NCAA tournament

Number three Duke opened their March Madness campaign against number fourteen Mercer, and a large win was predicted. Duke have been inconsistent at times this season, but many believed they could go all the way to the Final Four. With many eyes on the 2014 NBA draft, peoples were watching to see how stars Jabari Parker and Rodney Hood would perform. Although both are predicted to go early in the first round, March Madness can change that.

The game went back and forth in the first half with Duke taking the 35-34 lead over Mercer at the half, but Mercer came out hitting almost every shot they took. Jabari Parker struggled in the first half, but a sign of a quality, NBA-ready player is their ability to still get high numbers on the box score during their rough patches, and Parker did just that scoring 7 points and grabbing 5 rebounds at the half. Rodney Hood had six at the half, but it was Rasheed Sulaimon who stole the show, scoring 12 points, all off of three-point shots.

This was supposed to be the start of something special for Jabari Parker and his Duke team, but the more experienced, although less glamorous, Mercer, had different ideas as they grabbed the 78-71 victory. This defeat looked inevitable as Hood and Parker took their first half struggles in to the second half, and Hood fouled out towards the end, making it an even tougher task for the Duke Blue Devils.

This early exit from March Madness shouldn't hurt Jabari Parker's draft stock too much, but it may, just may, cause teams to think twice about drafting him first, especially if rival player Andrew Wiggins has an outstanding tournament as predicted. Although Parker cannot be blamed, his third seed team losing to a fourteenth cannot be ignored.

How far can Mercer go? Many are suggesting not much further, but after the confidence boosting victory over Duke, who knows what to expect. With this bracket buster, you can only wonder many brackets are left intact?