Once the Duke basketball team got rolling in Newark it felt like there was no stopping them. As they’ve shown all season, once they find a rhythm its like a freight train coming down the tracks, but Arizona didn’t get the memo.
After leading by as many as 19 points in the second half, 70-51, the Wildcats mounted a comeback getting within five points, 91-86 and 98-93 in the closing seconds, of the Blue Devils, but Jon Scheyer’s team had a finishing kick to get across the finish line with a 100-93 victory.
It’s only field goal in the final 7:15 was a 3-pointer made by Sion James that pushed the lead from seven to ten with 4:16 remaining.
Cooper Flagg was the star for Duke, but the sequence at the end of the first half was what allowed the ACC Champions to get separation.
After Caleb Love tied the game with a 3-pointer and under a minute to play, Arizona called timeout, which allowed Duke to draw up a play to get Kon Knueppel a wide open 3-pointer.
Then Love tried to take things into his own hands with a NBA range 3-pointer. He could’ve drained the clock for the final possession of the half, but it left five seconds for Cooper Flagg to hit a buzzer beating triple that put Duke up by six, 48-42, at halftime.
It continued into the second half for Love with a 3-pointer that wasn’t close on the opening possession and a Khaman Maluach and-1. Ironically, Love played well outside of those two poor decisions. He finished with 35 points on 11-of-21 shooting and 5-of-11 from 3-point range.
In less than 30 seconds Duke led by nine continued to build upon its advantage.
Flagg matched him with 30 points of his own while Knueppel added 20 points.
It sets up a date with No. 2 Alabama in the Elite 8 on Saturday in Newark after the Crimson Tide broke an NCAA Tournament record for most made 3-pointers in a game against BYU.