Hachimura Leads Gonzaga to a Win Against Duke 89-87

The No.3 Gonzaga Bulldogs defeated the No.1 Duke Blue Devils in the finals of Maui Invitational, 89-87, and declared themselves a legitimate championship contender. Mark Few’s boys were better than the No.1 seed in college basketball, proving that experience, in this case, surpasses the talent.

But everything might have been different if it weren’t for Rui Hachimura who dominated on both sides of the court when needed the most.

Duke had a final possession, and R.J. Barrett took the ball. He went for a basket, but Hachimura denied that with a block, igniting the crow at Lahaina Civic Center.

What a tournament. 👏🏆 pic.twitter.com/pAcgUkgDMV

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) November 22, 2018

“I think he switched on me and he was trying to play one-on-one against me, and I was like, ‘OK, let’s do it,'” the Japanese said after the game. “We’re the best team in the country and I’m the best player too. I have to guard him.”

The Japanese finished this event with 20 points, 7 boards, 3 rejections and 5 dimes.

And truly, Gonzaga did look like the best team in the country especially in the first 20 minutes when they outscored Duke 47-39. The Bulldogs had almost 70% of shooting from the field, and they broke Krzyzewski’s defense with an excellent flow of the ball and the fantastic Zach Norvell Jr, who led his team in those moments.

On the defensive side of the court, Zaga had Brandon Clarke who managed to restrain high-flying frontcourt of the Blue Devils.

But as soon as he got into foul trouble, and left the floor through the midway of the second half, problems started for his team. Duke took the initiative, made several good plays, and a 16-point deficit they had, just disappeared. And we entered a dramatic ending.

With 1:17 to go, Hachimura scored a two-pointer for 89-87. From that moment on, we haven’t seen any more points, but that doesn’t mean that the game wasn’t exciting. Duke attacked, Gonzaga defended. We saw four blocked shots in the last 30 seconds of the clash. Hachimura and Clarke posted two each, while fiercely fighting for lives under their rim. But also, the same guys missed four free-throws combined, and gave their opponents a chance to come back.

Luckily, for the Bulldogs and coach Mark Few, that didn’t happen.

We have to mention that his team played without their best player according to most of the pundits, Killie Tillie. But what separated Zaga from rivals tonight, was their experience.

“Experience plays a big role in this,” said Gonzaga guard Zach Norvell Jr., who had 18 points. “We came down the stretch and got some stops. We knew we were winning it on the defensive end.”

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And that is something which Mike Krzyzewski admitted after the game, saying that his team needs to learn a lot of things, before they grow up.

“I thought we looked young,” Coach K told the media after the loss. “It’s not that we were tired, because we both played the same amount of games, but I think emotionally they were more ready to play than we were, and that’s something you learn.”

For the first time since they got together, Barrett-Williamson-Reddish trio experienced a bad shooting night, hitting only 20 shots from 51 attempts. Though they did score 55 points, it was evident that they don’t have the control of the offensive flow. Barret finished with a game-high 23 points, Williamson had a double-double 22 points and 10 rebounds, while Reddish posted only 10 buckets.

Also, the Blue Devils defense was pretty bad when defending the downtown shooting, allowing Gonzaga to score 10 three-pointers from 19 shots.

It is a great lesson Duke’s youngsters, and it is a good thing for them that this loss came at the early stage of this season. They now have enough time to improve all the bad things in their game, and to avoid them in the future.

For Gonzaga, a win against the No.1 seed presents a huge boost, and Few’s troops are now a legit championship contender.