The UCF Knights nearly pulled off the improbable, which may have been a surprise for many, but for those who followed this team, it shouldn’t be a shock.
Coming into this game, it seemed as if the UCF Knights were the Davids to Duke’s Goliath status.
Sure, UCF had a Goliath of their own, the immovable force in Tacko Fall, but no one gave the Knights a chance to beat the Blue Devils. They were going up against Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett, and a cast of talented young players who were the favorites to win it all in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
UCF?
They would have been lucky just to stay in the game with Duke, many of us thought, playing them tightly in the first half, only to see Zion and Duke put on “The Run” to send them back to the Magic Kingdom.
Not only did they stay in the game with Goliath, but they were also a missed Aubrey Dawkins tip away from doing the improbable. For many, this came as a shock, How could UCF, who hasn’t had much Tournament success in their history, come to the precipice of destroying brackets everywhere?
DUKE HANGS ON 😱#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/JegO2wFY2q
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 24, 2019
For starters, Dawkins, the son of head coach Johnny Dawkins, had the game of his life, balling out for 32 points on five three-pointers. Then, we can’t forget about Fall, who frustrated Zion and the Blue Devils in the paint all game long, until Williamson fouled him out.
Those two factors would certainly explain how David nearly stuck it to Goliath, but for those who followed the Knights all season, it wasn’t all that stunning to see UCF nearly do the impossible.
The Knights have been a scrappy team all year, and they displayed that “no quitting” attitude against Duke. Several times, Duke had a chance to finally end their Sweet 16 hopes, but UCF kept battling back, just as they have all season long.
Duke may be moving on, but UCF gave them everything they could handle, and, in the end, UCF has earned the right to declare themselves National Champions, even though they won’t have the opportunity to cut down the nets this season.