Duke Basketball: Tough matchups for the Blue Devils in the East Region

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - MARCH 16: Teammates RJ Barrett #5 and Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils react after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men's ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

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CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – MARCH 16: Teammates Zion Williamson #1, RJ Barrett #5, and Tre Jones #3 of the Duke Blue Devils react after defeating the Florida State Seminoles 73-63 in the championship game of the 2019 Men’s ACC Basketball Tournament at Spectrum Center on March 16, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Duke Basketball earned the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament and look to be on the path of being healthy. Here are some teams they won’t want to face.

The Duke Blue Devils had a strong regular season that was plagued by injuries to end the season. The Blue Devils finished the regular season with a (26-5) overall record and (14-4) record in the conference. Zion Williamson missed the last six games of the regular season after suffering a knee injury versus North Carolina. They went (3-3) in the last six games with Williamson out with his knee injury. The Blue Devils also lost starting center Marques Bolden to a knee injury suffered in the last game of the regular season. Bolden was seen practicing on Tuesday and could be expected to make his return as soon as the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

After limping to the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils got excellent news that Williamson was going to play in the tournament. Williamson was outstanding in his return as he scored 29 points and finished a perfect 13-for-13 from the floor versus Syracuse. The Blue Devils went on to beat North Carolina and Florida State to win the ACC tournament.

After winning the ACC tournament, the Blue Devils were rewarded with the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament. The ACC tournament run placed them in the East region and playing in South Carolina. The East region shaped up to include the following matchups:

(1) Duke vs. (16) North Dakota State
(8) VCU vs. (9) UCF
(5) Mississippi State vs. (12) Liberty
(4) Virginia Tech vs. (13) Saint Louis
(6) Maryland vs. (11) Belmont
(3) LSU vs. (14) Yale
(7) Louisville vs. (10) Minnesota
(2) Michigan State vs. (15) Bradley

The Blue Devils may have the best odds to win the championship, but they still have flaws in their game that make them capable of an upset. Here are a few teams that the Blue Devils don’t want to face in the East region.

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