MISSISSAUGA, Ont. – It started with such promise.
Fifth-year senior guard Jean-Victor Mukama received a pass on the right wing, pulled up in rhythm and drilled the first shot of the game with a no-doubt splash triple.
The Ryerson Rams were in business, leading the mighty Duke Blue Devils 3-0.
It was the beginning of an impressive opening quarter for the Rams, who looked poised despite the hype surrounding this Duke team and their two highly-vaunted freshmen, Canadian R.J. Barrett and Zion Williamson, making their debut with the school.
And while the two Blue Devils super froshies made an immediate impact, showing why they’ll likely be battling for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NBA draft with Barrett throwing down a monster slam and Williamson with one of the most impressive goaltends you’ll ever see, Ryerson wasn’t looking intimidated in the slightest.
At seven-foot-two, Rams sophomore centre Tanor Ngom is hard to miss.
Duke guard Alex O’Connell – who legendary Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said is in the hospital to look at a potential injury to his eye socket – likely won’t be forgetting Ngom any time soon, at any rate. Not after the Senegalese dunked all over him and proclaimed to the crowd that “this is our town!” – a difficult distinction to make seeing as just about every person in the sold-out arena Wednesday night was wearing Dukie blue.
Still, props to Ngom for his boldness in the moment because it was that kind of opening quarter for Ryerson.
And by the end of the game’s first 10 minutes, the Rams – a team that features five fifth-year players, including Mukama, as well as two more fourth-year seniors on its roster – appeared to be showing the difference in its experience between the two sides with a 17-15 lead.
As it turns out, however, according to Krzyzewski, all that great work the Rams did to build their two-point lead and all-important positive momentum was really just exhibition jitters.
“I thought we were a little nervous to start the game, we had seven turnovers in the first quarter,” the Duke coach said after Wednesday night’s affair. “They were good, they forced them, but I thought we were nervous and the ball looked like a hot potato for us, they beat us to loose balls and they’re good.”
A 25-point second-quarter Duke explosion later – and a quarter that saw Ryerson score only 11 points – and Coach K’s assessment of the situation rang true. A game that started with such hope for the Rams was quickly and efficiently eviscerated by Duke’s two star freshmen — who combined for 63 points – as the Blue Devils ran away with the contest 86-67.
So then, what happened in that second quarter that led to this massacre?
“I think fatigue kicked in,” said Mukama, who finished with a Ryerson team-high 20 points and 12 rebounds. “There’s a lot of eyes, a lot of cameras.”
Going just 5-for-31 from three-point range will also shoot you in the foot, but Mukama’s point is well taken.
Duke are one of the marquee franchises in sports, with a reputation and star power that can rival that of the New York Yankees, Los Angeles Lakers or Toronto Maple Leafs. Going up against a team like that – one that can come to your university’s home country and make it their own home game – is much different than anything this Rams team has ever encountered.
Even if you don’t really know about Duke’s long-standing traditions.
“I don’t really know much about teams in the U.S. or NCAA basketball, but I’ve heard they’re a very good team,” said Ngom, who has only been playing organized basketball for four years. “They win a lot of games, they have a lot of championships. So definitely it gives a different feeling playing against those guys. So athletic, so quick and kind of professional in the way they approach the game.”
Encounters against programs like Duke don’t happen every day so, for Ryerson, this was something to savour, something to remember.
“This program is legendary man,” said Mukaba. “Never in my wildest dreams did I ever think I was ever gonna play against Duke.
“Especially not here, especially not somewhere with 5,000 people in the stands. This is something I’m gonna remember for the rest of my life.”
He’ll also, most notably, recall the time his OUA Ryerson Rams entered the second quarter with a lead over the five-time NCAA national champion Duke Blue Devils.
An experience of a lifetime.
