NCAA East Region analysis: Duke is hot, but also in the upset zone. And is Edey ready?
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Your guide to Selection Sunday
Follow The Star’s analysis and predictions as the 2023 NCAA Tournament bracket is revealed and KU, K-State and Mizzou are seeded for March Madness.
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Jon Scheyer and Duke weren’t exactly struggling early but it wasn’t a vintage start for the Blue Devils in the post-Mike Krzyzewski era.
Duke fell out of the ACC race early. But now it rides a nine-game winning streak into the NCAA Tournament, including the ACC Tournament championship. It appeared the Blue Devils would earn no worse than a No. 4 seed in the tournament.
But not only did the committee assign them to the fifth line, they gave them a first-round tester in Oral Roberts. The 12th seeded Golden Eagles battled their way into the Sweet 16 two years ago as a No. 15 seed when they were led by Max Abams.
Abams is back, and Oral Roberts won the Summit League regular season and tournament in dominating fashion. Upset special?
Players to watch
Purdue needed every bit of Zach Edey’s 30 points in its victory over Penn State in the Big Ten title game on Sunday. Edey likely will be the consensus national player of the year, and he’ll deserve it.
Marquette guard Tyler Kolek is second nationally with 7.7 assists per game. He was the Big East player of the year.
Kansas State guard Keyonate Johnson, an All-Big 12 selection, missed most of the past two years after collapsing on the floor at Florida. He’s the Wildcats’ top producer at 17.7 points and seven rebounds per game.
Kentucky’s Oscar Tshiebwe, last year’s national player of the year, followed that campaign with a 16.5/13.1 season.
First-round upset
Will fourth-seeded Tennessee bounce back from its SEC Tournament loss to Missouri and pound No. 13 Louisiana. No.
Sweet 16 surprise
Purdue hammered Duke in November. The Blue Devils get their revenge in the Sweet 16 in Madison Square Garden.
Regional final
Marquette over Duke
This story was originally published March 12, 2023 at 8:31 PM.
