The hottest team in college ball has finally debuted in the sport’s largest event. It appeared that Duke, a contender for the national championship this year, would face a cakewalk in its first game against 16-seed North Dakota State, but they were off to a slow start in the first half until R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson took control.
As you knew they would.
Even in the 1-16 matchup, everyone wanted to see what Barrett and Williamson would do in the spotlight, and they did not disappoint. Combining for 51 of their team’s 85 points, the dynamic duo jolted Duke out of its slow start by making plays on the break — none more impressive than a trio of second-half dunks to punctuate a run right out of halftime.
Even in the first half, Zion was a force on both ends, and you were able to see just why Duke is so scary when Barrett began to heat up in the second half.
Ja Morant was the star of the tournament’s first day, leading No. 12 Murray State to an upset win with a triple-double performance, and he has seemed to cement his status as a consensus top-three pick in this year’s NBA Draft.
With performances like these, though, Williamson and Barrett are sitting pretty right there with Morant at the top of the draft board. Duke advances to play the winner of the UCF/VCU game on Sunday, and fans are definitely going to keep watching these guys as they continue what will probably be, barring a true shocker, a lengthy tournament run.
