Duke erases second-half hole, beats St. John's in Sweet 16
WASHINGTON – Duke trailed by double digits in the second half of an NCAA Tournament game for the second time.
The Blue Devils are advancing again, too.
Duke won a thriller 80-75 against 5-seed St. John’s in a Sweet 16 matchup Friday night at Capital One Arena.
The Blue Devils (35-2) will face either 3-seed Michigan State or 2-seed Connecticut on Sunday in the Elite Eight. Those teams had Friday’s late game.
Duke trailed by one at halftime and when it scored the first five points of the second half, it was a nice boost.
What followed was decidedly not.
St. John’s (30-7) went on a 13-0 run, leading 53-44. A timeout by Jon Scheyer in that stretch didn’t quell the Red Storm’s momentum. The Blue Devils committed a couple of turnovers near midcourt that led to Zuby Ejiofor runout dunks. They had one possession with three missed shots, the last two of them near the rim.
The guy 20 days removed from suffering a fracture in his foot, 19 days after surgery, gave the Blue Devils a hell of a boost.
Caleb Foster scored seven points in less than two minutes to breathe fire into the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed.
Isaiah Evans hit a go-ahead 3-pointer just under the 8-minute mark. He hit another one with 3:53 left and Duke never trailed again. Cameron Boozer had a three-point play to extend the lead on the next possession.
The Red Storm went 18 games — from Jan. 13 to March 14 — without making double-digit 3s. But St. John’s made 10 and 11 3-pointers last weekend and stayed hot.
St. John’s led 40-39 at halftime thanks in large part to a 9-for-18 clip from 3-point range. Four of those were why the Red Storm had momentum at halftime.
Duke’s lead was 35-28 at the final media timeout of the first half. Instead of extending the lead — or at least maintaining it — St. John’s rained in four 3s in the last three minutes of the half. The last two were by Ruben Prey, a sophomore big man who’d only taken 20 3s (and made 11) entering the game.
The much-anticipated return of Foster — 20 days after he fractured a bone in his right foot — came about 5½ minutes into the game. Duke needed 7 minutes from him in the first half because of St. John’s ball pressure and Cayden Boozer picking up two fouls. Foster had a rebound, an assist and missed his only shot in the first half.
Did you enjoy this story? If so, subscribe to Devils Illustrated to read *every* in-depth, objective, substantive story. Click here, subscribe, and stop missing out!
