News

March Madness 2019: NCAA Favorite Duke Falls To Michigan State 68-67 In Elite Eight [VIDEO]

What may have been the sweetest victory in this year’s NCAA Tournament might be the toughest one for coach Mike Krzyzewski to stomach.

At 72 years old and with the age of one-and-done coming to a close, Coach K blew his shot at a sixth NCAA Championship with what may have been his most talented team.

Michigan State To Face Texas Tech In NCAA Final Four

In March Madness, your best asset against the favorites tends to be a good defense. Offenses can sputter out. Defenses rarely do because of the nature of the player a good one needs. No. 2 Michigan State embodied that. On Sunday, they held tight on defense and blocked Duke from advancing to the Final Four with a 68-67 win over the No. 1 overall seed.

Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!

A week of sports news in your in-box.
We find the sports news you need to know, so you don't have to.

Despite coming into the tournament with all eyes on them, Duke had one too many close calls before their elimination. Single-possession wins over UCF and Virginia Tech might have brought the team back to earth. Despite this, they remained the favorites. In the end, the season was a failure.

30 SPORTS FIGURES WHO DIED IN 2018 – TRIBUTE SLIDESHOW

However, Michigan State seems to have disappeared in the aftermath. Coach Tom Izzo wasn’t simply pushing a Cinderella squad another day closer to April. He built a better team. For 40 minutes, the Spartans seemed in control and led for 22 minutes. Most importantly, they led at the final buzzer.

While Duke was powered by one-and-done stars Zion WilliamsonRJ Barrett and Cam Reddish, Michigan State fell back on Junior guard Cassius Winston. Despite a lack of press surrounding him, the guard contributed 20 points and dished out 10 assists. Of course, it was the Big Ten Player of the Year who they entrusted with securing the win in the final seconds. Kenny Goins also made sure to hit a clutch shot to lock up the win.

While Williamson and Barrett contributed a combined 45 points and 20 rebounds, they showed the naivety of freshmen. Turnovers, bad shots and missed passes all came back to haunt them. The Spartans were able to score 15 more points than Duke off of turnovers, a large part of it due to the freshman who hadn’t ever gone deep into the playoffs. Now Duke faces the possibility that their team collapses, as Williamson hinted after the game.

The Spartans will appear in their 10th Final Four next week when they face No. 3 seed Texas Tech in Minneapolis.

Bill Piersa

Recent Posts

Paul George Exits With Knee Injury As 76ers Fall To 2-12 In Loss To Grizzlies

With their big three finally back in action Wednesday, the Philadelphia 76ers suffered another setback…

5 hours ago

VIDEO: Nike Pays Tribute to Rafael Nadal With 30-Foot Projection In Front of Eiffel Tower

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/tny--EWynOQ Nike paid tribute to Spanish tennis legend Rafael Nadal with a 10-meter-tall animated display…

22 hours ago

VIDEO: Rafael Nadal Gets Emotional Tribute as He Retires From Tennis

https://youtu.be/dtJoJz9hC48 Tennis legend Rafael Nadal bid a heartfelt goodbye to his devoted Spanish fans as he brought…

23 hours ago

VIDEO EXCLUSIVE: U.S. Olympic Fencer Eli Dershwitz Explains The Art Of Fencing

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/DQ9Rxhnuer4 U.S. Olympic fencer Eli Dershwitz shed light on the critical skills necessary in fencing…

2 days ago

Two Bears Offensive Linemen Return To Practice, Caleb Williams Desperate For Blocking

Two offensive linemen for the Chicago Bears returned to practice, a massive step in the…

3 days ago

VIDEO: UFC Heavyweight Champion Performs Viral Trump Dance In New York

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/s2g9t_33Myw President-elect Donald Trump received a warm welcome from Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Jon…

4 days ago