When St. John’s plays in their first Sweet Sixteen game in more than two decades, it’ll be facing one, if not the most talented team in the country, in Duke. For as much as the Johnnies are lauded for their physicality and size, Duke’s blend of those two attributes with pro-like skill is rarely seen in college basketball.
Here are the three major duels that will decide Friday’s matchup between the Red Storm and the Blue Devils.
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Zuby Ejiofor vs. Cameron Boozer
Two of the best big men in college basketball are set to battle in the nation’s capital after treating the paint as their domain for the last 30 or so games. Each of these 6-foot-9 forwards uses their brute strength as a calling card, but they also impact the game in different ways. Ejiofor covers all 4,700 square feet of the court and bullies opposing bigs regularly in the paint, while Boozer operates with more finesse, using his exceptional playmaking out of the post and flashing a potent perimeter scoring touch to stretch defenses out.
Although Ejiofor has faced talented bigs like Joshua Jefferson, Jayden Quaintance, Tarris Reed, and Flory Bidunga this season, none of them are as gifted as Boozer. The Miami native leads the Blue Devils with 22.4 points per game, an ACC-best 10.3 rebounds per game, 4.2 assists per game, and 1.5 steals per game, while shooting 56.3% from the floor and 39.8% from deep.
Boozer has been asked to create more for his teammates while Caleb Foster deals with a fractured foot, and he’s started to show cracks. He’s hitting 42.9% from the field and averaging 4.8 assists to 4.4 turnovers in the five games without Foster, including five turnovers in each of his first NCAA Tournament games against Siena and TCU. That could be troublesome against a Red Storm defense that punishes giveaway-prone players, as Ejiofor himself paces the Johnnies with 1.2 steals per game.
Among the following player matchups, this is the one that’s going to have the greatest impact on who advances to the Elite Eight and who goes home.
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Bryce Hopkins vs. Maliq Brown
Another battle between forwards is also taking place on the Capital One Arena floor this Friday. Bryce Hopkins is a bit undersized at power forward, opting to use his ball-handling and agility to break down taller players, while Brown plays like a traditional big man on pick-and-rolls who also helps Boozer inside.
Hopkins is rapidly rounding into form after dealing with inconsistency this season, averaging 15.2 points and 7.6 rebounds on 60% shooting from the field over his last five games in the Big East and NCAA Tournaments. Although he loves to work inside, the 6-foot-6 forward is now a legitimate three-point threat, hitting 11-of-18 from three (61.1%) in that stretch.
Brown has stepped into the starting lineup since Patrick Ngongba went down with a foot injury, becoming a steady post presence and remaining in the opening five even when Ngongba returned versus TCU. Over his last seven games as a starter, Brown is averaging 7.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.8 steals on 78.3% shooting. Unlike Hopkins, Brown isn’t much of a three-point threat, making one triple in this stretch. He’s an interior scoring threat who punishes soft coverage with alley-oop slams and dunks out of the pick and roll.
While Dillon Mitchell likely gets assigned to play against the quick and rangy Dame Sarr, Hopkins will have a taller order against this season’s ACC Defensive Player of the Year.
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Oziyah Sellers vs. Isaiah Evans
Sometimes, games aren’t decided by who has the best player on the floor, but who has the hottest scorer. Sellers and Evans are their respective team’s best three-point threats, and they both supply offense as microwave scorers.
Oziyah Sellers has experienced his tribulations in inconsistent perimeter scoring this season, but he’s turning a corner again, making 7-of-19 (36.8%) from beyond the arc over his last five. Against Northern Iowa, he bagged three long-range buckets in the first half.
It’s worth pointing out that Sellers had one of his best shooting nights this season at Capital One Arena. Back on New Year’s Eve at Georgetown, he put up 16 points on 6-of-8 from the field and 4-of-5 from deep.
While Sellers predominantly does damage roaming around the perimeter and making catch-and-shoot threes, Evans’s offensive bag is more balanced, as he can score more effectively downhill and break down his defender. The sophomore guard out of Fayetteville, North Carolina is the perfect Robin to Boozer’s Batman, averaging 15.0 points and 3.3 rebounds on 42.5% shooting from the field (55.3% inside the arc) and 35.8% from deep on 7.4 attempts from beyond-the-arc per game.
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Over his last five, Evans is averaging 18.2 points on 62.5% shooting on two-point attempts and 31.9% from deep. Don’t be fooled by that below-freezing three-point clip. One of those games included a 32-point outing against Florida State in which he connected on seven of his 16 three-point attempts.
St. John’s frustrated Kansas on Sunday, not by stopping Darryn Peterson, but by shutting down his teammates and never letting them get hot. Carrying out that same game plan will be necessary to keep the Blue Devils’ secondary scorers, like Evans, from finding their scoring touch and turning this game into a track meet.
