The Duke Blue Devils have already guaranteed that whatever happens the rest of the way in the 2024 NCAA Tournament, their run will be better than what they had in 2023 when they struck out of the Big Dance in the second round via a loss to the Tennessee Volunteers.
“None of us forgot about what happened in Tennessee in the second round,” Duke star Kyle Filipowski said after the Blue Devils’ 93-55 victory over the James Madison Dukes on Sunday, per the Associated Press (via ESPN). “I think we learned our lesson last year,” he added.
The Duke Blue Devils Are Headed To The Sweet 16 Round
The Blue Devils leaned on a balanced attack in the James Madison game which they were expected to win. Jared McCain led Duke with his 30-point explosion. McCain was especially deadly on the perimeter, as he sizzled with eight made 3-pointers on 11 tries from deep and finished with an overall 10/15 shooting clip. Filipowski was not too shabby either with his 14 points, while Tyrese Proctor and Jeremy Roach had 18 and 15 points, respectively.
Duke’s defense also constricted James Madison from staging a meaningful comeback attempt with the Dukes shooting just 38 percent from the field while turning the ball over 14 times.
After exorcising their second-round demons, though, the Blue Devils will be in for a difficult matchup in the Sweet 16 round against the No. 1 seed Houston Cougars on Friday in Dallas.
The Cougars are coming off a thrilling 100-95 overtime win over the Texas A&M Aggies on sunday.
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