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2015 NCAA Champions
(34-4) #1-South (Houston, TX)	Duke University Blue Devils (35-4) 5th Title: ’91, ’92, ’01, ’10, ’15
2015 Winningest Conference
	The Atlantic Coast Conference (17-5) 4th Time: ’04, ’05, ’10, ’15

Monday, April 6, 2015

EL SEGUNDO/CERRITOS, CA (smt)- Maybe the one-and-done team people should’ve been worried about was #1S-Duke, not #1MW-Kentucky.  The Blue Devils’ freshmen scored 60 of 68 points in their come-from-behind-aided-by-a-few-calls-here-and-there 68-63 win over #1W-Wisconsin.  With the Badgers up by 9 at 48-39 and Duke sitting  out Justise Winslow and Jahil Okafor due to foul trouble, 6′-4″ guard Grayson Allen turned up the heat scoring Duke’s next 8 points and he and fellow frosh Tyus Jones (game high 23) took command with a 27-10 run.  Wisconsin’s Sam Dekker picked the wrong time to have an off-game missing all six of his 3-pointers.  While the Badgers benefited on a shot clock violation no-call that wasn’t reviewable in their win over Kentucky, they were on the wrong end of a stepping out-of-bounds no-call that wasn’t reviewable late in the game.  Add in a tipped ball out-of-bounds that somehow refs never got to see during their review, the disparity in foul calls in the 2nd half, and the fact my 3-year daughter kept chanting “blue, blue, blue” instead of “red, red, red” like I told her to do, the Duke conspiracy theories are all atwitter.  But Duke’s tenacious defense never let Frank Kaminsky feel comfortable in the 2nd half and when Wisconsin needed quick baskets in the last minute, it took 10+ seconds to get a play off as Duke didn’t let them penetrate the key for a quick shot.  As long as I don’t have to hear “The Duke Univeristy” or “Dukkies”, I’ll be content.

As for the pool, Duke was picked by 8 people and 5 of the 8 ended up in the money.  Darryn B (Big Luther) becomes our second 2-time pool champion and Continue reading »