Being an avid New York Giants fan, I was far too nervous to watch the 150th hour of Super Bowl previews, so instead I decided to flip to ESPNU and watch some college basketball just to get my mind off things. There I found the Miami Hurricanes, who I find it hard to root for since the took our coach Jim Larranaga, and the Duke Blue Devils.
A couple of things I noticed about the game:
Reggie Johnson is an absolute beast. The Miami center is just a huge body, and it seemed like no matter how many people Duke threw on him, he found a way to power through for an easy layup. The guy dominated for 27 points, and honestly, I was baffled that Miami didn't just keep feeding him the ball as the game went into crunch time.
When Duke is cold from three, they're extremely beatable, no matter where they play. The Blue Devils were an ugly 9-31 from beyond the arc. For a team who lives and dies off the jump shooter, they sure died last night, and there were times in the game where it actually felt like they just could not score.
Shane Larkin is going to be a star. The freshman at Miami is quick, has good hands, and a nice three point stroke. It'll be fun to watch him develop over the years.
Now on to overtime, there were two odd things that went on.
Duke went 0-6 from the free throw line in the extra session. This is baffling, as Duke is historically an incredible free throw shooting team, and for them to go 0-6 when they need it most is truly staggering. It really is proof that free throws win, and in some cases lose, many games.
Somehow Coach K didn't get his timeout granted on his home floor. With the final play breaking down and the team down by 3, Austin Rivers ended up deep in the corner, double covered, with 4 seconds left, needing a 3. Coach K was screaming for a timeout, but it wasn't granted. I honestly can't believe this slight on Duke's home court, but when you sleepwalk through the first 30 minutes of a game, you probably deserved to lose anyway.
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