Kansas vs. Duke: NCAA Tournament game preview, schedule and prediction
A couple of blue bloods do battle with a ticket to the Final Four on the line. Will it be Duke or Kansas who moves one step further from a national championship?
TV schedule: Sunday, March 25, 5:05 p.m. ET. CBS
Arena: CenturyLink Center Omaha in Omaha, Nebraska
When the Selection Committee came out with the brackets for the 2018 NCAA Tournament, there were a number of high-profile matchups that could’ve come early. Unfortunately, many of the heavyweights failed to uphold their side of the bargain, falling much sooner than expected.
One of those was Michigan State, who lost to Syracuse in the Round of 32. They were supposed to have a highly anticipated rematch with Duke (29-7), who had to deal with the Orange themselves. It was a close game throughout, but the Blue Devils advanced. The margin of victory and competitiveness of the game was much closer than Iona and Rhode Island, Duke’s first two opponents.
Close games have been the norm for Kansas (30-7), who have dealt with tough teams such as Penn, Seton Hall, and Clemson to get to this point. The Big 12 regular season and tournament champs, however, have remained resilient and prevailed each time.
There is a ton of star power in this game, with star freshman Marvin Bagley III averaging 22 ppg so far in the Big Dance. He’ll be going up against Udoka Azubuike of the Jayhawks, who after missing the BIg 12 Conference Tournament and the first round game, has looked closer to normal, including a 14 point and 11 rebound game versus Clemson. He’s the only forward that can contend with Bagley, so his performance can prove to be decisive.
For Duke, they’ll have to find a way to stop Devonte’ Graham, who is capable of dissecting any defense he goes up against. The likely defender could be Grayson Allen, who is in his final season with the Blue Devils. He hasn’t had the greatest year scoring wise, but the former champion could have one more huge shooting night up his sleeve.
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This might be the two best starting lineups in all of college basketball, so all 10 players will have to have a good night for their team to advance. Both teams are going to push the tempo of the game, so which team goes on a run late will win this game.
Prediction: Duke 87 – Kansas 83