Sweet 16: Duke "Bully Drives" Way Past St. John's

 

Cayden and Cameron Boozer. @DukeMBB.

The St. John's Red Storm's run in the NCAA Tournament ended in the Sweet 16 on Friday night in Washington, DC, as the Duke Blue Devils outlasted them late in a 80-75 win.

St. John's, who was seeded No. 5 in the East regional, won the Big East regular season and Tournament titles, while Duke isn't just rated No. 1 in this region, but the NCAA Tournament overall.

Isaiah Evans led the way for Duke, with 25 points on 10-15 from the field, including 4-8 on three-pointers, with four rebounds.

Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. he shot 7-16 from the field and 8-9 on free throws, while also notching three assists and a block.

St. John's was led by Zuby Ejiofor, who had 17 points on 6-17 shooting, including 2-5 on three-pointers, with eight rebounds, six assists, and one steal.

Bryce Hopkins had 15 points on a near-perfect 6-7 shooting, and 2-2 on threes, with seven rebounds, three assists, and a steal. Dillon Mitchell had 13 points, and he also shot 6-7 overall (1-1 on threes), with four rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

This one was different than what St. John's has been used to in the postseason, starting with the Big East Tournament, where they would race out to a big lead.

Instead, it was Duke, who jumped out to an 11-4 lead, but it was St. John's who would find themselves ahead at halftime, as Ruben Prey buried a three-pointer with 12 seconds left in the first half to make it 40-39. Prey had a trio of three-pointers in the first half, providing a spark off the bench.

Duke started the second half with a Camerson Boozer jumper, followed by an Isaiah Evans three-pointer at 18:57 to go up 44-40.

St. John's responded with a run that looked it would define the game, 15-1 over the next 3:56, to take a 55-45 lead on an Ian Jackson jump shot at 15:01.

Caleb Foster responded with a pair of layups to restore order for Duke, the start of a 9-2 run for the Blue Devils, capped by a Cameron Boozer layup at 11:57 that made it 57-54 St. John's.

Duke would take a 63-62 lead on a three-pointer from Evans at 7:54, and were then up 67-65 a few minutes later when St. John's had their last bit of magic.

With 4:27 left, Maliq Brown blocked an Oziyah Sellers jumper, and as it was heading out of bounds, he tried throwing it off Bryce Hopkins, who had the wherewithal to catch it and race to the hoop for a layup and tie the game at 67.

Hopkins was fouled by Nicolas Khamenia, so he went to the line, but he missed the and-one free throw, and Dillon Mitchell grabbed the off-season rebound and slammed it home to put St. John's back up two at 4:21, and make it a four-point trip down the floor.

Duke then responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a Caleb Foster pull-up jumper at 2:14 that made it 75-69.

Zuby Ejiofor responded with a three-pointer to get St. John's back within a possession, and Foster responded with a layup to make it 77-72 with 1:27 left.

Hopkins got St. John's back within three when he laid one in with 52 seconds left, and Cameron Boozer then missed the front end of a one-on-one at 32 seconds to give St. John's a chance.

Ejiofor got to the line with 14 seconds left, and he made one out of two free throws, as did Evans with 11 seconds left, so Duke led 78-75.

That meant St. John's could tie it with a three-pointer, and they had plenty of time. 

Dylan Darling, who hit the game-winner last Sunday against Kansas, who Head Coach Rick Pitino, in a distasteful comment, said he had "balls as big as church bells," was eager to repeat his feat, as he took it up and launched a three-pointer with four seconds left from the right side, and it was off the mark, grazing the rim on the left.

Cameron Boozer grabbed the rebound, and he was fouled, so he went to the charity stripe, and this time, he buried his two free throws to make it 80-75 and seal the win.

Duke shot 57.1 percent, or 16-28, from the field in the second half, while holding St. John's to 42.9%, or 15-35. 

PITINO POSTGAME: St. John's Head Coach Rick Pitino addressed the media after the game, and he opened with this statement: "One suggestion for the NCAA is, when you have interviews on the court for Duke, for the winning team, and they have time there, the game started before we even came in here. You should have the losing team go first because you left us disappointed in the locker room while the other team's celebrating, rightfully so. You should let the losing team go first and then let the winning team have as long as you want. Just a suggestion because you left us hanging out there for over a half hour...

"As far as the game is concerned, we felt we had to win the 3-point line in a big way to have any shot at this game, and we did. We were up ten, we could not stop bully drives, bully drives, bully drives, four, and we could not stop it, which is a credit to them.

"Our guys played with great heart. They made some defensive mistakes down the stretch, but that's a credit to them. We had our moments in the game. We fought hard all season. We're all very disappointed we didn't have a chance to win a National Championship, but that's a credit to Duke."

On not being able to handle Duke's zone defense well, and margin mistakes on their defensive end: "We made some good plays in the zone. Zuby missed a foul line jump shot. We missed a wide open 3. I don't think it was as much as our defense. 

"Our defense, when we were up ten, up eight, Ruben (Prey) made a mistake, Ian (Jackson) made no blockout. We had bully drives, bully drives, bully drives. So it was our defense that broke down. It wasn't so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That's why they're the Number 1 ranked team in the country. We couldn't defend the bully drives."

On not winning the rebound battle with Duke, partly due to the amount of three-pointers they were putting up: "No, it was we had to win the 3-point line. It was our only chance to beat them. But if you break the game down - I just watched the last 12 minutes because we just sat in the room. It was just the drives to the basket that we could not guard.

"Duke has been doing that to a lot of people. Our guys gave a valiant effort. You can see how disappointed they are. We beloved we were going to win this game. We're all very disappointed. I told our guys, 'look, I've been in this situation before. You trained all year like you trained in the Olympics. Our frontcourt was 18-for-31 offensively, but you're at the podium right now and you've got a bronze medal around your neck because you won the Big East regular, Big East Championship, and you got the bronze medal. It's not as good as gold, it's not as good as a silver, but you won the bronze, and you should feel very, very proud of that."