Sometimes you need a little luck on your side.
The fate of the Duke Blue Devils season hung in the balance—twice. Duke was up by one point with 8.1 seconds left when UCF inbounded the ball.
BJ Taylor took Duke’s best perimeter defender, Tre Jones, to the basket and got off a decent looking layup that hit the backboard and shot down just long of the hoop.
The ball bounced off the left side of the rim and hung in the air as a crashing Aubrey Dawkins came flying in to tip the ball back in. Dawkins attempt cascaded off the backboard, rolled around the rim (for what felt like forever) before drifting out of the hoop and into the hands of Zion Williamson.
In the postgame interview, Mike Krzyzewski told CBS’ Tracy Wolfson, “We were lucky.”
Coach K couldn't help but admire the efforts from Johnny Dawkins and his UCF squad. #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/bu7SpBHdDW
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2019
“Luck” is a common phenomenon for Coach K; Christian Laettner’s game-winner against Kentucky, Gordon Hayward’s half-court shot just missing the favor of the Basketball Gods have shined down on Duke previously. Tonight’s game was just another example of that endowment.
This one feels different. Laettner was the beginning of Duke as we know it and that Blue Devils team that knocked off Butler is likely Krzyzewski’s least talented roster out of all of his championship teams.
Could it be Zion? The supersized wunderkind that has the nation following every Duke game with rapt attention. If the Basketball Gods are truly showing favor toward the Blue Devils during this NCAA Tournament run could it be because they recognize Zion as one of their own?
Is it possible that they are awaiting his arrival at the Final Four to coronate him a la Zeus welcoming Hercules to Olympus? All year people have been at a loss for words in their attempts to describe Zion Williamson. After tonight’s game let’s try this on for size: Zion is a god.