NCAA Basketball: 10 most compelling 1st round 2023 NCAA Tournament matchups
Duke (5) vs. Oral Roberts (12)
The Blue Devils are playing their best ball of the season under first-year head coach Jon Scheyer, and their reward for winning the ACC Tournament is a 5/12 matchup with the owner of the nation’s longest winning streak, Oral Roberts. The Golden Eagles were perfect in the Summit League, dropping only early season games to St. Mary’s, Utah State, Houston, and New Mexico.
Duke has won nine straight of their own, culminating in a win over Virginia in the conference title game. Freshman forward Kyle Filipowski has led the way, averaging just under 20 points per game on 66.7% shooting in the ACC Tournament, while junior guard Jeremy Roach has provided a steady hand all season in the wake of Duke’s annual freshman exodus/roster turnover.
Tournament aficionados will no doubt remember Oral Roberts and high-scoring guard Max Abmas from the Golden Eagles’ Sweet Sixteen appearance two years ago. That team was a 15-seed, and though it lost half of its dynamic duo when forward Kevin Obanor transferred to Texas Tech following that run, head coach Paul Mills has reloaded to make the team more dangerous than ever.
Oral Roberts boasts a potent offensive attack, scoring 84.2 points per game, good for third in the country. Before you pin that on playing weak competition, KenPom has them rated as the 14th-ranked adjusted offense in the nation. Abmas carries the scoring load at 22.2 points per game, but his supporting cast makes it conceivable that another run is in the offing.
The Summit League champions average 14.8 assists per game, and five players average 37.7% or better from three. In fact, the Golden Eagles are behind only Chattanooga on threes made per game. This is a well-oiled machine, one capable of attacking a Duke defense that has its strongest reinforcements down low. The Blue Devils are stout in the paint thanks to freshman center Dereck Lively II, and he gets help from Filipowski and Northwestern transfer Ryan Young around the rim.
Oral Roberts isn’t just a perimeter-oriented team, though, as Duke will find out when they look up to see towering 7’5″ senior Conner Vanover take the court. Vanover is second on the team in scoring, first in rebounds, and he blocks 3.3 shots per game. The volleyball match between he and Lively will be fun to watch.
Duke has the talent and the momentum to make a deep run in the tournament. Free from the albatross of Coach K’s final season around its neck, this team has already taken leaps and bounds to put last year’s disappointment behind them. Of all legit national title contenders, though, they have the most difficult first round tilt. Oral Roberts is objectively really good. In fact, I like the winner of this game to move on to the Sweet Sixteen after beating the winner of Tennessee and Louisiana.