Duke outlasts Texas Tech. Coach K and Blue Devils advance to face Arkansas in Elite 8
No. 9 Duke’s perfect finishing kick sent the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight Thursday night.
The Blue Devils didn’t miss a shot from the field over the game’s final 8 minutes and 19 seconds, allowing them to break away from a nip-and-tuck game and beat No. 12 Texas Tech 78-73 at the Chase Center.
The win sends No. 2 seeded Duke (31-6) into the West Regional final where the Blue Devils meet No. 4 seed Arkansas in the West Regional final Saturday night at approximately 8:45 p.m., with TBS televising. The Razorbacks (28-8) upset the tournament’s top seed Gonzaga, 74-68, earlier Thursday night.
The Blue Devils have carried their 75-year-old coach, Mike Krzyzewski, to within one win of reaching his 13th Final Four in 42 seasons with the Blue Devils before his planned retirement.
“God bless them,” Krzyzewski said. “What a great group, these kids. They’ve grown up so much in the last 12 days. It’s such a joy. It’s an amazing thing.”
Paolo Banchero scored 22 points to lead Duke, which hit its final eight shots from the field to shoot 70.4% (17 of 24) in the second half. No team had shot better in a half this season against defensively tough Texas Tech, which had limited its opponents to 38.2% shooting this season.
“When you’re playing a team like Duke that has so much firepower on their offensive end and a lot of guys that can do a lot of great things on the floor one-on-one, it’s always going to be hard to stop,” said Texas Tech senior forward Bryson Williams, who led his team with 21 points. “Those guys had momentum going into it the end of the game, and they took fully advantage of it, so just hats off to them. They played great on the offensive end towards the end of the game.”
Banchero hit three of those final eight shots, including a pair of 3-pointers.
“Paolo did a couple of things tonight that he has never done in his life, and he did it instinctually,” Krzyzewski said. “He just wanted to win so badly, and it was so beautiful to see.”
The Blue Devils shot 51.9% overall and emerged a winner in a thrilling game that saw 13 lead changes and 11 ties.
“In the biggest moments we’ve always stepped up, and there’s no bigger moment than this.,” Banchero said. “I don’t know about these guys, but I’ve never played in a basketball game like that.”
Mark Williams scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half for the Blue Devils. Sophomore guard Jeremy Roach continued his hot March with 15 points and five assists.
“The resolve of Jeremy Roach was incredible,” Krzyzewski said. “His drives against that defense were so strong, so determined.”
With the Red Raiders (27-10) up 56-52, Banchero started Duke’s finishing rush with a 3-pointer at 8:19.
Texas Tech led 68-66 when Kevin McCullar, who scored 17 points, hit a 3-pointer with 3:16 to play. But Banchero answered with his own 3-pointer at 2:55, igniting a 7-0 Duke run that turned the game in its favor.
Roach hit two tough baskets, with a jumper and shot in the lane, on Duke’s next two possessions to give the Blue Devils a 73-68 lead.
Duke hit five of six free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the win and reach the Elite Eight for the third time in the last four NCAA tournaments.
With Duke struggling on offense, Texas Tech took a 33-29 halftime lead. Though Duke hit 5 of its first 7 shots after halftime, the Red Raiders kept finding driving lanes to the basket and built a 46-40 lead with 15:06 to play.
After a timeout, the Blue Devils made their defensive switch to a 2-3 zone and it sparked a rally. The Blue Devils unleashed a 9-1 run as Texas Tech went four minutes without a field goal.
“They were wearing us down,” Krzyzewski said, “so the zone gave us a chance to kind of dance around the ring a little bit instead of being in a corner.”
Williams started the rally with two free throws and Theo John rebounded and scored off a Roach missed 3-pointer.
A Griffin 3-pointer tied the game at 47 and Banchero’s jumper with 11:35 gave Duke its first lead of the second half at 49-47.
But Texas Tech adjusted during a timeout and began working the ball around and through the zone to score. McCullar scored seven consecutive Texas Tech points as the Red Raiders built a 56-52 lead with 9:24 left.
Duke pushed back with five points in a row on a Banchero 3-pointer and two Williams free throws to lead 57-56 with 7:43 to play.
And the lead continued to see-saw back and forth from there.
After the zone had kept them in the game earlier in the second half, the Blue Devils pleaded with their coach during a timeout to go back to their traditional man-to-man. He obliged.
“They were playing so well,” Krzyzewski said. “I figured I would listen to them.”
In the first half, Texas Tech hit Duke hard in the game’s first five minutes as the Blue Devils committed three turnovers and started 1 of 5 from the field to trail 10-2.
But with the Red Raiders leading 12-4, the Blue Devils settled down to work their half-court offense far better. An 8-0 Duke run forced the first of five first-half ties.
Roach gave Duke its first lead of the game, at 24-22, on a jumper in the lane with 7:47 to play. But Obanor drilled his second 3-pointer of the game to put Texas Tech back in front 25-24 and the Red Raiders held the lead the remainder of the half.
Obanor’s basket in the lane with 1:12 left in the half gave the Red Raiders a 33-26 lead before Banchero drove to dunk while drawing a foul with 12.6 seconds left. His free throw cut Duke’s halftime deficit to 33-29.
The scoring output was Duke’s second-lowest of any first half this season. The Blue Devils shot just 36.7% overall, including a frigid 3 of 11 (27.3%) on 3-pointers.
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 11:14 PM with the headline "Duke outlasts Texas Tech. Coach K and Blue Devils advance to face Arkansas in Elite 8."