March Madness: Duke’s season finished following South Carolina upset
By Stuart Gill
South Carolina upsets Duke in March Madness’ Round of 32 and is advancing to play Baylor in Sweet 16.
The long, dramatic roller coaster of emotion that has been this season for the Duke Blue Devils has come to a close. The Blue Devils jumped out to an early lead but failed to pull away from a scrappy South Carolina team playing in front of their hometown crowd in Greenville, SC on their way to an 88-81 loss in the second round on Sunday.
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The first half was a grueling defensive battle in which the Gamecocks forced Duke into 13 turnovers, but only managed to score 23 points themselves. Using a full-court press on the first inbounds pass, South Carolina made sure Duke’s ball-handlers were uncomfortable wherever they received the rock. Each of Duke’s starters committed at least one turnover and Amile Jefferson, Jayson Tatum and Frank Jackson all made three of their own. Their sloppy play resulted in only 17 field goal attempts in the first half, 18 less than the Gamecocks.
South Carolina was unable to capitalize on their opportunities, though. Sindarius Thornwell started out hot from the floor but ended up hitting just three of his first 10 attempts. As a team, the Gamecocks made just 20 percent of their shots. They aren’t a strong 3-point shooting team, and they had a surprisingly difficult time getting to the rim due to an energized performance from Amile Jefferson. The Blue Devils’ center recorded his fifth block just 12 minutes into the game. Duke headed into halftime with a seven-point advantage.
Things changed coming out of the break, though. A Chris Silvia dunk with 15 minutes to go gave South Carolina the lead at 39-38, and when Luke Kennard drained a three, Thornwell was quick to respond with one of his own. From then on the Gamecocks seemed to control the tempo of the game. Their pressure continued to wear on the Duke backcourt and their rim protection kept the Blue Devils on their heels. They were also closing out with efficiency, keeping Duke from retaking the lead with outside shooting.
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Duke’s struggles were intensified by their lack of depth. With Matt Jones, Tatum and Kennard all in foul trouble, they were left without any offensive weapons to turn to for aggression down the stretch. South Carolina also proved that they are a team that deserves to be in the Sweet 16. Their intense defense will keep them in games against better teams and allow them opportunities to push their luck deeper into March.