Duke, who played without Cam Reddish in their Sweet 16 matchup with Virginia Tech, received yet another dose of divine intervention to survive and advance into the Elite Eight.
Duke fans may need to start getting used to having bottles of Mylanta next to them for the rest of the NCAA Tournament after the Blue Devils narrowly survived another upset bid.
Playing without Cam Reddish, who was ruled out of the game with a left knee injury, Duke got everything they could handle from conference rival Virginia Tech in the Sweet 16. While Zion Williamson did plenty of Zion Williamson things, going for 23 points on 11-14 shooting, the biggest player for the Blue Devils was point guard Tre Jones.
Jones, who is not known for his perimeter shooting touch, knocked down 5-7 three-point attempts as part of his season-high 22 points. R.J. Barrett, Duke’s other key freshman, recorded a double-double with 18 points and 11 assists.
Despite shooting 55.4% from the floor, Duke simply couldn’t put away Virginia Tech, who fought hard to cut a 73-66 deficit with three minutes to go down to 75-73 with the ball and 1.1 seconds on the clock. The Hokies drew up the perfect inbounds play, with Ahmed Hill cutting behind the defense for a clear look at the basket, but his layup wouldn’t fall as Duke again survived a near-death experience in the final moments.
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This is now the second straight game that Duke has had to fight tooth and nail to get by an opponent, and their task won’t get any easier as they take on a rugged Michigan State squad in the Elite Eight on Sunday. The Spartans never trailed in their 80-63 win over LSU earlier in the night, but they have an injury issue of their own after Nick Ward left the contest late after landing awkwardly on his left hand.
Duke also has to hope that Reddish is back for that game, but as of right now the showdown between the Blue Devils and Spartans stands as the highlight of the Elite Eight. Blue Devils’ fans have to be hoping that they won’t need a third potential buzzer beater to fall short in order to get to Minneapolis for the Final Four.