The Duke Blue Devils are the 2015 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions.
Coach K and his young-yet-talented squad defeated coach Bo Ryan and the Wisconsin Badgers in an instant classic of a national championship. A 68-63 result was the outcome of all of the Badgers' and the Blue Devils' hard work and struggling throughout the tournament and the regular season.
Tyus Jones hit a couple of clutch threes to seal the victory for Duke in the closing moments of the game and season. Jones was named the Most Outstanding Player after recording 19 second-half points en route to a 23-point, 5-rebound championship performance.
Duke certainly put together lots of key plays to emerge victorious, and that was thanks to Jones and rising phenom Grayson Allen. Allen scored 16 points off the bench for the Blue Devils.
After top freshman prospect Jahlil Okafor picked up foul number four with 9:18 remaining in the second half, Wisconsin looked to have the matchup edge, momentum-wise and inside the paint. That's when Jones and Allen stepped up, and when they were finally able to slow down Naismith Award Winner Frank Kaminsky and the Badgers to claim the national title.
Okafor's fourth foul took place on an and-one by Kaminsky that ended up extending the Badgers' lead to 54-50. From that moment and on, the Blue Devils seemed to find an inner fire to make an inspired comeback.
The result was blue confetti and the rejoicing of Duke fans while their team stood on the podium in their championship hats and t-shirts.
Other Duke highlights were Justise Winslow's 11 points and 9 rebounds and Okafor's 10 points. That proved to be enough to tame the Badgers.
Frank Kaminsky led the charge for Wisconsin, and he left it all on the court in this one. He was presented with the Naismith Award the day before the game, and showed why he was worthy of that honor and why he was able to bring his team to the final round of the NCAA Tournament. Frank the Tank put up a double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds on 7-16 shooting from the floor.
Other contributors for Coach Ryan's side were Sam Dekker, Nigel Hayes, and Bronson Koenig. Dekker dropped 12 points and grabbed 8 boards for the Badgers, Hayes scored 13, and Koenig recorded 10 and 4 assists.
The first half was a back-and-forth battle that ended in a 31-31 knot. The largest lead attained by either side in the half was a 6-point advantage gained by Duke for less than a minute.
Wisconsin looked to be set up for a second-half victory, taking a 48-39 lead with 13:23 to go in the second. Kaminsky and Koenig were chipping in baskets left and right, but that was until Tyus and crew stepped in to claim their well-deserved title.
This was Mike Krzyzewski's fifth championship coaching Duke. His legacy as one of the NCAA coaching greats will be furthered with the addition of this trophy to his huge collection.
According to the statistics of this one, Wisconsin had the edge in the game. The one area the Blue Devils had a clear advantage was the blocks column, which they controlled 6 to 1. The contesting of shots Duke executed was a large component to their superior shooting percentage in the contest.
Duke shot 24-51 as opposed to Wisconsin's 25-61. The Blue Devils also took and made more shots from the foul line in their triumph, making 16 of their 20 attempts from the charity stripe.
Wisconsin did take down the beast that was Kentucky this season in the Final Four, and should feel great about how much they accomplished over their 2014-2015 campaign. They just weren't the ones who ended up cutting down the nets while confetti rained down.
Congratulations Blue Devil Nation! Your 2015 NCAA Champions!