Duke Cruises to Sweet Sixteen

0:00On March 21st, top-seated Duke Cruz to an 81-58 victory over 9th-seated TCU in the second round of the men's NCAA tournament. On Saturday night in Greenville, South Carolina, the Blue Devils, missing Junior Point Guard Kayla Foster due to a foot fracture, using 8-man rotation for the first time in two weeks and looked. Much sharper than in their close first round win over Siena. The game started tight with four ties and two Lee changes in the opening 8 minutes, including the return of sophomore Big Man Patrick Nong by the second, from a five-game absence. After trailing by one, Duke heated up behind sophomore-wing Isaiah Evans, who scored 11 points by the under-8 timeout to help build a 5-point edge. At half-time, Duke let 38-34 with seven players scoring and Evans topping the team with 13 points. Seven Blue Devils contributed on the score sheet, showing their depth against the TCU team hampered by foul trouble. In the second half, TCU grabbed a brief two-point lead on a 6-to-nothing run, but Duke responded

1:05with a 9-to-nothing spurt fueled by freshmen. Cameron Booser's strong drives. From there, the Blue Devils pulled away completely, with four players finishing in double figures, Booser with 19 points and 11 rebounds. Evans was 17, Malik Brown with 12 and 9 boards, and Dame Sarr with 14. Now 34 and 2 on the season, Duke heads to Washington, D.C. for their 35th sweet 16 appearance, facing the winner of Kansas, and St. John's on Friday at Capital One Arena.