There will only be one double-digit seed headed to the Sweet 16, as 15 of the 16 teams playing in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament come from the top five seeds.
While it’s been an incredibly chalky first weekend of the tournament, there was almost one incredible upset on Sunday as UCF took Duke to the brink in Columbia. The Knights had a late lead on Duke before a Zion Williamson bucket and a R.J. Barrett putback off a missed free throw gave the Blue Devils a one-point edge.
UCF still had a great chance to pull off the upset over the top overall seed in the tournament, but two amazing looks at the basket somehow rimmed out as Duke escaped with a win. It was a gutting moment for UCF to watch as their hopes of the biggest upset of the tournament slid off the rim and afterwards there were plenty of tears in the locker room. Coach Johnny Dawkins addressed those tears with his team in an incredible speech where he said that emotion came from how much they bought in and cared for each other as a group as he thanked them for being a spectacular bunch on and off the floor.
“We end in tears…that’s because we’ve invested so much in each other.
I love you guys. It’s been amazing coaching this group.” –@Coach_Dawkins pic.twitter.com/B58DbNZzWO
— UCF Men’s Hoops 🌴 (@UCF_MBB) March 25, 2019
It’s a great message from Dawkins to his players, telling them that it was more than OK to be emotional after the loss, but to remember how impressive it was what they accomplished and how much they did together as a unit. In March, there are great moments of celebration, but for all but one team there will be moments like this where a season ends, often in disappointing, frustrating, or gut-wrenching fashion.
Dawkins fights through his own tears to try and pick his players up. Not telling them they shouldn’t be sad, but to remind them they’re sad because of how much they put into this team and invested in each other, which is also why the season was a success despite the tough ending.
