Kyle Filipowski had 16 points and nine rebounds, and Duke advanced to the Elite Eight with a 54-51 victory over top-seeded Houston, which played the final 26 minutes Friday night without All-America point guard Jamal Shead after turning right. ankle.
Even with Shead on the bench, the fourth-seeded Blue Devils (27-8) had to overcome a physical defense that has been one of the best in the country all season. They won despite being low on points in the season and advanced to the South Region final in Dallas against an Atlantic Coast Conference rival, No. 11 seed North Carolina State, for a berth. in the Final Four.
“We know we have a great team,” Filipowski said. “We’ve been through so much this year… we’ve stuck together.”
The Wolfpack, the only double-digit seed remaining in this NCAA tournament, beat No. 2 seed Marquette 67-58, its eighth straight victory in a stretch that included a 74-69 win over the Blue Devils just two weeks ago. the ACC Tournament.
“It’s going to be crazy. A rematch of the ACC Tournament,” Duke guard Jeremy Roach said. “Obviously they did a hell of a job. … They’re in a wild ride.
Roach scored all 14 of his points in the second half for the Blue Devils, including a jumper in the lane with 1:15 left for a 54-48 lead.
LJ Cryer had 15 points for Houston and J’Wan Roberts had 13. Shead finished with two points on 1-of-5 shooting with three assists and two steals.
Shead left with 6:38 left in the first half after his right foot spun awkwardly on a drive as he missed a contested layup. At that point, he was on the floor under the basket for about 15 seconds while the play continued at the other end until Houston got the ball back after a Duke miss.
The senior guard, who was a part of 120 Houston wins in his four seasons, caught his foot when it fell, then pulled his jersey up over his face. He walked gingerly past the Houston bench and to the locker room after being treated by an athletic trainer. He sat on the bench throughout the second half and limped off the court after the Cougars (32-5) became the second No. 1 seed eliminated — a night after North Carolina vs. Alabama.
Second-year Duke coach Jon Scheyer was a part of Duke’s last two national titles — as a player in 2010 and as an assistant coach in 2015. He was also on the Final Four staff ago two years during coach Mike Krzyzewski’s final season.
When Shead came out, the Blue Devils trailed 16-10. They took their first lead when Tyrese Proctor made two free throws to make it 21-20 with 2:46 left in the first half — and they never trailed again, even after Cryer made it a short floater at the buzzer to bring Houston within 23 minutes. -22.
Duke never led by more than six points and Houston still had a chance to tie the score in the final seconds. Emanuel Sharp’s tough 3-point try against Proctor was not good. There was less than a second on the clock when Houston guard Mylik Wilson was out of bounds while trying to get the rebound.
Sharp converted a three-point play with 48 seconds left for the Cougars, and they got the ball back for a final possession after Ramon Walker Jr. rebounded a Filipowski miss with 25 seconds left.
Duke finished with 14 turnovers, but that was after three on its first four possessions and trailing 8-0 in the first 3½ minutes.
Duke will travel to its 24th Elite Eight, tying Kansas for the third-most times to go this far in March Madness – behind Kentucky (38) and North Carolina (29).
North Carolina State 67, Marquette 58: DJ Horne scored 19 points and 11th-seeded North Carolina State continued its magical run through the NCAA Tournament, beating second-seeded Marquette in the other South Region semifinal to reach the Elite Eight for the first time since 1986.
Casey Morsell added 15 points and Mohamed Diarra 11 points and 15 rebounds for the Wolfpack (25-14), which has eight consecutive victories since the start of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, which it had to win even to participate in the month Of March. Madness.
On the 50th anniversary of NC State’s first national championship in 1974 — when the Wolfpack beat the Golden Eagles for the title — it’s starting to look a lot like 1983’s second.
Purdue 80, Gonzaga 68: Purdue big man Zach Edey withstood all the abuse Gonzaga could throw at him, finishing with 27 points and 14 rebounds to lift the top-seeded Boilermakers to a win in a Midwest Regional semifinal at Detroit and get them a Final Four victory.
Fifth-seeded Gonzaga leaned, punched and grabbed the 7-foot-4 center — even slapping him on the forehead at one point — but it wasn’t enough to stop him, him or his team.
On Sunday, Purdue, which last year became the second ever first-round loser as a No. 1 seed, will face second-seeded Tennessee. A victory there would put the program in the Final Four for the first time since 1980.
Tennessee 82, Creighton 75: Dalton Knecht had 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and two steals, and Tennessee moved closer to a victory in its first trip to the Final Four.
Zakai Zeigler added 18 points and six assists for the second-seeded Volunteers. When Tennessee lost last year in the regional semifinals for the second straight season, Knecht was at Northern Colorado and Zeigler was out with torn knee ligaments.
Coach Rick Barnes’ Vols (27-8) tied the longest NCAA tournament run in school history and hope to go further than their 2012 team that lost by one point to Michigan State in the Elite Eight.
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