Duke’s opponent features formidable guard tandem

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke’s NCAA Tournament begins today at 3:10 p.m. in Charlotte, N.C. And despite the distracting news about a certain toe, the top-seeded Blue Devils will try to focus on their crafty opponent, Hampton.

Duke (30-4), the top seed in the West region, has never played the Pirates (24-8), who received an automatic bid by winning the Mid Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship. Darrion Pellum and Kwame Morgan II, two guards that average 17.7 and 16.5 points, respectively, provide the bulk of Hampton’s offense.

“Pellum is a kid who can be a really good player in our league,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “And those two youngsters [Pellum and Morgan] really account for 60 percent of their offense.”

Sophomore Andre Dawkins said the game plan will focus on shutting down those two guards.

“For us to be successful, we have to be able to take them out of their game and make them do things they don’t want to do,” Dawkins said. “It’s the same with every team, you try to take their best players out.”

Hampton already has a spot in NCAA history for pulling off a huge upset. In 2001, the 15-seed Pirates knocked off second seeded Iowa State 58-57. Hampton is one of only four 15-seeds to ever win against a No. 2 seed, and was the most recent to do so.

Hampton coach Edward Joyner, Jr. said he will show his team a tape of that game before they take the court against the Blue Devils. Joyner, a Winston-Salem, N.C. native, started off his press conference by talking about how the Pirates are “happy to be here” and added he is “not ashamed to [say] I’m relishing in the moment.”

“This is a dream come true,” he said. “I told the team to enjoy it.”