HOUSTON, TX – The Blue Devils closed with a 13-1 run over the course of the game’s final five minutes, as top-seeded Duke pulled away with a 66-52 win over 2nd-seeded Gonzaga in the South Regional Final.
After an early second-half push gave the Bulldogs a four-point lead, Duke got a huge lift from unsung hero, Matt Jones. The sophomore guard hit 4-of-7 shots from behind the arc on his way to sixteen points. The Blue Devils also got sixteen points from Justise Winslow, who fed off the energy of his hometown crowd. The key to game, though, might have been Duke’s stinginess with the basketball, only turning it over three times all game (and one of those was an intentional shot clock violation in the game’s final seconds).
Kyle Wiltjer and Byron Wesley led the Bulldog effort with sixteen and ten points, respectively.
The Blue Devils advance to the Final Four in Indianapolis, where they will take on the 7th-seeded Michigan State Spartans on Saturday.
Kevin Kugler and Will Purdue called the action on Westwood One Sports.