NCAA Tournament 2019: Top takeaways from Round of 32 games

NCAA Tournament 2019: Top takeaways from 2nd half of Round of 32 games

By Brian Rauf | Mar 25, 2019

COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA - MARCH 24: Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils celebrates with his teammates after defeating the UCF Knights in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images) /

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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA – MARCH 24: Tacko Fall #24 of the UCF Knights blocks Zion Williamson #1 of the Duke Blue Devils during the second half in the second round game of the 2019 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Colonial Life Arena on March 24, 2019 in Columbia, South Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

3) Duke has flaws, but no one else has Tacko Fall

Speaking of flaws, Duke’s were on full display in that narrow escape against UCF. In the second half, the Knights essentially wouldn’t defend one of Duke’s perimeter players – usually Tre Jones – daring them to shoot while opting to have that defender sag in the paint to provide more defense around the rim.

And it worked. In one of Duke’s better three-point shooting games of the season (Cam Reddish, Zion Williamson, and R.J. Barrett all made multiple threes), Jones finished 1-8 from deep. The Knights took the lead using that strategy.

UCF went away from that defense down the stretch as they didn’t want to give up any open shots to anyone, but it was a successful strategy I think we’ll see other teams try to emulate.

Duke also showed they can be too Zion-centric late in close games. Despite having great players on the wing in Barrett and Reddish, there was a stretch where everyone deferred to Williamson and watched him play iso-ball. This was the time when UCF was able to overtake the lead and then extend it in the final minutes. It wasn’t until Reddish and Barrett got involved late that Duke started scoring (all three of Duke’s star freshmen scored in the final minute).

Those two flaws are concerning and show that this Blue Devils team is mortal, but don’t expect tight finishes to become a common occurrence with this group. They typically dominate inside with the elite slashing ability of their stars and that provides them with more than enough offense.

Of course, not every team they face as a 7-6 shot blocker in the middle to deter them.

Though he only finished with three blocks, Tacko Fall altered countless others and often deterred Duke’s players from attacking the back. The result was the most inefficient game the Blue Devils have had around the rim this year.

Duke won’t face a rim protector like Fall for the rest of the season. They’ll be fine. But the No. 1 overall seed did show all of their weaknesses.

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