punch, Zion and RJ couldn’t deliver and No. 1 Duke heads home
Just one week earlier, as they had so often this season, Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett made Duke a winner.
Their baskets three seconds apart in the final 14 seconds propelled the nation’s No. 1 team past Central Florida on March 24 and closer to the Final Four, a destination the Blue Devils appeared destined for due to their immense talent.
Sunday night Duke’s tournament journey ended when one of the most potent 1-2 punches college basketball has seen in decades couldn’t land the final, deciding blow and the Blue Devils suffered a 68-67 loss to No. 5-ranked Michigan State.
Williamson’s final shot attempt in a delicious back-and-forth NCAA tournament regional final battle came with 1:40 to play. The dash through the lane to score put Duke up three points and gave Williamson 24 points in the game.
Duke (32-6) needed one more basket to claim the final available spot in the Final Four and, with Michigan State cluttering up the middle of the court to help contain Williamson, Barrett was left to take three swings at getting it.
He took to the lane but missed badly on a shot with 50 seconds left and Duke up 66-65.
After Kenny Goins put Michigan State up 68-66 with a 3-pointer with 35 seconds to play, Duke worked the ball around but couldn’t find a lane to the basket.
The Spartans utilized 6-8, 245-pound sophomore forward Xavier Tillman as a rim protector and lane-clogger with tremendous success.
“He played great, solid defense,” Williamson said. “And I think what they did was, I think when I catch it on the post they would bring two or three defenders, so I wouldn’t be able to do a spin. It was great defense obviously.”
So Barrett launched a 3-pointer that misfired with 12 seconds left. A scramble for the rebound resulted, after a replay review, with Duke gaining possession with 8.7 seconds left.
Michigan State made sure Williamson couldn’t get open, so Barrett received the in-bounds pass. His drive to the basket was halted when Aaron Henry fouled him on a shot attempt.
With Michigan State up 68-66, Barrett missed the first free throw and, while trying to miss the second, made it anyway.
That left Duke a point short and, with Duke still with fouls to give, Michigan State was able to inbound the ball to guard Cassius Winston, who dribbled out the clock.
With that, Duke’s season was done.
Williamson scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, yet another in a series of tremendous performances for the ACC player of the year.
Barrett scored 21 points, giving the duo that averaged a little more than 44 points per game this season a total of 45 in the season finale.
Yet the failure in the final minutes, after Duke appeared to have grabbed control of the back-and-forth game, leave their final strong performances hollow.
“This not going to the Final Four is obviously a huge disappointment for us,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
The suddenness of the season’s end after their failures to deliver Duke another win left Barrett stunned.
“Just that it’s over,” Barrett said. “Every day we came in, worked our butts off and we really gave everything that we had all season long. And we had so much success. So to see that happen in the end….”
With that Barrett paused before offering credit to Michigan State.
The Spartans certainly earned it. Only three teams beat Duke this season when Barrett and Williamson were on the court together in the game’s final minutes -- Gonzaga, Syracuse and Michigan State.
Williamson looked unstoppable so many times this season. Yet, as in Gonzaga’s 89-87 win over Duke in Maui last November, Barrett took and missed the game’s final shots.
The duo’s ability to coexist is a big reason why Duke won the ACC championship and, with 32 wins, posted their largest win total since the 2015 NCAA championship team won 35.
“It’s been like a movie,” Williamson said. “Lights, camera, action.”
Yet when Duke really needed a basket Sunday, Michigan State neutralized Williamson and Barrett couldn’t get the job done.
With both almost certainly headed to the NBA, their time at Duke is over with no new Final Four banner to hang in Cameron.
“I’m very upset, obviously, because we wanted to go to the Final Four,” Williamson said. “Congrats to Michigan State. They deserve it. They played a hell of a game.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2019 at 9:21 PM.