Everything Coach K said after Duke beat Michigan State to advance to Sweet 16

Despite trailing late in the second half, Duke basketball emerged to push Coach K and the Blue Devils through to the Sweet 16 over Michigan State.

For one last time, Mike Krzyzewski led the Duke Blue Devils up against Tom Izzo and the Michigan State Spartans. It was two coaching legends — the former playing in his final NCAA Tournament before his retirement at the end of this season — going toe-to-toe once more. And boy, did it deliver.

Duke looked to be in control of the matchup at the end of the first half but Sparty wasn’t about to go away. A feisty Michigan State squad continued to stay in the fight and then seemingly finally caused the levee to break late in the second half as they eyed ending the career of Coach K with a five-point lead with roughly five minutes left in the game.

The Blue Devils wouldn’t be denied, however. With some clutch buckets from Paolo Banchero and Jeremy Roach, Duke ensured that Coach K would see at least the Sweet 16 for one last time as they pulled ahead and then away for the 85-76 victory.

Coach K postgame quotes: What Duke legend said after beating Michigan State, advancing to Sweet 16

After the win when CBS Sports’ Tracy Wolfson caught up with Krzyzewski, he was highly complimentary of his players and gave them all of the credit for the “guts” they showed down the stretch.

In that same on-court interview, Coach K also couldn’t help but praise Jeremy Roach, who finished with 15 points in the win, for drilling a clutch 3-point jumper with just over one minute left in the game that pushed the Blue Devils’ lead to 78-74.

What’s more, the Duke legend continued to praise the fight his team showed after trailing late, noting that, as an “Army guy”, he thought his team’s ship was sinking but they found a way to pull away with the victory.

At the podium with his starting five after the game, Krzyzewski continued to talk about how proud he was of his team. However, he didn’t miss the opportunity for a joke about the nerves and tension in the final moments of the Round of 32 matchup.

https://twitter.com/_amandaferguson/status/1505694820626575371

It’s hard to not agree with Coach K there — even if you aren’t 75 years old, the end of that game was a lot to handle.

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