Duke was always beatable, but Williamson made it seem like the Blue Devils weren’t. Well, until Sunday at least.
Of all the big names to come through college basketball, Zion Williamson’s might be the biggest. A statistical marvel who pleased the hoops nerds, Williamson also doubled as an athletic wunderkind creating flashy highlights that brought casual fans in.
Despite playing for Duke, a program easy for many to hate, a majority of spectators tuned in with an open mind, if not rooting for Duke altogether. This wasn’t a Blue Devils team fans hate-watched like in the Grayson Allen era. Or J.J. Redick era. Or Christian Laettner era.
Williamson’s college career was so transcendent, many thought Duke hadto win a national championship despite producing an underwhelming product. R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish were highly touted prospects, but they never flourished, and the Blue Devils’ roster wasn’t deep.
But still, who was going to stop Williamson?
In truth, nobody ever stopped him. He shot less than 50 percent from the field just three times he suited up. In games he played more than 20 minutes, he scored less than 16 points once. The “terrible shooter” finished a respectable 34 percent from three-point range. Beating Duke meant limiting Williamson as much as possible and locking down those who surrounded him.
Ultimately, that’s what paid off for Michigan State in its 68-67 win to reach the Final Four. Williamson had 24 points and 14 rebounds. Barrett finished with 21, but also had seven turnovers and missed the free throw that would’ve tied the game down the stretch. No other Blue Devil scored more than 10 points.
Even Williamson wasn’t enough to escape the stressful wheel of hell that is luck in the NCAA tournament. Duke losing before the Final Four seemed impossible to us, and it felt surreal for the Blue Devils themselves, too. With Williamson, Barrett, and Reddish, three of the best prospects from the 2018 recruiting class, there was a shield of invincibility gleaming over the program this year.
“That’s why this sucks so much,” said Brennan Besser, a senior reserve who’d seen Brandon Ingram, Allen, Marvin Bagley III, and so many other stars roll through Durham. “We felt like it was a for-sure thing.”
Duke had the nation’s full attention, the one-man show, and the prestige. Through the first three games, they had luck, too. To beat No. 9 seed UCF, Duke survived a pair of botched layups by the Golden Knights in the final seconds. To beat No. 4 seed Virginia Tech, Duke endured a Hokies missed alley-oop that would’ve forced overtime.
The Blue Devils weren’t the nation’s best team — that’d be Virginia — but they had the most talent. Problem is, the most talent doesn’t always win in March, no matter how overwhelming a favorite they seem to be. Per the NCAA, 39 percent of bracket-pickers had Duke winning it all. North Carolina was second at 15 percent. The Williamson Effect will do that.
As wonderful as the Michigan State Spartans are, it’s hard not to feel cheated out of another Duke game or two. Rarely does a talent like Williamson come along in any sport. Regardless of how he performs as a pro, his 23 points on 69 percent shooting, nine rebounds, two assists, two steals, and two blocks per night will make him a college basketball legend.
But even legends can’t win every single game. For non-Michigan State fans, the realization of Williamson’s mortality is what made Sunday night’s anti-climactic result feel that much more of a letdown.