Duke Demonstrates Dazzling Display of Determination, Wins NCAA National Championship
Duke had a very tough road to get as far as they did, having to play teams like Gonzaga University and Michigan State University. However, they always showed their determination and won at the end of the game. After a stunning defeat of the then flawless University of Kentucky, the University of Wisconsin knew they had their hands full when they found out they would be playing Duke for a winner-takes-all game.
The national championship game pitted two incredible coaches and two superstar players against each other. For Duke, Mike Krzyzewski with projected number one overall draft pick and Jahlil Okafor versus Bo Ryan and the AP Player of the Year for the 2014-15 season, Frank Kaminsky for Wisconsin.
This was a hard fought game with plenty of twists and turns. There was an unsung hero, bad referee calls on both sides, and plenty of lead changes throughout the entire game.
Duke’s Grayson Allen stepped up big in his first ever national championship game. Allen scored 16 points in 21 minutes off of the bench and provided a spark that infected the entire team late in the game. With Okafor in foul trouble for most of the game, Duke looked for a player to fill his very big shoes, and Allen, while not the tallest player in the world, definitely packed the punch Duke needed to overcome a nine point lead in the second half.
Kaminsky and Sam Dekker did all they could for Wisconsin, combining for 33 points and 20 rebounds, but they couldn’t stop the well-coached Duke machine. Tyus Jones led all scoring with 23 points while Amile Jefferson and Justise Winslow anchored the defense with three blocks each.
It was an extremely tough game throughout, but Duke proved to be the better team winning 68-63, and that was all she wrote. The tournament surely did live up to its name by giving us an extremely enjoyable late-March to early-April.
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