Duke basketball Elite again, holds off St. John’s in gritty NCAA Tournament win
It was the kind of game everyone expected. Tough, physical, two good teams straining to move on in the NCAA Tournament.
Duke and St. John’s went at it for 40 minutes in an NCAA game that had a little of everything. There were big shots and hustling defensive plays and relentless effort. It was as if both teams were refusing to lose, although it was inevitable that one would have its season end.
In the end, top-seeded Duke emerged with an 80-75 victory over St. John’s in the semifinals of the East Region at Capital One Arena, getting 25 points from Isaiah Evans, another double-double from Cameron Boozer and inspired play from Caleb Foster, who returned to the lineup 20 days after foot surgery to will Duke back into the game in the second half.
“We’re just grateful to keep dancing,” Evans said. “Everybody doesn’t get that chance. But I feel like we wanted it more, and that’s why we’re getting that chance.”
The Blue Devils (35-2), who have won their last 14 games, move into Sunday’s 5:05 p.m. regional final against Connecticut, which outlasted Michigan State on Friday night. St. John’s, the Big East champion that was seeded fifth in the East Region, closed out a 30-7 season.
“It’s great, but you’ve got to move on from that feeling of happiness and gratitude quickly because you’ve got to prepare for another battle,” Boozer said. “And it will be another battle Sunday.”
With Duke leading 77-74 with 32.4 seconds left, Boozer missed the front end of a one-and-one at the line. Zuby Ejiofor of St. John’s, who had 17 points, then was fouled on a drive and made the first of two free throws, only to miss the second.
Evans was fouled with 11.2 seconds remaining, missing the first free throw, then making the second for a 78-75 lead. Dylan Darling of St. John’s, the last-second hero in the Red Storm’s NCAA win over Kansas last week, was off the mark with a 3-pointer and Duke was soon celebrating.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino said the Red Storm’s “only chance to win” was if it could make enough 3’s, and it was 9-of-18 in the first half from distance. But Duke went zone a big chunk of the second half and the Red Storm was more tentative, missing 10 of 14 from 3.
Boozer, stymied in the first half, was more assertive in the second to collect another double-double for the Blue Devils, finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Foster, playing 18 minutes, had 11 points, including a stretch of seven straight after Duke had fallen behind by 10 points early in the second half.
“He told us last week, ‘I’ll be back and playing Friday,’ and what I saw today and how he played for us was really unbelievable,” Duke’s Dame Sarr said. “It shows how tough mentally he is.”
Added Cam Boozer: “His competitiveness, his voice was huge for us.”
To which a smiling Cayden Boozer said: “He was hooping today.”
The Devils were quick to get Foster into the game, subbing him in at the first media break. Foster’s ball handling was spotless and his mobility good after being out since fracturing his foot March 7 in the North Carolina game in Durham.
Both teams said it would be a brutally physical, almost flesh-eating kind of game, and it was. Players were fighting around screens, battling their way through the lane, putting bodies on bodies, grabbing and clutching on defense. Cam Boozer left the court with some proof: a torn jersey.
“It’s hard, but I’d like to believe that Duke has come back many times,” Pitino said. “They’re a great basketball team. We could not defend them. That’s why up 10 did not last. That’s why we couldn’t defend them.
“We played a great first half. We answered the bell on every punch. And in the second half, we just could not guard certain things they ran to the basket. When we were up 10, we could not stop bully drives, bully drives, bully drives, bully drives.”
A driving basket by Bryce Hopkins and then a slam putback off a missed free throw by Dillon Mitchell gave St John’s a 69-67 lead, but Evans countered with a three for Duke. Cam Boozer then drove for a score — Foster screaming, “Go to the basket!” at Boozer — and 3-point play with 3:06 remaining for a 73-69 lead.
An 8-0 run by the Red Storm early in the second half allowed it to open a 48-44 lead, capped by a Darling steal off Cayden Boozer near midcourt that led to an Ejiofor dunk. That had Duke coach Jon Scheyer calling a timeout to talk things over.
“They had us on our heels at times,” Evans said. “They got some easy buckets and this might have been one of our most frustrating games.”
St. John’s kept the pressure on. Another Duke turnover became an Ejiofor layup and a 50-44 lead as Scheyer tried to calm his team from the sidleline. Ruben Prey’s fourth 3-pointer of the game for St. John’s then pushed Duke into a 53-44 hole, and the Devils had the media break at 15:26 left to talk things over.
That’s when Duke went zone, as it did successfully in NCAA wins over Siena and TCU, with Nikolas Khamenia often at the top of the zone. Back-to-back baskets by Foster pulled Duke within 55-49 and forced a St. John’s timeout as the junior guard showed some fire in his play.
Foster had a chance to tie the score with a 3 after a Khamenia steal, but missed with 11:46 left. But Duke moved ahead on an Evans 3 with 7:54 left.
It was ebb and flow in the half, which ended on Prey’s third three of the game and pushed the Red Storm ahead 40-39.
The Red Storm’s full-court pressure was disruptive, often making the Blue Devils strain to make the inbounds pass and throwing Duke out of sync in its halfcourt offense. Duke had five first-half turnovers and came close to have five more.
A 12-2 run by the Devils over a four-minute period had Duke in front 35-28 in the first half. But Darling had his second timely three of the half as the Red Storm again made a move.
There were no easy shots, by either team. Duke again got some strong play from Cayden Boozer while Cameron Boozer could find little room to operate offensively. Cam Boozer had a quiet 9 points in the opening half and one rebound, although the Devils controlled their defensive board in the half.
“We talked before the game, if you get a lead, it’s going to come back against these guys,” Scheyer said. “You’ve got to be strong with the ball. If you get behind or they go on a run, which they’re going to go on a run, you have to rebound. So just keep trying to bring them back to what we control. Our best runs came from getting stops finally.”
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This story was originally published March 27, 2026 at 9:41 PM.
