Duke will make their 20th straight appearance at the NCAA Tournament on Friday, and they will have to guard against the upset against Robert Morris.
Where: Time Warner Cable Arena, Charlotte.
When: Friday March 20, 19:10 (ET)
It is the first appearance in the tournament for Robert Morris under head coach Andrew Toole, with their last participation coming back in 2010 which was the final season under Mike Rice.
Rice has since moved on to take the Rutgers job after he led the Colonials to back-to-back tournament appearances in his last two years.
However, they have their work cut out this year with a round-of-64 meeting against No.1 seed Duke who are 29-4 for the season and are still under the guidance of Coach Mike Krzyzewski.
The last time the Blue Devils failed to make the tournament was in 1995, when Coach K only coached 12 games due to back surgery and recovery from exhaustion.
However, he has been back in the hot-seat since but will be wary of the fact that his team hasn’t played in a week with their last outing being the loss to Notre Dame in the ACC Tournament semi-finals.
That loss snapped a 12-game winning streak for Duke, but given that a 16-seed has never defeated a 1-seed in the NCAA Tournament, they will be confident of getting off to a winning start on Friday.
Jahlil Okafor remains the man to watch for Duke as he continues to put up solid numbers ahead of the NBA Draft, with many tipping him to be the top pick.
He scored 28 points in that semi-final loss to Notre Dame, going 13-of-18 from the field while adding eight rebounds, two blocks and a steal in 35 minutes to showcase his undeniable talent.
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