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The top seed in the East Region and in fact, the entire NCAA Tournament, the Duke Blue Devils face the fifth seed in the East Region, the Red Storm of St. John’s tonight in Washington, D.C. in what promises to be a good old-fashioned rock fight.
Duke arrives in our nation’s capital riding a 13-game winning streak. Most recently, the Blue Devils dominated TCU in the second half and an 81-58 victory over TCU. Cameron Boozer continues to make his case for the Naismith Award as the best player in college basketball. The freshman carried the Blue Devils to their surprisingly hard-fought win over Siena and picked up a double-double in that win over TCU.
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St. John’s is in the Sweet 16 for the first time this century following Dylan Darling’s last second heroics in the Red Storm’s thrilling 67-65 win over Kansas last weekend. The Big East champs have won 21 of their last 22 games. Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor’s value to St. John’s is immeasurable. His presence on the court for the Johnnies is of even greater importance than Boozer’s is to the Blue Devils.
Both these teams win with their defense. Each owns the paint practically every night. As big and physical as St. John’s is, the Blue Devils are bigger now that Patrick Ngongba III is back in the lineup. Assuming neither team controls the painted area, the next key will be pressure around the perimeter and on the ball. This has been St. John’s calling card and with Caleb Foster (foot) still sidelined, Duke’s ability to handle this pressure is certainly something to watch.
Neither team has shot the ball particularly well thus far. Isaiah Evans has gone 6-14 from the field and 2-8 from deep in each of Duke’s two tournament games. Ian Jackson is 7-17 and 3-9 from beyond the arc for the Johnnies. One of those two players needs to be more efficient on the offensive end for their team to survive and advance.
Lets take a closer look at tonight’s matchup and take into consideration lineups,…
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Publish date : 2026-03-27 13:17:00
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