Michigan State’s Cassius Winston was a big key for the game as the point guard is an all-around great player, helping the Spartans win against No.1 ranked Duke. Duke led by 66-63 three points late, but Winston pulled up for a wide-open layup with 1 minute, 21 seconds left, increasing the score to 66-65. Kenny Goins then drilled a three-pointer with 34 seconds remaining. Then Duke had the chance to tie but Dukes RJ Barret missed one of his two shots leaving Michigan State to win. Zion Williamson had a game-high of 24 points and 14 rebounds, and Barret added 21 points. One of the big errors that Duke had was the fact that they ended with 17 turnovers compared to only seven of Michigan State’s.
As Williamson for Duke is the heavy favorite to enter the NBA draft at No. 1, Williamson hasn’t declared his intentions whether to keep playing college basketball or not. But it would be a huge surprise to most. He came into his freshman year at Duke as a top-three prospect already receiving some attention. If he leaves Duke this year, he will be considered one of the best players to go through the program’s history, already being considered one of most unique players in all of college basketball.
Some of his awards he achieved his freshman year are that he is the only freshman to ever win ACC Player of the Year and ACC Tournament MVP. He is the third freshman to record 500 points, 50 steals and 50 blocks in a season, joining Anthony Davis and Kevin Durant. His 68% shooting from the field is the best by any freshman in D-1 history. His 104 points through four NCAA Tournament games are the second-most ever by a freshman. Duke has another elite
recruiting class coming in, with top-five prospect Veron Carey Jr., five-star small forward Wendell Moore, and four-star combo guard Rejean Ellis. This leaves them still going in strong for next season.
Michigan State No.2 will play No.3 Texas Tech on Saturday, April 6th at 4:09 PM, while on the other side No.5 Auburn will play No.1 Virginia that same day at 6:49 PM. Both teams will be competing to play in the championship. The championship will be on Monday, April 8th at 7:00 PM
