Duke stops Alabama; Florida comeback catches Texas Tech
Duke’s stream of long, tall NBA-ready standouts smothered Alabama and papered over Cooper Flagg’s rough shooting night to lift the Blue Devils to the program's 18th Final Four with an 85-65 victory Saturday night in the NCAA Tournament's East Region final.
Flagg made only 6 of 16 shots, including a brick that got stuck in the flange of the rim, but still finished with 16 points. Kon Knueppel, another potential lottery pick, led the Blue Devils with 21 points.
But the most important stat: Alabama's nation-leading offense, one coming off a record-setting night from 3 in the Sweet Sixteen, shot 8 for 32 from behind the arc, 35.4% overall and failed to crack 70 for only the second time this season.
Mark Sears, who came one short of a tournament record with 10 3s two nights earlier, finished with one and only six points against the Blue Devils (35-3), who won their 15th straight.
At the Final Four in San Antonio, top-seeded Duke will play the winner of Sunday's game between Houston and Tennessee. Its win erased any chance of an all-Southeastern Conference show at the Final Four, but with No. 1 Florida winning earlier, it kept alive the prospect of all four top seeds playing on the sport’s biggest stage for only the second time.
Khaman Maluach scored 14 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Duke shot 53.6% despite its best player’s rough night.
Flagg was hardly bad in this one. He had 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 mega-block that sent Mouhammed Dioubate's floater flying over press row.
But in a game in which both teams were focused on taking away the other’s best player, it was Duke that did it more effectively, switching off on Sears, locking down the perimeter and never letting him find breathing room.
The fifth-year senior's first bucket of any kind came nearly 18 minutes into the game and the shot was a 16-footer from the elbow — the exact kind of midrange shot Nate Oats’ team of dunkers and 3-point specialists avoids.
Sears’ first 3 came with 16:19 left in the game. His final line: 2 for 12 from the floor, 1 for 5 from 3. He also had 6 assists. Labaron Philon led the second-seeded Crimson Tide (28-9) with 16 points. Not a single Alabama player made more shots than he missed.
Duke coach Jon Scheyer, leading the program to the Final Four for the first time since his predecessor Mike Krzyzewski’s last season in 2022, has up to six NBA prospects on his roster.
Florida 84, Texas Tech 79:
Walter Clayton Jr. rescued top-seeded Florida with two late 3-pointers, and the Gators rallied from nine points down late to reach the Final Four with an 84-79 victory over Texas Tech in the NCAA Tournament’s West Region final. The Gators trailed 75-66 with less than three minutes to play before staging a furious rally against the third-seeded Red Raiders, who had done the same in the Sweet Sixteen against Arkansas. Clayton dribbled out of the paint and hit a fadeaway 3 with 59 seconds left to give Florida a 78-77 lead, and the Gators held on from there.