The final score of yesterday’s bout was 15-12 in Duke’s favor. It was not until there were less than three minutes remaining in the game that they were able to play toss-the-ball-don’t-stall. For that reason, amongst many others, I feel Denver could have and should have won.
Duke and Denver went back and forth all day while still controlling some possessions and producing quality offensive opportunities for both teams. The defenses were on target and the Pioneers fought tremendously to make up for their small sizes compared with Duke’s skyscrapers.
Denver put the hurt on Myles Jones who was forced to endure many double- and triple-teams, constant checking, and small players continuing to body up on his attempts to reach the cage.
Jeremy Noble found ways of maneuvering around the Blue Devils’ challenges against him.
Here’s where Denver fell short: taking shots.
They had numerous opportunities to, at the least, throw a shot towards Luke Aaron. Make him stay on his toes. Instead, they would run the ball around to X and try again. Denver wasn’t shooting through defensive sticks, only around them.
At the end of the day, the two teams are surprisingly comparable in shots on the day: Denver had 36 and Duke had 38. Think about that: Denver lost by three goals and was behind two shots. If they had made up for that deficit in shots, not only would they have been ahead statistically but quite possibly by winning the game.
Personally, I was pulling for Denver. It would have been nice to see a fresh matchup with Denver and Notre Dame, two western teams playing their championship on the east coast.
Duke played phenomenally, as did Denver. This was one of the most exciting games thus far this season. If you missed it, I hope you recorded it on TV.
Final:
DUKE 15
DENVER 12
(My prediction, as well).
