SAN FRANCISCO—Staring down the end of their beloved head coach’s career, the Blue Devils refused to quit, and they punched their ticket to the Elite Eight because of it.

The second-seeded Blue Devils traveled to San Francisco for the West Regional, where they topped the third-seeded Red Raiders 78-73 in the Sweet 16 at the Chase Center. After a slow start that saw the Red Raiders dominate for the first few minutes, the Blue Devils rallied in heroic fashion, as the matchup became a tight battle of energized offenses in the second.

“I’ve never played in a basketball game like that. When you’re out there, it’s not like you’re even thinking. You’re just playing to win,” freshman phenom Paolo Banchero—who finished with a team-leading 22 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals—said after the game.

With four minutes on the clock, the Blue Devils were down one despite four players being in double-digit points. Two Jeremy Roach drives, a Banchero triple and a Mark Williams block later, Duke was up three with one and a half to go. It was then Roach sank yet another clutch jumper to put Duke up five with under a minute to go.

“The resolve of Jeremy Roach was incredible. His drives against that defense were so strong, so determined,” head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

However, Roach then missed the free throw, and Texas Tech responded with a dunk, cutting Duke’s lead to three with 26 seconds remaining. Then, after being fouled on the inbounds, Wendell Moore Jr. went to the line, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and sunk two free throws to give Duke a five point lead with 25 to go.

The Red Raiders wouldn’t quit, though, and Adonis Arms drained a quick 3-pointer to bring the Red Raiders within two. Thirteen seconds, up two points, Duke had to figure out a way to close out the game.

Chants of “Let’s go Duke” erupted, and Texas Tech once again went for the inbounds foul. AJ Griffin, on yet another hot shooting night, made both, though, and Duke maintained a two-possession cushion with 12.9 seconds left.

When Arms missed his next 3-point attempt and Banchero made one of two free throws with under five seconds to go, they had done it. The Blue Devils were going to the Elite Eight.

“I think all year, in the biggest moments, we always stepped up, and there’s no bigger moment than this,” Banchero said.

After a hotly contested first half that saw Duke trail by four entering the locker room, the Blue Devils began the second with a little more skip in their step, scoring on each of their first four possessions, though they couldn’t stop Texas Tech from doing the same.

Roach, who ended with 15 points, 11 in the second half, and five assists, continued his fiery play from the opening period with one of the slick drives to the basket he’s been pulling out more and more in the postseason. Meanwhile, Williams grabbed a quick eight points in the first five minutes with three makes from under the basket and two free throws, and graduate transfer Theo John got on the board with a put-back layup. Finally, a wing three from Griffin dotted the “i” on a Duke run that knotted the score at 47 with 12 to go.

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Then, after not leading since midway through the first half, Duke gained two points on the Red Raiders with a dextrous pullup jumper from Banchero, sending the sea of ​​Blue in the Chase Center into a frenzy.

“Great players just go. The moment and the need take them to a place that a great player would love to be in. And that’s where he was,” Krzyzewski said of how Banchero stepped up.

Still, the Red Raiders would not be outdone, going on a 4-0 burst, before another drive from Roach, plus the and-one, continued an exciting back-and-forth half of basketball.

While Duke’s offense seemingly found its footing, moving the ball to break Texas Tech’s defensive scheme, the Red Raiders were efficient at capitalizing on Duke mistakes.

However, a corner three from Banchero—his second triple on three attempts—and a pair of free throws from Mark Williams put the Blue Devils right back on top.

Though Bryson Williams sank a three to catch the Red Raiders up, a drive from Moore and an and-one kept the Blue Devils’ narrow one-point lead. For a matchup billed as a battle of defense, with under seven minutes on the clock, it sure looked like a shootout. Sure enough, a spin-move and a layup from Banchero then grabbed Duke his largest lead of the game, up three, but Bryson Williams responded quickly with his own for Texas Tech.

The crowd reached deafening levels after a Banchero-assisted slam dunk from Mark Williams, but the Blue Devils found themselves briefly their own enemy, as two turnovers in under 30 seconds gave the Red Raiders the chance to once again tie up then lead the game.

Texas Tech came out to start the game on fire, forcing three turnovers and subsequent fastbreaks to gain a 10-2 lead in the first four and a half minutes. The Red Raiders’ signature stifling defense gained them opportunities on the other side of the court, exacerbated by Duke’s early shooting woes, with the Blue Devils going 1-of-5 through their first six attempts.

“Obviously, we weren’t ready for that level of expertise on defense,” Krzyzewski said. “The end of the half was critical. They had a seven-point lead, and we were able to score and not let them score, so all of a sudden you’re looking at a four-point [game] and we have the ball.”

However, Duke got back into it just a few minutes later, after consecutive makes from Griffin and Moore put the Blue Devils within three, a steal and an and-one layup from Banchero tied up the game at the 13:15 mark.

From there on, Duke and Texas Tech traded baskets, with the Blue Devils unable to take the lead away from the Red Raiders, but the challengers in red also unable to build a lead of more than four at the half.

Next, the Blue Devils will take on Arkansas in the Elite Eight Saturday.

Sasha Richie

Sasha Richie is a Trinity junior and the Blue Zone Editor of The Chronicle’s 117th volume.

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Mike Krzyzewski’s farewell tour continues, and Hubert Davis’ first March Madness dance has been extended.

The men’s basketball teams from Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill survived the first weekend and are advancing to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament.

Second-seeded Duke beat Cal State Fullerton and Michigan State in Greenville, South Carolina, while the No. 8 Tar Heels topped Marquette and top-seed Baylor in Fort Worth, Texas.

According to NCAA.com, there are no perfect fan-picked brackets left.

Should the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels win both of their next two games, they’ll face each other in the Final Four. The two bitter rivals have never met before in the NCAA Tournament. They split games this past regular season.

Here’s how Duke and UNC won this past weekend, and what lies ahead for them.

Duke

Duke forward Wendell Moore Jr. during the second half of a college basketball game in the second round of the NCAA tournament Sunday, March 20, 2022, in Greenville, SC

• First Win: The Blue Devils beat no. 15 Cal State Fullerton on Friday, 78-61. Five Duke players scored in double-digits, but Paolo Banchero – the ACC Rookie of the Year – led the way with 17 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Mark Williams had 15 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five blocks. As a team, Duke blocked 10 shots, his most in a first-round NCAA Tournament game.
• Second win: Duke beat no. 7 Michigan State 85-76 on Sunday. Again, five Duke players scored in double figures, and again, Banchero powered the Blue Devils with 19 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Williams had 15 points, eight boards and five blocks. Duke is now 14-4 all-time vs. Michigan State.
• Fun Fact: Mike Krzyzewski will coach in the Sweet 16 for the 26th time. No other coach in the history of Division I men’s basketball has appeared in the second weekend of the tournament more than Coach K.
• They Said It: “Look, I’m 75. To have moments like that, you’ve got to be kidding me. Really, how damn lucky can you be to be in that? And I want to share it. I don’t want to sit down and say, ‘You guys enjoy it.’ I want to be in the party a little bit. That’s the enjoyment I’ve got; (that) I’ve had for 47 years. Today was one of the really good days.” – Krzyzewski on celebrating the win over Michigan State.
• Up Next: Duke will play No. 3 Texas Tech on Thursday at 9:30 pm EST in San Francisco.

North Carolina

North Carolina guard RJ Davis (4) and forward Armando Bacot (5) celebrate in the second half of a second-round game against Baylor in the NCAA college basketball tournament in Fort Worth, Texas, Saturday, March, 19, 2022.

• First Win: The Tar Heels topped No. 9 Marquette on Thursday, 95-63 for Hubert Davis’ first NCAA Tournament win as a head coach. North Carolina shared the ball and dished out a season-best 29 assists on 34 made-baskets in the victory. Brady Manek led the Tar Heels with 28 points and 11 rebounds, while Caleb Love added 23 points. Marquette had three technical fouls.
• Second Win: RJ Davis scored a career-high 30 points as North Carolina upset No. 1 seed Baylor – last year’s national champions – 93-86 in overtime. It was the ninth time North Carolina defeated a No. 1 seed in the tournament. Davis also had five rebounds and six assists, while Brady Manek scored 26 points and Armando Bacot tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds.
• Fun Fact: North Carolina made 13 three-pointers against Marquette, the most it ever made in an NCAA Tournament game. The Tar Heels’ previous high was 12 in 2005 vs. Oakland. Love’s six three-pointers against Marquette tied a UNC single-game NCAA Tournament record.
• They Said It: “I didn’t want to go home. I mean, there was no time to be tired. When we were going to go to overtime, I knew what was at stake. And we all wanted to win.” – RJ Davis after beating Baylor.
• Up Next: The Tar Heels will face No. 4 UCLA on Friday at 9:40 pm EST om Philadelphia.

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March 26, 2021

Shawn Echols and Mario Flaherty, both from Mills High School, continue to do well in their respective departments. Shawn recently passed his driver / engineer doctorate exam and got the top 3%. Shawn is part of the Dallas Fire Department.

Mario recently completed his probationary period in the San Francisco Fire Department after graduating from academy last year. Both young men received Department I scholarships and bachelor’s degrees after two years at Skyline before embarking on their careers as firefighters.

This press release was produced by Skyline College. The views expressed are those of the author.

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