Iona Basketball: Gales look to pull huge upset against Duke

Thursday’s NCAA tournament action is highlighted by a lopsided matchup on paper, but one in which Iona basketball is looking to shake up the entire field.

TV Schedule: 2:45 p.m. ET, CBS

Location: PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, PA.

For yet another year, the Duke Blue Devils are among the favorites to represent the Midwest region in San Antonio. Before they get hardly anywhere, though, they must pass their first test against the MAAC tournament champions, the Iona Gaels.

The Gaels come in with one strength: shooting. Iona led their conference in three-point shooting and free throw shooting. They aren’t afraid to throw up a low percentage shot whenever they get the chance. The problem for Duke is that they can make these shots.

Iona’s last loss was against MAAC regular-season champion Rider. They lost this regular season game by a final of 110-101, in regulation. This game embodies the way the Gales like to play, whether successful or not. They try to shoot and score as much as possible and hope they outscore the other team when the final buzzer sounds.

The only problem with this approach is that going up against mighty Duke is much more complicated. Sure, Iona will be able to hit some threes and maybe even shoot at a high percentage. But they won’t be able to truly compete with the Blue Devils unless they find some way to defend on the interior.

Marvin Bagley III is a star with length and size that will be the key to quieting Duke’s offensive attack. The undersized Iona frontcourt will need to figure out a way to limit the advantage the Blue Devils have in the paint and maximize their opportunities in the areas where they can compete with Duke, such as the perimeter and the free throw line.

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Exactly how the Gaels plan to do this is unknown, but they will be contemplating this up until game time without a doubt. In some ways, a team that is hot and cold like Iona could put even a No. 2 seed on upset alert, especially a team that has been hot lately, rolling through their conference tournament. But on the other hand, needing to knock off the far superior Blue Devils is a task that seems much too large for the Gaels.

It comes as no surprise that Iona has yet to defeat a tournament quality team this season. During the regular season, their best win is debatable and is likely either over Yale or Niagara. The Gaels did play a couple of challenging games during the nonconference season, traveling to Syracuse and Rhode Island. Quite possibly their most impressive result of the season is their six-point loss to the Rams.

Even though Iona enters the NCAA tournament winners of three straight, they are on a completely different playing field than the mighty Duke Blue Devils. This isn’t to take anything away from Iona’s MAAC championship and tournament appearance, but their chances against Duke are virtually non-existent.

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Duke will use their interior advantage to compensate for Iona’s strong shooting and force enough turnovers to make this one lopsided by the middle of the second half.

Prediction: Duke 94, Iona 69

Iona Basketball: Gaels look to pull huge upset against Duke

By Jonathan Goehring | Mar 13, 2018

Thursday’s NCAA tournament action is highlighted by a lopsided matchup on paper, but one in which Iona basketball is looking to shake up the entire field.

More from Busting Brackets