Duke’s perfect finishing kick sent the Blue Devils to the NCAA tournament’s Elite Eight Thursday night.
The Blue Devils didn’t miss a shot from the field over the game’s final 8 minutes and 19 seconds, allowing them to break away from a nip-and-tuck game and beat No. 12 Texas Tech 78-73 at the Chase Center in San Francisco.
The win sends No. 2 seeded Duke (31-6) into the West Regional final where the Blue Devils meet No. 4 seed Arkansas in the West Regional final Saturday night at approximately 8:45 p.m.
The Razorbacks (28-8) upset the tournament’s top seed Gonzaga, 74-68, earlier Thursday night.
Paolo Banchero scored 22 points to lead Duke, which hit its final eight shots from the field to shoot 70.4% (17 of 24) in the second half.
The Blue Devils shot 51.9% overall and emerged a winner in a thrilling game that saw 13 lead changes and 11 ties.
Mark Williams scored 12 of his 16 points in the second half for the Blue Devils.
Sophomore guard Jeremy Roach continued his hot March with 15 points and five assists.
With the Red Raiders (27-10) up 56-52, Banchero started Duke’s finishing rush with a 3-pointer at 8:19.
Texas Tech led 68-66 when Kevin McCullar, who scored 17 points, hit a 3-pointer with 3:16 to play.
But Banchero answered with his own 3-pointer at 2:55, igniting a 7-0 Duke run that turned the game in its favor. Roach hit two tough baskets, with a jumper and shot in the lane, on Duke’s next two possessions to give the Blue Devils a 73-68 lead.
Duke hit five of six free throws in the final 25 seconds to seal the win and reach the Elite Eight for the third time in the last four NCAA tournaments.
With Duke struggling on offense, Texas Tech took a 33-29 halftime lead. Although Duke hit 5 of its first 7 shots after halftime, the Red Raiders kept finding driving lanes to the basket and built a 46-40 lead with 15:06 to play.
After a timeout, the Blue Devils made their defensive switch to a 2-3 zone and it sparked a rally. The Blue Devils unleashed a 9-1 run as Texas Tech went four minutes without a field goal.
Williams started the rally with two free throws and Theo John rebounded and scored off a Roach missed 3-pointer.
A Griffin 3-pointer tied the game at 47 and Banchero’s jumper with 11:35 gave Duke its first lead of the second half at 49-47. But Texas Tech adjusted during a timeout and began working the ball around and through the zone to score.
McCullar scored seven consecutive Texas Tech points as the Red Raiders built a 56-52 lead with 9:24 left. Duke pushed back with five points in a row on a Banchero 3-pointer and two Williams free throws to lead 57-56 with 7:43 to play.
And the lead continued to see-saw back and forth from there. In the first half, Texas Tech hit Duke hard in the game’s first five minutes as the Blue Devils committed three turnovers and started 1 of 5 from the field to trail 10-2.
But with the Red Raiders leading 12-4, the Blue Devils settled down to work their half-court offense far better. An 8-0 Duke run forced the first of five first-half ties. Roach gave Duke its first lead of the game, at 24-22, on a jumper in the lane with 7:47 to play.
But Kevin Obanor drilled his second 3-pointer of the game to put Texas Tech back in front 25-24 and the Red Raiders held the lead the remainder of the half. Obanor’s basket in the lane with 1:12 left in the half gave the Red Raiders a 33-26 lead before Banchero drove to dunk while drawing a foul with 12.6 seconds left.
His free throw cut Duke’s halftime deficit to 33-29. The scoring output was Duke’s second-lowest of any first half this season. The Blue Devils shot just 36.7% overall, including a frigid 3 of 11 (27.3%) on 3-pointers.
