Duke rolls to Elite Eight win against Alabama to reach Final Four

Duke left no doubt Saturday evening, leading from start to finish against Alabama on its way to clinching a Final Four berth. It was an all-around effort for the Blue Devils, who showed once again they are much more than freshman phenom Cooper Flagg on their way to the 85-65 win.

Duke was in control from opening tip, but the Crimson Tide still hung around keeping themselves within an arm’s length. It was still just a nine-point deficit with 7:10 remaining, but things would go south from there as Duke went on an 11-0 run to go up 20 and never looked back.

Kon Knueppel finished with a team-high 21 points while Flagg chipped in 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists. Duke also managed to lock up Alabama star Mark Sears, who finished with six points on 2-of-11 shooting and committed five turnovers. Tyrese Proctor also added 17 points for the Blue Devils.

Duke jumped out to a 15-5 lead within the first four minutes and held the lead throughout the entire first half. The Crimson Tide did punch back somewhat to cut it to four with 11:17 to go until halftime, but Duke went on another run and led by as many as 13 before taking a 46-37 advantage into the break.

The Blue Devils shot a blistering 55.6% from 3-point range in the first half. Knueppel led the way with 11 points and a couple of steals as Duke had to enter the locker room feeling confident about its chances.

The Final Four appearance is the first for Jon Scheyer as a head coach after he took over three years ago. It is also the 18th in program history with Duke going on to win on five of those previous trips. The most recent of those came in 2015 when Scheyer was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski.

Scheyer also won a championship as a player with Duke during his senior season in 2010. He’ll now aim to take his alma mater to the promised land once more and carry on the legacy that Krzyzewski left behind. Duke most recently made the Final Four during Krzyzewski’s final season in 2022, but lost against rival North Carolina.

The Blue Devils now move on to face the winner between Houston and Tennessee, which play on Sunday. The Final Four is set to tip off on April 5 in at the Alamodome San Antonio.