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Cooper Flagg had the initial answer, knocking down a baseline jumper over Mark Sears. Khaman Maluach proceeded to stuff home an emphatic dunk to push Duke’s lead to 69-58. Just as the Tide appeared to find their stride, the Blue Devils showed their evolution from a team that suffered a pair of early-season heartbreaking losses to Kentucky and Kansas, to a team that looks unbeatable heading into the Final Four.

Those early defeats have given way to a team that continues to display a killer instirct and has more than lived up to the hype since the calendar turned to March. And when the final buzzer sounded Saturday night, it was the Blue Devils who stamped their ticket to San Antoinio with a dominant 85-65 victory over Alabama. 

The Blue Devils did it with defense, holding the Crimson Tide scoreless for a four-minute stretch and going on a 7-0 run after their lead was cut to 65-58. Duke held Sears to just six points on 2-of-12 shooting. One year after leading the Tide to the school’s first-ever Final Four, this was a different kind of challenge for Sears. 

With four and a half minutes to go, the fifth-year senior had the basketball on the left wing. He tried to drive on Flagg and took one too many steps, being called for a travel. After a turnover on the ensuing possession, Sears attempted to get out on the break and attack Tyrese Proctor, who took a charge on the baseline drive, prompting a timeout. After Flagg scored a pair of free throws and then finished on Sears just shy of the shot clock expiring, it served as the dagger. 

A 13-0 run over five minutes showed why this Duke program should be considered the front-runner in San Antonio next weekend. Their length and athleticism locked up the nation’s highest scoring offense at 91.4 points per game entering the contest, forcing the Tide into their worst scoring output of the season.

Flagg finished with 16 points on 6-of-16 shooting from the floor, and while he wasn’t as strong as he was on Thursday night, that’s why the Blue Devils are the best team in the country.

Kon Knueppel delivered 19 points, five rebounds and four assists, one of which was a nasty dish to Sion James for an easy dunk to give Duke an 11-point lead with 8:44 left. Maluach provided the interior presence with 14 points, eight rebounds and two blocks, while Proctor continued his star-studded March with 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the field.

As good as Duke was on the offensive end – shooting 54% from the field and 46% from downtown – Saturday night’s win was all about the Blue Devils’ ability to step up and string together stops. In addition to shutting down Sears, Duke held Alabama to just 8-of-32 (25%) shooting from the field after their 25-of-51 performance Thursday. 

For Scheyer, it’s the latest moment of validation in a three-year run that’s led to this, his first trip to a Final Four, and proof that he was the perfect replacement for Mike Krzyzewski. 

That first title in a decade? The hope is real because this Duke team has it all. 

– John Fanta

Gators complete epic comeback, punch ticket to Final Four

By virtue of scheduling, Florida became the first of four SEC schools with an opportunity to reach the Final Four in what could well be remembered as the finest basketball weekend in conference history. The Gators, seeded first in the West, had arrived at this point by pulling away from fourth-seeded Maryland in the Sweet 16 earlier this week. They entered Saturday’s date with No. 3 Texas Tech on the precipice of the national semifinals, a place the program hadn’t been since former head coach Billy Donovan was still prowling the sideline in 2014, the penultimate season before he ascended to the NBA. No season between then and now had captivated the fan base quite like this one, which included 33 wins in 37 games ahead of the Elite Eight, including an SEC Tournament title, and a string of nine consecutive victories dating to March 1. It was easy to understand why the Gators were a trendy national championship pick for observers and analysts alike.

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