Coach K passes legend to make Final Four history with win over Arkansas

The No. 2-seeded Duke Blue Devils are heading to the Final Four, thanks to an 78-69 win over the No. 4-seeded Arkansas Razorbacks in the Elite Eight.

With that, Mike Krzyzewski’s historic farewell tour continues in epic fashion, as Krzyzewski has officially punched a ticket to his 13th Final Four. Krzyzewski was previously in a tie with Hall of Fame coach John Wooden, who also had 12 Final Four berths — and now, Krzyzewski officially has the most Final Four appearances of any college basketball coach, as his 13 is more than that of Bill Self, Jay Wright and John Calipari combined (12).

“They outplayed us at some point in the second half,” Krzyzewski said after the game, describing Arkansas’ comeback effort against Duke. “They got it (the deficit) to five. But after the timeout, we were a different team. Going zone helped us. But we scored two straight times, so that was big.”

Duke’s historic victory started in emphatic fashion, as the Blue Devils seemed to make just about every shot they took in the first half, and they never slowed down, delivering Krzyzewski a huge victory. Duke finished the game shooting 54.7 percent from the field, and after failing to make a three-point shot until the final minutes of the first half, the Blue Devils recovered, finishing the game shooting 40 percent from three.

“I’m so happy,” Krzyzewski said after Duke’s win. “We crossed the bridge. There’s nothing like being a regional champ and going to the Final Four, and playing on that Saturday with three other champions. It’s an amazing day.”

Duke was led by an extremely well-balanced scoring effort, which saw four players finish in double-digit scoring: Wendell Moore had 14 on 5-of-10 from the field, AJ Griffin had 18 points on 7-of-9 from the field, Paolo Banchero had 16 points on 4-of-11 shooting and Mark Williams 12 points on 6-of-6 from the field.

Arkansas kept it close for the majority of the first half. But Duke quickly pulled away in the final minutes of the first half, and they never looked back. Even when Arkansas started the second half on a 15-8 run going into the first media timeout, Duke never let up, mounting an emphatic run towards the end of the second half.

Next up, Duke will play the winner of No. 8 North Carolina and No. 15 Saint Peter’s, a game that tips off Sunday afternoon.