Geoff Burke/USA Today Sports, via Reuters
WASHINGTON — Zion Williamson, Duke’s dominant freshman, established himself early against Virginia Tech on Friday night.
First, he powered his way to a layup. Next, he put back a teammate’s errant jump shot for a two-handed dunk. Finally, he stepped back to drain a 3-pointer.
It was Williamson in full, but it was almost not enough as Virginia Tech launched shots from deep beyond the 3-point arc, finished an alley-oop with flair and countered Williamson’s whirls with impressive team play. Top-seeded Duke found itself trailing by 4 points at halftime and in danger of becoming the second giant toppled on Friday in the N.