First of all, if I’m Hurley & Murray, I’ve already been up all night breaking down film on the Duke vs St. John’s & Siena games to analyze how they both got up early on Duke.

Second, I’m looking at the fact that as constructed right now, Duke does not have a balanced scoring attack. In 6 postseason games (ACC & NCAA tournaments), only once did they have more than 3 players score in double figures. Boozer is averaging 20 ppg, Evan’s 19 ppg, and Cayden Boozer 12 ppg in those 6 games. That’s 2 freshmen & a sophomore, so as good as they are, they have limited experience. Everyone else is under 8 ppg in the postseason. Foster & Ngongba are the wild cards because they’re back playing and Foster did have 11 points last night. Ngongba, on the other hand, threw up several air balls. In light of that, what’s my defense?

Boozer is obviously the key guy. So what are the options?
1. Karaban seems like the natural match up.
2. Why not Reed, given how big & strong Boozer is?
3. Is Stewart available to help out? He played only 3 mins last night, but recent injury reports have been optimistic.

I’m worried about getting key players like Karaban or Reed in foul trouble. So, do I switch different players on & off Boozer to confuse him & protect my key players? Here’s what I’m thinking:

1. Double team Boozer every time he touches the ball. Force him to make good passes & force others to make good cuts.
2. Guard him with waves of players, Karaban, Reed, Stewart (I hope).
3. Maybe even throw in some matchup zone.
4. Throw some presses at them to force turnovers before the ball even gets to Boozer.

Thoughts?

Reed may guard Boozer a bit but with how good Boozer is at getting to the line combined with how imperative Reed has been to the offense this postseason they may try to limit how much he guards him. However I think he's too strong for Karaban and too big for Stewart so who knows.

In terms of what UConn needs to do?

-Force Boozer to turn it over (he turned it over 4 times in both of their losses) and capitalize when their offense sputters as a result.

-Hit 40%+ from deep the way St Johns did.

-Feed Reed. Ngongba is too banged up to play big minutes and even healthy I don't see him really stopping Reed. If Boozer is on Reed try to get him in foul trouble.

-Do not allow Evans to go for 20+.

Have the injured Demary play great D on the injured Foster and neutralize him. Smith too.

All of these are more easily said than done.

(03-28-2026 09:07 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Reed may guard Boozer a bit but with how good Boozer is at getting to the line combined with how imperative Reed has been to the offense this postseason they may try to limit how much he guards him. However I think he's too strong for Karaban and too big for Stewart so who knows.

In terms of what UConn needs to do?

-Force Boozer to turn it over (he turned it over 4 times in both of their losses) and capitalize when their offense sputters as a result.

-Hit 40%+ from deep the way St Johns did.

-Feed Reed. Ngongba is too banged up to play big minutes and even healthy I don't see him really stopping Reed. If Boozer is on Reed try to get him in foul trouble.

-Do not allow Evans to go for 20+.

Have the injured Demary play great D on the injured Foster and neutralize him. Smith too.

All of these are more easily said than done.

I like your ideas, Nameless.

Here’s something I just noticed. Duke is 11th in the country in 2-pt FG% (60.3%) but is only 155th in 3-pt FG% (34.6%). Foster is their best 3-pt shooter and he’s obviously not 100%. He only attempted one 3 last night and I think it was an air ball. Boozer is their 2nd best 3-pt shooter. They score a lot of their baskets off passes (37th in the country in assists). Boozer is their assists leader. Obviously the offense runs through him.So, I’m thinking that the best defense is to guard Boozer closely, maybe even double him. But otherwise pack the defense in closer to the basket. Concede the 3 since they’re no very good at it, but guard them closely on medium range jump shots and in close to the basket.

I'll be pulling for UConn, but it's going to be one tough matchup. Boozer is going to be a handful, and Reed can't get in foul trouble. Even if you do double up on Boozer, they have plenty of other weapons that can hurt you. St John's team identity was suffocating defense, but down the stretch it seemed Duke scored at will, getting to the basket easily. They're a lot better than I thought. As someone that hates Duke it pains me to say this, but I think they'll be the ones cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.

T’Will, Duke got to the basket easily because St. John’s went cold after an early spurt in the 2nd half. St. John’s missed 6 of their last 7 3-point attempts. Long rebounds off those missed 3’s led to fast breaks. Duke also outrebounded St. John’s 40-27, including winning the battle of the offensive boards. The result was that Duke outscored St. John’s on easy second chance points 15-6.

So, yes, Duke got to the basket but I think that had more to do with what St. John’s was doing wrong rather than Duke’s weaponry. Duke did not display great perimeter shooting. They only attempted 7 3s in the 2nd half and were only 5-14 from 3 for the game. While suffocating defense was St. John’s calling card this year, it actually backfired on them in this game. Away from Big East refs and what they allow, St. John’s got called for 20 fouls vs only 13 for Duke. The result was that got crushed at the FT line. After outscoring Duke 71-65 from the floor, they got beaten at the FT line by 15-4. All year long, St. John’s had been called for fewer fouls than their opponents, but not in this game. So, UConn can not foul and expect to win.

In terms of offensive weapons, Duke relied heavily on 2 guys, 25 points from Evans and 22 from Boozer. Other than 11 points from Foster, no one else scored more than 7 points. Boozer also had 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Evans didn’t have any assists and had only 3 rebounds. That’s why I’m focused so heavily on figuring out how to stop Boozer.

I don’t want to disrespect Duke because they are very good. But 2 of their starters are coming back from injuries, are not 100%, and are coming in off the bench. Foster played well in a limited roll but Ngongba gave them nothing in 17 minutes and in fact missed 5 of 6 FTs, some were air balls. So, they are vulnerable and the question is how to take advantage of that. Siena was up on them by 13 early in the second half and St. John’s was up by 10. Maybe there is a blueprint there to follow. If so, the task is then to figure out how to make the lead hold up.

(03-28-2026 09:36 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  

(03-28-2026 09:07 PM)Nameless Wrote:  Reed may guard Boozer a bit but with how good Boozer is at getting to the line combined with how imperative Reed has been to the offense this postseason they may try to limit how much he guards him. However I think he's too strong for Karaban and too big for Stewart so who knows.

In terms of what UConn needs to do?

-Force Boozer to turn it over (he turned it over 4 times in both of their losses) and capitalize when their offense sputters as a result.

-Hit 40%+ from deep the way St Johns did.

-Feed Reed. Ngongba is too banged up to play big minutes and even healthy I don't see him really stopping Reed. If Boozer is on Reed try to get him in foul trouble.

-Do not allow Evans to go for 20+.

Have the injured Demary play great D on the injured Foster and neutralize him. Smith too.

All of these are more easily said than done.

I like your ideas, Nameless.

Here’s something I just noticed. Duke is 11th in the country in 2-pt FG% (60.3%) but is only 155th in 3-pt FG% (34.6%). Foster is their best 3-pt shooter and he’s obviously not 100%. He only attempted one 3 last night and I think it was an air ball. Boozer is their 2nd best 3-pt shooter. They score a lot of their baskets off passes (37th in the country in assists). Boozer is their assists leader. Obviously the offense runs through him.So, I’m thinking that the best defense is to guard Boozer closely, maybe even double him. But otherwise pack the defense in closer to the basket. Concede the 3 since they’re no very good at it, but guard them closely on medium range jump shots and in close to the basket.

There is no chance I would concede the 3 to this team. As you noted both Foster and Boozer are just a tick under 40% from deep on decent volume (3+ attempts per game each.) Foster did air ball his lone attempt but it was his first game back in weeks and he was absolutely gassed when he took that shot. I wouldn't want to leave him open and take my chances.

But Evans is a good shooter too, shooting over 36% from deep on 7.5 attempts per game. That is the type of guy who will kill you from deep if you leave him open and he gets it going. Even Khamenia, while only hitting 1/3 of his attempts from deep on about 3 attempts per game is a capable shooter that I wouldn't want to get rolling.

I think their overall percentage is low because you have a guy like Dame Sarr shooting 31% from deep on about 3 attempts per game. Cayden Boozer shoots only 29% from long range on about 2 attempts per game. You can try to concede the 3 to these guys and get them to take a handful, but if they aren't making shots they won't keep taking them. They'll either drive it on the closeout or find another way to get the ball back to someone who is more capable.

I think in general the defensive game plan is to probably try and make Sarr, Cayden Boozer and Maliq Brown beat us. Foster, Cam Boozer and Evans are so talented and the latter 2 are elite scorers. They need to be neutralized as much as possible. If Evans and Boozer combine for 40+ on efficient shooting UConn is setting itself up for failure.

(03-28-2026 09:54 PM)Traderwill Wrote:  I'll be pulling for UConn, but it's going to be one tough matchup. Boozer is going to be a handful, and Reed can't get in foul trouble. Even if you do double up on Boozer, they have plenty of other weapons that can hurt you. St John's team identity was suffocating defense, but down the stretch it seemed Duke scored at will, getting to the basket easily. They're a lot better than I thought. As someone that hates Duke it pains me to say this, but I think they'll be the ones cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.

Duke went from down 10 to leading against St Johns in the blink of an eye. It took them like 25 minutes to score 44 points but they scored their next 19 in like 4-5. Definitely the type of team that can get hot and go on real runs. Foster took over despite the bad foot and made a ton of winning plays. Absolutely willed them to victory.

I actually don't think they will cut down the nets because of their injuries. I think there is a chance we win tonight, but even if we don't I like a healthy Arizona and Michigan more than Duke in its current state.

Duke playing its "best game" is a notch better than UConn playing its "best game."

Will be interesting to see if the Huskies can limit Duke in various ways. Should be a great game.

(03-29-2026 06:22 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-28-2026 09:54 PM)Traderwill Wrote:  I'll be pulling for UConn, but it's going to be one tough matchup. Boozer is going to be a handful, and Reed can't get in foul trouble. Even if you do double up on Boozer, they have plenty of other weapons that can hurt you. St John's team identity was suffocating defense, but down the stretch it seemed Duke scored at will, getting to the basket easily. They're a lot better than I thought. As someone that hates Duke it pains me to say this, but I think they'll be the ones cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.

Duke went from down 10 to leading against St Johns in the blink of an eye. It took them like 25 minutes to score 44 points but they scored their next 19 in like 4-5. Definitely the type of team that can get hot and go on real runs. Foster took over despite the bad foot and made a ton of winning plays. Absolutely willed them to victory.

I actually don't think they will cut down the nets because of their injuries. I think there is a chance we win tonight, but even if we don't I like a healthy Arizona and Michigan more than Duke in its current state.

I’ll be interested to see how much Foster can play tonight and how effective he will be. That injury is supposed to have a 6 week recovery period and he came back in less than 3. I wouldn’t be surprised if he suffers a set back after playing 19 minutes less than 48 hours before tonight’s game. He may have even reinsured it. The doctors call it an “overuse injury”. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Even with Duke’s run to come back from 10 down, St. John’s still held a lead with 4 minutes to go. That was still a winnable game for St. John’s. They needed to make shots down the stretch and they didn’t.

I’m hoping that Hurley and Murray can learn from what Siens and St. John’s did to get big leads on Duke, but also figure out how to avoid the same mistakes that led to them giving up those leads.

I agree that their injuries will catch up with Duke at some point. I hope it’s tonight. Healthy, they were probably the favorite to win it all.

(03-29-2026 12:21 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  

(03-29-2026 06:22 AM)Nameless Wrote:  

(03-28-2026 09:54 PM)Traderwill Wrote:  I'll be pulling for UConn, but it's going to be one tough matchup. Boozer is going to be a handful, and Reed can't get in foul trouble. Even if you do double up on Boozer, they have plenty of other weapons that can hurt you. St John's team identity was suffocating defense, but down the stretch it seemed Duke scored at will, getting to the basket easily. They're a lot better than I thought. As someone that hates Duke it pains me to say this, but I think they'll be the ones cutting down the nets in Indianapolis.

Duke went from down 10 to leading against St Johns in the blink of an eye. It took them like 25 minutes to score 44 points but they scored their next 19 in like 4-5. Definitely the type of team that can get hot and go on real runs. Foster took over despite the bad foot and made a ton of winning plays. Absolutely willed them to victory.

I actually don't think they will cut down the nets because of their injuries. I think there is a chance we win tonight, but even if we don't I like a healthy Arizona and Michigan more than Duke in its current state.

I’ll be interested to see how much Foster can play tonight and how effective he will be. That injury is supposed to have a 6 week recovery period and he came back in less than 3. I wouldn’t be surprised if he suffers a set back after playing 19 minutes less than 48 hours before tonight’s game. He may have even reinsured it. The doctors call it an “overuse injury”. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Even with Duke’s run to come back from 10 down, St. John’s still held a lead with 4 minutes to go. That was still a winnable game for St. John’s. They needed to make shots down the stretch and they didn’t.

I’m hoping that Hurley and Murray can learn from what Siens and St. John’s did to get big leads on Duke, but also figure out how to avoid the same mistakes that led to them giving up those leads.

I agree that their injuries will catch up with Duke at some point. I hope it’s tonight. Healthy, they were probably the favorite to win it all.

It's worth noting that Foster came out of the locker room late after half time against St Johns. So he was clearly being looked at and/or having work done to the foot. When I saw that I didn't expect much from him, but other than the aforementioned air ball he looked great and was imperative to their success in that game. Who knows how healthy he will be? If he's at least as good as he was in that game he will still be an impact player.

Kind of interesting to me that both teams starting PGs have injuries to the ankle/foot and are clearly shells of themselves heading into the matchup. Not sure if either will do much offensively.

(03-29-2026 12:06 AM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  T’Will, Duke got to the basket easily because St. John’s went cold after an early spurt in the 2nd half. St. John’s missed 6 of their last 7 3-point attempts. Long rebounds off those missed 3’s led to fast breaks. Duke also outrebounded St. John’s 40-27, including winning the battle of the offensive boards. The result was that Duke outscored St. John’s on easy second chance points 15-6.

So, yes, Duke got to the basket but I think that had more to do with what St. John’s was doing wrong rather than Duke’s weaponry. Duke did not display great perimeter shooting. They only attempted 7 3s in the 2nd half and were only 5-14 from 3 for the game. While suffocating defense was St. John’s calling card this year, it actually backfired on them in this game. Away from Big East refs and what they allow, St. John’s got called for 20 fouls vs only 13 for Duke. The result was that got crushed at the FT line. After outscoring Duke 71-65 from the floor, they got beaten at the FT line by 15-4. All year long, St. John’s had been called for fewer fouls than their opponents, but not in this game. So, UConn can not foul and expect to win.

In terms of offensive weapons, Duke relied heavily on 2 guys, 25 points from Evans and 22 from Boozer. Other than 11 points from Foster, no one else scored more than 7 points. Boozer also had 10 rebounds and 3 assists. Evans didn’t have any assists and had only 3 rebounds. That’s why I’m focused so heavily on figuring out how to stop Boozer.

I don’t want to disrespect Duke because they are very good. But 2 of their starters are coming back from injuries, are not 100%, and are coming in off the bench. Foster played well in a limited roll but Ngongba gave them nothing in 17 minutes and in fact missed 5 of 6 FTs, some were air balls. So, they are vulnerable and the question is how to take advantage of that. Siena was up on them by 13 early in the second half and St. John’s was up by 10. Maybe there is a blueprint there to follow. If so, the task is then to figure out how to make the lead hold up.

Duke was not scoring on fast break baskets, they were scoring because St. John;'s guards couldn't keep in front of them. Some of those baskets were early in the shot clock, but they weren't fast break points. Even Pitino said the Johnnies were the victim of "bully ball" meaning St. John's couldn't keep Duke from attacking the basket at will. Part of that was Boozer just putting his head down and plowing his way to the basket. Hopefully UConn will get a friendlier whistle than all three of Duke's opponents have gotten so far.

What a shot by Mullins! Incredible comeback!!!

4 down 2 to go!!!

Simply amazing. UConn had some open looks when they were down seven, but couldn't seem to hit them. It didn't look like it was destined to be their night. Unbelievable resilience to keep fighting and come out on top. Keep it going against Illinois!

Congrats from this Marquette guy. Didn’t think this possible when we handled them while I watched at Fiserv 3 weeks ago. Great for the BE.

(03-29-2026 07:04 PM)Traderwill Wrote:  Simply amazing. UConn had some open looks when they were down seven, but couldn't seem to hit them. It didn't look like it was destined to be their night. Unbelievable resilience to keep fighting and come out on top. Keep it going against Illinois!

We were like 1/18 from deep and finished 5/23. Atrociously bad shooting night, I thought going into the game if we didn't hit 40% of our 3s it was going to be a long night. For about 30 minutes of the game it looked to be the case. But as you noted, incredible resiliency kept us in the game and ultimately got the job done. As Hurley is fond of saying, "heart of a champion."

Tarris Reed is a monster and potentially playing himself into the 1st round of the draft. Love how he has put it all together this season and especially for this run. I remember being upset when Ngongba didn't commit here but had he done so we likely don't go out and get Reed the next offseason. I wouldn't trade Tarris for anyone in the country, love that dude.

I said before the game I like a matchup with Illinois. Hope we handle them in the FF then get a rematch with Arizona. #7 is within reach!

(03-29-2026 07:12 PM)Nukem2 Wrote:  Congrats from this Marquette guy. Didn’t think this possible when we handled them while I watched at Fiserv 3 weeks ago. Great for the BE.

In fairness I was pretty down on them after finishing the season 7-4 in the final 11, culminating with a blow out to St Johns in the BET final. But I always held out hope we would regain our form. We seem to be playing well when it matters most!

I live in Connecticut about 40 minutes from UConn. My phone has not stopped lighting up since the shot!

How about some props for Silas Demary. Without his steal, that shot doesn’t happen. Yay, Silas!!

UConn is 17-1 in the NCAA tournament over the past 4 years. Incredible! The Huskies are the biggest nemesis in Duke history.

When Mullins made that shot, he was 0-5 from 3 before that. When Karaban made his big 3 a minute before that, he had been 0-5 from 3 before that if they had needed another 3, Solo Ball was all ready with 0-5 from 3 in the game.

Fantastic comeback by UConn. Congrats to our Husky fans!

Interesting contrast between UConn & St. John’s with how the last 4 minutes of each game played out, how the respective coaches managed it, and how the players responded.

(03-29-2026 07:35 PM)Bill Marsh Wrote:  I live in Connecticut about 40 minutes from UConn. My phone has not stopped lighting up since the shot!

How about some props for Silas Demary. Without his steal, that shot doesn’t happen. Yay, Silas!!

UConn is 17-1 in the NCAA tournament over the past 4 years. Incredible! The Huskies are the biggest nemesis in Duke history.

When Mullins made that shot, he was 0-5 from 3 before that. When Karaban made his big 3 a minute before that, he had been 0-5 from 3 before that if they had needed another 3, Solo Ball was all ready with 0-5 from 3 in the game.

I no longer live in CT but immediately had messages from multiple friends as well as family. My dad and I both yelled so loud we scared my dog, lmao.

There's still a part of me that is absolutely shocked we shot so poorly and won the game. Was awesome going over to the Duke board and seeing how many people blamed the loss on officiating (sound familiar? Lol)