Duke’s first campaign following the iconic coach Mike Krzyzewski’s retirement ended on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. The No. 5 seed Blue Devils lost a grueling battle 65-52 to No. 4 seed Tennessee. Olivier Nkamhoua led the Volunteers with 27 points, and they frustrated a Duke team that was heavy on freshmen by playing their customary aggressive defense.
Photo Cred: On3
In the Sweet 16 on Thursday at Madison Square Garden, Tennessee will take on either the No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic or the No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson. Duke finishes their inaugural campaign under coach Jon Scheyer with a 27-9 record. With a 10-game winning streak coming into the game, the Blue Devils had the second-longest winning streak in the country.
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During that time, they had also won the ACC Tournament and destroyed No. 12 seed Oral Roberts in the first round. Duke struggled to find a rhythm against the physical volunteers. The East Regional is now open for grabs after No. 16 seed Fairleigh Dickinson shocked the college basketball world by defeating No. 1 seed Purdue on Friday. If the Volunteers can defeat the winner of Sunday’s game between FAU and FDU, they would have a great chance to duplicate the program’s longest NCAA Tournament run by reaching the Elite Eight next week.
Photo Cred: The Spunn
