Duke squares off with Utah in the Sweet 16. (Getty)
Final Score
Utah 22-35–57
Duke 27-36–63
The Duke Blue Devils advanced to the Elite Eight to play the No. 2 seed Gonzaga Bulldogs for an opportunity to head to the Final Four in Indianapolis.
Justise Winslow stepped up and led the Blue Devils in scoring with 21 points. Tyus Jones and Quinn each scored in double figures with 15 and 11 respectively. Jahlil Okafor scored four early points but only finished the game with six — a testament to Duke’s depth and toughness.
The Sweet 16 appearance was the deepest run Utah had made in the NCAA Tournament since 2005 where they also lost in the same round, although that year to Kentucky.
1st Half Highlights
– A late 5-0 spurt prevented Utah from entering halftime trailing bu double digits. Duke’s forwards have gotten into foul trouble and Utah will look to take advantage of that in the 2nd half.
Jahlil Okafor > Emeka Okafor > Mike O’Koren
– Jahlil Okafor continued where he left off against San Diego State with four quick early points. Okafor has easily been the most dominant player in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
2nd Half Highlights
Back to back buckets by Brandon Taylor cuts Duke’s lead to 8 with 5:36 to go. Lotta ticks on that clock!
– Utah went on a 7-0 run to cut the Duke lead to 49-41 with 4:11 remaining in the 2nd half. The Blue Devils had not made a field goal in over four minutes of game time.
-Duke has been in complete control in the 2nd half. The Blue Devils extended their largest lead of the game to 49-35 with just over 8:00 remaining.
The #Duke boys bout to bust it open! #MarchMadness
Utah Looks to Pull the 1st Sweet 16 Upset
So far, so good for the Duke Blue Devils. Coach K, Jahlil Okafor, Quinn Cook and the rest of the South Region’s No. 1 seed and one of the Final Four and National Championship favorites after Kentucky easily took care of Robert Morris and San Diego State in the NCAA Tournament’s first weekend.
Utah, under the leadership of Larry Krystkowiak who has rebuilt the program, fended off an upset scare from No. 12 Stephen F. Austin and upset No. 4 seed and the Big East’s Georgetown to advance to the Sweet 16. Utah’s best player is Delon Wright and their inside presence in 7-footer Jakob Poeltl will be enough to slow down duke’s offense, which facilitates Okafor spacing out the court for the rest of their players.
Because Utah is coached well, Duke is on high upset alert.
The winner of this game plays the winner of No. 11 UCLA vs. No. 2 Gonzaga in the Elite Eight on Sunday.
