Alabama just made history, now it faces one of the best teams in the nation for a spot in the Final Four.
There’s no time for a hangover in March, so the party following Alabama’s outburst against BYU was short.And Duke won’t be intimidated by those NCAA tournament records when they meet at 7:49 p.m. CT Saturday for a spot in the Final Four.
So, what’s it going to take to beat this giant for Alabama to make its second straight trip to the Final Four?Each of the three teams that beat Duke earlier in the season took a different route. First, Kentucky and Kansas beat them in November neutral-site games in thrillers. Clemson’s 77-71 win over the Blue Devils occurred on Feb. 8, and they’ve won 14 straight since.-- Kentucky held Duke to 39.4% shooting while the Blue Devils shot a season-low 16.7% from the 3-point line .
-- Of the three, only Kentucky made double-figure 3-point shots as Clemson won, shooting just 4-for-10. The Blue Devils’ 21.1-point average margin of victory leads the nation and by a margin of nearly five points over No. 2 Gonzaga. That Duke length limited opponents to 43.2% shooting on 2-point shots -- the second lowest percentage in the nation, according to KenPom. They were only slightly better on 3s with a 31.0% success rate to rank 36th.Bottom line: Duke actually plays the defense that BYU only mimicked.
That said, Alabama’s likely going to need another solid perimeter shooting night. It would be unreasonable to expect a repeat considering Duke’s defense but if it can work the inside-out game with guards getting paint touches, the spacing can open up shooters.
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