No. 1 Gonzaga and No. 5 Duke delivered in a heavyweight fight as the Blue Devils beat the Bulldogs 84-81 in front of a sold out crowd at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
Duke was lead by freshman sensation Paolo Banchero who scored 21 points, five rebounds and two assists while battling cramps in the second half which he only score one point. Wendell Moore was the star of the game who finished with 20 points, six assists and six rebounds.
Julian Strawther lead Gonzaga with 20 points and ten rebounds. Drew Timme had 17 points, five assists, and five rebounds. However he got into foul trouble which affected the Bulldogs. Freshman Chet Holmgren had 16 points and seven rebounds. Gonzaga 32-game regular season winning streak came to an end last night.
“It was really a players game…. It was just a big-time game,” Krzyzewski said. “And I love it. I just love being a part of it and seeing how players take over. The players won tonight for me. They took me across the finish line.”
Drew Timme stated “It was two Goliaths going at it… We felt like we had a chance to win that game at the end and it was self-inflicted, we feel like… We’re going to take the challenge and we’re excited for what the rest season has for us.”
Last night’s game with an attendance of 20,389 was a record setting to watch a single game in the state of Nevada. This game was one of the most hyped regular-season college basketball games in recent memory. It was great to have a March Madness flavor in the month of November.
