And another one down! It was not easy, but nothing ever is... The Duke Blue Devils prevailed over the St. John's Red Storm in crunch time in the Sweet 16 to advance to the Elite Eight. While it was Duke's third tournament win so far this spring, it was the first over a head coach of Jon Scheyer's caliber. The ageless Rick Pitino is still the only head coach in the sport to win national titles at multiple programs.
While Scheyer did not have to face both Bill Self and Pitino, he waited to see who Duke would be playing next up in the Elite Eight. With Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies outlasting Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans, Scheyer will have to take on a head coach with multiple national titles under his belt. UConn was flirting with a No. 1 seed throughout most of the season. They will be a tough matchup.
What stands out from Duke's thrilling 80-75 Sweet 16 victory over St. John's is the team played its best basketball when it mattered most ... yet again. This just goes to show that even though this is a younger and slightly flawed team that it was built to go on a deep run in the tournament from the very start. This might have to do with the fact that all the Boozer twins do is win, win, win, no matter what...
With UConn up next on Sunday evening, here is the one thing Duke cannot do if it wants to advance.
Jon Scheyer needs to have Duke playing strong out of the gate vs. UConn
While Duke has clearly been a second-half team so far in this year's NCAA Tournament, as illustrated by their three wins so far over Siena, TCU, and now St. John's, Scheyer's team may not be able to afford another slow start vs. UConn. Michigan State did make it a contest in the second half, but a brutally bad start to the game was too much for Izzo's team to overcome. UConn is too well-coached.
At this stage of the game, five of the eight teams left playing in the Elite Eight have 30 or more wins on their resume. With Arizona, Duke, Michigan, Purdue, and UConn all being top-two seeds, that just comes with the territory. Even though Illinois, Iowa, and Tennessee have exceeded expectations, the chances of one of them winning a national title pail in comparison to the five others mentioned above.
For now, Scheyer needs to find a way to get more out of his players early. Yes, Caleb Foster put forth a Herculean effort in the second half coming back from his injury. While Patrick Ngongba II continues to work his way back from his injury as well, look for Scheyer to lean on the Boozer twins once again. Going up against a ticking clock, they just have a knack about them when it comes to winning games.
At this time, Scheyer is one step away from having his alma mater back in the Final Four this spring.