The Duke Blue Devils outplayed the TCU Horned Frogs, especially in the second half, and earned their place in the Sweet 16; it's that simple.
However, throughout the second-round matchup and in the hours that followed, college basketball fans and even TCU head coach Jamie Dixon found their groove by complaining to the officials or saying that the officials were handing Duke a free pass to the next round.
"Obviously, we had some challenges, got some foul trouble, and so our rotation wasn't where we wanted to be," Dixon said in the postgame press conference. "We had guys out there with four fouls, three fouls way too early."
Dixon even received a technical foul (whether it was called for or not) during the second half as he shouted at a ref over an uncalled goaltending penalty.
"I didn't get set off. I had a conversation with him. There was no raise of the voice; it was a conversation," Dixon said about the incident after the game.
Now, Dixon never said that the reason the Horned Frogs lost to Duke was because of the foul trouble, but he certainly never said that it wasn't a huge reason. However, no matter what Dixon or anyone else says, the Blue Devils simply outplayed TCU.
Duke outplayed TCU, Blue Devils earned ticket to Sweet 16
The Blue Devils outshot the Horned Frogs, 55 percent to 33 percent from the field, 33 percent to 29 percent from beyond the arc, and 87 percent to 50 percent from the free-throw line. Duke out-rebounded TCU 42 to 25. Duke earned more assists, 17 to 12, and had more blocks, four to three.
Sure, Duke shot 23 free throws while TCU only attempted 10, but that will happen when you have an elite player like Cameron Boozer who invites contact while driving to the basket. That's the only way teams can stop him, at least momentarily, after all.
Not to mention that Duke was only called for five fewer fouls than TCU. Simply put, the referees did not hand Duke a free pass to the Sweet 16, and anyone who says differently is just wrong.
The Blue Devils defeated the Horned Frogs 81-58 to move on to the next round and to send TCU packing.