GREENVILLE, S.C. (AP) — Duke enters the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed and looking to avenge last season's missed opportunity.
The Blue Devils (32-2) were bounced in the Final Four by Houston despite a team that included five future NBA players, including three lottery picks and two players now battling neck-and-neck for the Rookie of the Year honors in Cooper Flagg and Kon Knueppel.
It is a loss that still motivates coach Jon Scheyer as Duke prepares to open tournament play Thursday against No. 16 seed Siena.
“I take every lesson along the way and learn from it,” Scheyer said. “I learned very quickly that being in this position, the head coach at Duke, you put yourself in a spot where we’ve had championships and special moments, but you also put yourself in position where you can have your heart broken.”
Scheyer said he would not trade that for anything.
Now in his fourth season since taking over for Mike Krzyzewski, Scheyer has a 121-24 record overall and an 8-3 mark in the NCAA Tournament. But winning a national title has eluded him so far.
“I’ve used year one, year two, year three all in different ways to continue to get better, to continue to grow, and to continue to use that as motivation,” Scheyer said. “So last year’s no different. We had a special group, put ourselves in the exact spot you want to be in, couldn’t get it done. That’s unfortunately part of how this thing goes.
“So we’re back and ready to keep going in this,” he added.
Shooting guard Isaiah Evans, a reserve on last year's team, is ready for a Duke run.
“I think just the fact that we couldn’t get the job done is keeping us motivated,” Evans said. “Especially for the returners from last year, it wasn’t a great feeling to be so close and have it slip away. I feel like that’s what keeps us motivated.”
The Blue Devils are led by first-team Associated Press All-American Cameron Boozer.
Siena coach Gerry McNamara, viewed as a potential coach-in-waiting at Syracuse, said the Metro Conference Athletic Conference champion won't have senior forward Antonio Chandler for the Duke game due to an eligibility issue that ultimately emerged ahead of the conference tournament. He had sought court help to gain reinstatement but was unsuccessful, according to the Times Union of Albany, New York.
Chandler had started all 29 games he had played, averaging 7.3 points for the Saints (23-11).
Thornton's delayed debut
Bruce Thornton arrived at Ohio State with the Buckeyes fresh off a fourth trip to the NCAA Tournament in five years.
He’s only now, as a senior, getting to play in March Madness.
“I think Bruce is everything that’s right about college basketball,” coach Jake Diebler said Wednesday in Greenville, South Carolina. “He is a huge reason why we’re here, there’s no question about it. When you’re a first-time head coach, you’re looking around to say, OK, who can help me establish the culture and the standard of this program, and he was the guy I turned to first.”
Diebler took over as the interim coach during the 2023-24 season after the firing of Chris Holtmann, and this is his second full season leading the Buckeyes. He’s had the 6-foot-2 Thornton as a constant as a four-year starter averaging in double figures each time, part of a dwindling class of athletes who have stayed at one school for their entire career in the transfer-portal era.
This year, Thornton is averaging 20.2 points while shooting 55.8% from the field for the Buckeyes (21-12).
“He’s older than me, I think,” TCU coach Jamie Dixon quipped of the 22-year-old Thornton.
Thornton leads an offense that entered Wednesday ranked 16th in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency by averaging 124.3 points per 100 possessions. The Horned Frogs are 23rd in KenPom’s adjusted defensive efficiency (97.8 points allowed per 100 possessions) for a team that posted its best win total in any league since 1998.
TCU (22-11) has won nine of 11 entering Wednesday.
Louisville's Brown backs out
The Cardinals’ hopes of having star freshman Mikel Brown Jr. ready for the tournament were dashed upon announcing Brown continues being sidelined by back issues.
As difficult as it is to be missing a key piece of their offense, coach Pat Kelsey said the Cardinals have succeeded without Brown, who has missed 12 games in total — including last week's Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament.
“I’m really proud of our guys for adjusting and stepping up,” Kelsey said. “Those guys never blinked.”
Still, it's a big hit with Brown considered a top NBA prospect, one who scored an ACC freshman-record 45 points in a win against N.C. State.
Louisville (23-10) is back in the NCAAs for the second time in as many seasons under Kelsey. The Cardinals fell in last year's first round and haven't won a March Madness game since a 2017 first-round win over Jacksonville State in Rick Pitino’s final season as coach.
South Florida (25-8) is riding an 11-0 run and making its fourth tournament appearance, and first since reaching the Sweet 16 in 2012.
Spartans look to regain form
At 71, Michigan State coach Tom Izzo is old enough to remember when North Dakota State was a Division II program. That doesn’t make the Bison any less of a threat in Izzo’s mind.
“There’s something to the David and Goliath thing,” Izzo said as he prepares to make his NCAA coaching record 28th straight tournament appearance.
“What I’ve learned in my profession in the last five years, there’s a lot of good players at a lot of good places, and North Dakota State is one of them,” he added. “They’ve got good players. But I think what makes them scary is this is their Christmas, Fourth of July. They get a chance to pit themselves against the people they watch on TV, and I think that’s a strong way to put it.”
The Spartans (25-7) have lost two straight and are 6-5 in their past 11 after an 88-84 loss to UCLA in the quarterfinal round of the Big Ten Tournament.
They’re led by Jeremy Fears Jr., the nation’s only player averaging 15 points and nine assists.
The Bison are making their sixth tournament appearance — all coming since 2009 — and first since beating North Carolina Central in a First Four outing in 2019 before losing to Duke.
North Dakota State (27-7) features four starters averaging 10 or more points, led by Damari Wheeler-Thomas (14.2).
AP Sports Writer Aaron Beard in Greenville, South Carolina and John Wawrow in Buffalo, New York; contributed to this report.
AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness
