Duke Asserts Their Dominance Once Again, Hand Tigers’ First Loss

Ever since their blowout of Kentucky, Duke has been praised as one of the better teams in college basketball history. Today, the Blue Devils were able to back that up. Duke survived Auburn to move on to the Maui Jim championship game. 

Unlike most of their games this year, Duke was forced to compete. Auburn put up a challenge that no other opponent was able to do this year against the Blue Devils.  

After a first half that was mostly dominated by Duke, Auburn was able to pull within eight points.  The second half was a back and forth affair. The two top ten teams traded punches. However, in the end Duke was the superior team. The Blue Devils pulled out the 78-72 victory. 

Freshman sensations, Zion Williamson and R.J Barrett impressed once again. Barrett dropped 18, while Williamson added 13. 

The Auburn backcourt continued to  prove just how good they are. Bryce Brown and Jared Harper combined for 38 points in the losing effort. 

After the win, Duke will play for the championship. Auburn will be sent the the consolation side of the bracket.