HOUSTON — On the biggest stage of the season, in front of the crowd of 45,505, the Blue Devils refused defeat.
No. 1 seed Duke (32-5) defeated a talented Purdue team 70-57 at Reliant Stadium Friday night. The win means the Blue Devils will play in their first Elite Eight since 2004—that is, since J.J. Redick was a sophomore.
“It feels good, but we really can't relax at all,” senior guard Jon Scheyer said. “This is—it's the spot we want to be still. This is a good step for us, and a really tough win. I think it's really important to refocus. Really, we can't enjoy these wins right now. After the season we can look back and enjoy them. But for us, we want to keep moving forward.”
According to senior center Brian Zoubek, head coach Mike Krzyzewski told his team after the victory that what happened Saturday night was the exact opposite of what had happened against Villanova the year before. The Wildcats knocked out the Blue Devils in the Sweet 16 last season in a convincing, 77-54 victory. After that game, Singler said that his team never got into a flow and that things started bad and continued to get worse.
But this year was different. Despite struggles in the first half, the Blue Devils never gave up, Zoubek noted. Duke went into the locker room shooting just 7-for-29—24.1 percent—and had 11 turnovers, but after Smith followed a missed shot by Singler in the closing seconds of the half, the Blue Devils ended the half up 24-23 against the No. 4 seeded Boilermakers (29-6).
“They really outworked us for most of the first half, and that was something that we knew we wouldn’t win the game if we let them outwork us,” Zoubek said. “We did a much better job of that in the second half…. We were playing great defense, and I think that’s what really keeps us in the games.”
After the break, the Blue Devils were more consistent on the offensive end. As a team, Duke shot 15-of-26 in the final 20 minutes and the team’s big three combined for 57 points on the night. Meanwhile, Zoubek anchored the paint, pulling down 14 boards. By the time the center fouled out with 3:13 to play, his team led by a comfortable margin of 11 points.
Smith scored seven straight points during a key sequence with less than ten minutes left, extending Duke’s lead to nine points with 8:01 on the clock. Those points didn’t come easy; as Smith took control of the game on the offensive end, it was clear from the grimace on his face that he was suddenly in significant pain.
“Nolan was cramping up a little bit, so he just has to get a lot of fluids in him,” Krzyzewski said. “He played through. I was really proud of him because he played through some things tonight.”
The Blue Devils fended off the many comeback attempts by the Boilermakers. Junior E'Twaun Moore had two especially crucial 3-pointers for Purdue, the first to cut Duke’s lead to two and the second to narrow the divide to six with under eight minutes to play.
“You saw two teams really competing out there tonight,” Krzyzewski said. “I thought this was an example of a game someone doesn't lose. You know, we had to really win this game. You know, we had to really win this game because Purdue's effort was a winning effort.”
Duke will face off against No. 3 seed Baylor (28-7) Sunday at 5:05 p.m.
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