MY ACCOUNT
Legendary Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is through to the Sweet 16 at his last March Madness before retirement.
‘Coach K’ is in his 42nd season in charge at the school, and is searching for his sixth national championship.
His Blue Devils took on Michigan State and fellow Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame coach Tom Izzo in the second round on Sunday, pulling away late to win 85-76.
Duke boasts three likely first round picks in this year’s NBA Draft, and they showed exactly why, headlined by potential number one overall Paolo Banchero.
Banchero, who stands at six-foot-10, showed his all-round game, hitting tough pull-up jump shots, flashing an advanced interior passing game and defensive mobility to finish with a team-high 19 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 2-of-5 from long range, and an equal team-high four assists.
Fellow NBA prospect, seven-foot centre Mark Williams, dominated in the paint, finishing off 7-of-9 field goal attempts to score 15 points with his eight rebounds, five blocks and two steals.
While Banchero is in the mix for the number one pick, the favourite is two-seed Auburn’s Jabari Smith, and the Tigers were on the receiving end of the day’s biggest upset.
The six-foot-10, smooth-moving and smooth-shooting wing had a night to forget against the 10 seed Miami Hurricanes, shooting 3-of-16 from the field in Auburn’s 79-61 loss.
Smith’s Auburn teammate Walker Kessler will also hear his name called in May’s draft, but the centre who had the best shot-blocking season of any player this century was just as ineffective.
Kessler still finished with two blocks, but missed all six of his field goal attempts in a performance that will be held against him by NBA teams who believe a centre needs real offensive value to warrant a first round pick.
