MBB: Duke 84, Gonzaga 81 Post-Game Thread

[uh_no]

We never had an actual agreement, but I'm pretty sure I owe CDu a pie out of principle. DM me your contact and we can work it out

I couldn't be happier.

[scottdude8]

No words besides WHAT A GAME.

[ClemmonsDevil]

Heavyweight bout. Wow.

[lmb]

To pull out a win essentially without Paolo for the entire 2nd half...WOW!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

FANTASTIC WIN! LGD GTHcGTH!

[AGDukesky]

Fantastic game and effort! Moore making a case for NPOY…

[DukieInBrasil]

great defensive pressure knocked Gonzaga back in the opening few minutes, but Duke kept its poise even after cramping issues threw us off stride for much of the second half.
great win!!!
Stud games by Wendell and Mark. Stud first half from Paolo!

[mike88]

Great win- every player had an important contribution- Mark Williams was the difference and Moore displayed outstanding leadership

[ChrisP]

Phew! What did Paolo get in the 2nd? Like 1pt? Great contributions at key times (John, Roach, Baker) and great performances by Williams, Banchero and Moore. Nice!!!

[Acymetric]

Great game. Both teams played hard, good guys came out on top. Can't ask for much more than that!

Oh, and the Heels looked good.

[peloton]

Way to go, Duke...impressive win against a very good team! What a satisfying evening...great win for our guys against the Zags and the Pack beats the Heels on the gridiron.

[CoachJ10]

Going to be having nightmares about Mark Williams for a while. That block shook him.

Onions, Jeremy. Onions..

[ice-9]

Wow! That was a championship-worthy game!!

Williams was monstrous. He was so good this game, especially on defense. We would have lost this game by a lot without him.

Moore was our leader. He carried us in all aspects of the game.

Banchero was unstoppable the first half, but perhaps ran out of gas the second.

Keels doesn't look great on paper, but if you watch the game, his drives in the second half were critical when Moore, Williams and Banchero were out. His defense was great.

Roach didn't have the best shooting night, but he made key baskets down the stretch. How good would this team be if he was hitting shots?

This Gonzaga team is really really good. Easily deserving of all the accolades. So is this Duke team though. If we can keep the team healthy this is going to be an amazing season.

[CameronDuke]

Duke +9?! Quit disrespecting Duke, Vegas!

What a win!

Coach K still has it!

Down goes #1!

Let’s go Duke!

[uh_no]

79 Possessions
106 raw O, 117 adj
103 raw D, 81 adj

Both phenomenal numbers.

[Skydog]

me in pregame thread:
Strangely I did feel better after seeing the UCLA game. To me the blowout was more of an indictment of UCLA than a statement about Gonzaga. Don’t get me wrong - the Zags played great. But I expected that. And when watching the game it looked like a lot of things the Zags were doing they won’t get away with against Duke. They obv have the advantage inside but overall we are more athletic than they are.

(Have to crow when I’m actually right.)

[dukefanSD]

Amazing game and an amazing win. It feels great beating Gonzaga.

[TheOldBattleship]

Unbelievable performance on the defensive end. Banchero and Moore fantastic on both ends. Williams was just astonishingly good defensively: he just blew up Gonzaga's entire offense in the second half just by being huge and unbelievably active/quick. Gonzaga is REALLY good, and we were legitimately better despite the foul trouble, the cramping issues, and the rough shooting nights for Keels and Roach (some credit to their defense, some to the rims: Keels especially had a couple just pop right out of the bucket).

So good to be able to rely on the defense when the going gets tough. It would have been so easy for us to let it slip away in the second half, and we hung tight the whole time. So proud of the guys. And it's great, too: we just beat the #1 team and yet clearly have a TON of room to grow for the rest of the year.

[DavidBenAkiva]

Best frontcourt in America plays its home games in Durham, North Carolina.

[Skydog]

Williams played so smart. Only 1 bad foul whole game. Plus that block that got called a foul should have been Top Ten on Sports Center!