St. John's Red Storm at Duke Blue Devils

The Sweet Sixteen brings us a massive clash in the nation's capital as the top-seeded Duke Blue Devils meet a red-hot St. John's Red Storm squad that has forgotten how to lose.

Rick Pitino’s group is playing like a legitimate title contender, having won 21 of their last 22 games while surging to 10th nationally in adjusted efficiency. St. John's is peaking defensively at the exact right moment, surrendering a microscopic 86.8 Defensive Rating and holding opponents to a 42.2% effective field goal percentage over their last three tournament games. With Big East Player of the Year Zuby Ejiofor and Dillon Mitchell anchoring the paint, the Red Storm have the requisite size and athleticism to challenge Cameron Boozer and force Duke to beat them from the perimeter.

That perimeter reliance is exactly where the Blue Devils are vulnerable right now. Over their last three games, Duke is shooting a cold 27.8% from beyond the arc and has seen their effective field goal percentage drop to 49.7%. They have survived this shooting slump by parading to the free-throw line, attempting over 21 foul shots per game in that span. However, St. John's has played incredibly disciplined defense recently, allowing opponents just 14.3 free-throw attempts per game. On the other end, the Red Storm have practically eliminated their own offensive mistakes, turning the ball over just 7.7 times per game (an elite 10.1% turnover rate) in their last three contests.

In a neutral-court environment, St. John's has intentionally slowed their pace down to 66 possessions per game—perfectly matching Duke's preferred methodical tempo. When a game slows down to a grind and possessions are limited, taking 6.5 points with a veteran, defensively disciplined team that doesn't turn the ball over and defends without fouling is tremendous value. Duke might be the overall number one seed, but St. John's has the formula and the defensive discipline to keep this within a couple of possessions.