Madness of March: Duke Stunned By No. 14 Seeded Mercer
The Blue Devils went down in flames on Friday.
Lord have Mercer!Â
Social media exploded on Friday when the No. 14 seeded Mercer Bears defeated the perennial powerhouse Duke Blue Devils, a No. 3 seed. In an NCAA tournament that has already seen a few upsets, this is definitely the biggest so far.
Duke’s Jabari Parker, who recently won the Tisdale Award as the nation’s top freshman, struggled against Mercer’s senior-heavy team. He turned it over three times in the first half and committed an obvious foul for goaltending.
Parker has yet to (publicly) make up his mind regarding his plans for next year, but it’s fair to say that if he decides to declare for the NBA Draft, his one-year college career will no have ended on a high note. Quite the opposite, in fact.
Against the Bears, Jabar shot 4-for-14, ending the day with just 14 points, seven rebounds and zero assists. He struggled from beginning to end, missing shot after shot and throwing up a couple of airballs along the way.
Seniors Daniel Coursey and Jakob Gollon led the charge in the Bears bid for an upset, combining for 37 of the 78 points scored by Mercer. Gollon also led the team in rebounds, with five, and steals, with two.
Duke actually took at 63-58 lead with just under five minutes left in the game after Parker hit a three and Tyler Thornton sunk a few free throws, but then Mercer completely took over. The 13-point underdogs went on a 20-5 tear, ultimately winning by a comfortable seven-point margin.
On Thursday Duke’s coach Mike Krzyzewski said, “Mercer is a team that can beat us, definitely.†Though looking at the stunned Blue Devil faces on the bench in the final minutes of the game, it was quite clear they never saw it coming.
After Mercer secured a very unlikely victory, Bears guard Kevin Canevari put on an even better show! With his teammates surrounding him, Canevari busted out a collection of the finest white boy dance moves March Madness has ever seen.
