Duke rallies from down 10, outlasts St. John’s to book spot in Elite 8
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Duke hasn’t won a national championship in 11 years, which is a really long time for the proud blue blood that many fans love and others don’t.
And the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament almost extended that title drought on Friday night in Washington. Then the Blue Devils kicked it into a higher gear that No. 5 seed St. John’s just couldn’t handle, and Duke won the race to the finish line, finishing off an intense 80-75 victory in the East Region semifinal.
When the Red Storm took a 55-45 lead on Ian Jackson’s 18-foot pullup jumper with 15:01 remaining in the game, the ESPN play-by-play calculated St. John’s as having a 75.1% chance to pull the upset. But the ACC regular-season and tournament champions responded with a vengeance, going on an 18-7 run that was capped by Isaiah Evans’ 3-pointer with just under 8 minutes to go.
It wasn’t the last time that Duke would trail, but it turned the momentum of the game for good, and the Blue Devils (35-2) were able to outlast the Red Storm (30-7) down the stretch to book their 3rd straight trip to the Elite 8. Duke will find out who it faces on Sunday afternoon later Friday night, with No. 2 seed UConn and No. 3 seed Michigan State battling it out in Washington to have a crack at the Blue Devils.
After St. John’s took its last lead of the game at 69-67 with 4:21 left, Duke owned the stretch, starting with another Evans 3-pointer that gave the Blue Devils the lead for good at 70-69. Caleb Foster, who made his return on Friday night after breaking his foot in the regular-season finale just 20 days earlier, knocked down a jumper with 2:14 left that gave Duke a 6-point cushion, capping an 8-0 run, and Dylan Darling, the hero of the Red Storm’s second-round victory over Kansas last Sunday, misfired badly on a 3-pointer in the final seconds that would’ve tied it.
Cameron Boozer, who had yet another double-double on Friday in a season full of them, scoring 22 points and pulling down 10 rebounds in 39 minutes, made the 2 clinching free throws after Darling’s miss to seal the deal and send Duke to Sunday.
On this night, Boozer didn’t lead Duke in scoring for a change. That title belonged to Evans, who had a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including those couple of clutch 3-pointers that helped the Blue Devils storm back against the Red Storm.
Cayden Boozer still started at point guard despite Foster’s heroic return. Foster played 19 minutes off the bench, collecting 11 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. Duke shot 54% from the field and outrebounded St. John’s, 40-27, and that all was a little too much to overcome for Rick Pitino’s team.
Duke struggled at the free throw line, going just 15 of 24, but it was able to overcome that. Zuby Ejiofor led a balanced Red Storm attack with 17 points, 8 rebounds and 6 assists, and Bryce Hopkins added 15 points, but the Blue Devils had a little too much down the stretch and that national championship drought still has a chance to end next week in Indianapolis.
With Duke on to the Elite 8 and St. John’s going home, the teams in the mix to make the Final Four keeps shrinking. Here is what the Kalshi market currently sees for those teams still left regarding their chances to get to Indianapolis:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
