WASHINGTON, D.C. — Cameron Boozer’s torn jersey said it all. At the end of 40 physical minutes, the K in “Duke” was dangling from his chest — perhaps a poetic nod to the game’s winningest coach. Boozer will have to find new threads for Sunday, because the Blue Devils are back in the Elite Eight.
It took every second of a dogfight for top-seeded Duke to outlast the No. 5 Red Storm at Capital One Arena, 80-75, and advance to the East Regional final. The Blue Devils (35-2) and Red Storm (30-7) were never separated by much, on the scoreboard or on floor.
“They gave us everything tonight,” Scheyer said. “They were incredibly ready.”
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The back-and-forth flow of the game made overtime feel almost inevitable. A game that good deserved five more minutes to crown a victor. And the Red Storm certainly had their chance to force free basketball.
Duke’s Isaiah Evans split a pair of free throws in the final minute to leave the door open. Dylan Darling, the hero who hit the game-winner in the Round of 32 to send the Johnnies to their first Sweet 16 this century, fired up a 3-pointer that was off the mark. Boozer iced the game from there, tacking on two more free throws to punctuate his 22-point double-double.
Those free throws were no given for the Blue Devils. They left nine points at the charity stripe (15-24), much to coach Jon Scheyer’s dismay. St. John’s only attempted eight free throws all night, instead raining down an uncharacteristic 3-point barrage.
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The Red Storm shot 13-for-32 from beyond the arc. It looked as if it was their night when center Ruben Prey connected on his third 3-pointer of the first half to give his team a one-point advantage at the break. Prey had hit 11 3s up to that point all season, and he tacked on another in the second half. As a team, Duke only hit one more 3-pointer than their opponent’s backup big man.
“We felt we had to win the 3-point line in a big way to have any shot at this game, and we did,” St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said. “We were up ten, we could not stop bully drives, bully drives, bully drives, bully drives, four, and we could not stop it, which is a credit to them.
The 73-year-old coach acknowledged a higher power was at play during an in-game interview after Dillon Mitchell hit his first trey ball of the year. But the sharpshooting that had St. John’s on top at the break started to falter in the second half. That’s when Duke’s Caleb Foster, who came off the bench in his first appearance since fracturing his foot in the regular-season finale, came to life.
“His commitment to Duke, his commitment to me and the program has been unmatched,” Scheyer said of Foster. “It was a surreal thing to coach. I really felt like he was going to will us to victory and that’s what he did.”
Foster scored all 11 of his points in the final 20 minutes, and his buckets could hardly have been more timely. The Johnnies built a 10-point lead early in the first half when their press was at its best. Foster responded by scoring seven straight points to keep the game from getting away from the Blue Devils.
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Evans, who scored a game-high 26 points, and Boozer brought Duke back from that deficit. And with his team nursing a lead late, it was Foster who extended the advantage by connecting on the Blue Devils’ final two field goals.
“I wanted to come out and provide anything possible, experience, whatever the team needed,” Foster said. I didn’t know what we needed or what to expect, but just providing a boost out there any way I can.”
Duke advances to its third consecutive Elite Eight on Sunday, where it will face the winner of No. 3 seed Michigan State and No. 2 UConn. Foster’s return to the lineup bodes well for the Blue Devils’ hopes of raising their first banner since 2015. But the road back to the regional final has not been as easy as expected for the blue blood powerhouse.
No. 16 Siena gave Duke a scare in the Round of 64. And No. 9 TCU was within striking distance early in the second half in the Round of 32 until the Blue Devils ran away with the game. Now, a bout with another blue blood awaits with a second straight foray to the Final Four up for grabs.
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