Mike Krzyzewski discusses what his lasting memory of Duke's Final Four run will be

Mike Krzyzewski’s career came to a close Saturday night following Duke‘s 81-77 loss to North Carolina in the Final Four. The retiring Hall of Famer quickly reflected on his perception of his team’s shining moment during the Blue Devils’ run to the national semifinals.

“You don’t define a season with one game or one minute of a game,” Krzyzewski said. “You define a season by what’s happened throughout the whole season. It’s been a heck of a year for us. And how these guys turned it around after we didn’t play well in our last four regular season, including the tournament, was really one of the best things that’s happened for me as a coach in the last five, six years.”

Tied at 72 with 3:26 remaining in regulation during Duke’s second round game against Michigan State, Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils outscored the Spartans 13-4 in that final stretch, advancing to the Sweet 16 and giving Duke one of its most impressive postseason performances.

Five of the eight Duke players that saw action against Michigan State scored in double figures, including star freshman Paolo Banchero with 19 points and seven rebounds. All five of the players that scored 10-plus points found the bucket in that last three-and-a-half minute stretch.

“For a young group to really flip the switch like that and play that level of basketball — and at times we played that way tonight that, part of the reason that we were not able to play was because we were playing against a really good team that they also did that,” Krzyzewski said.

Duke couldn’t find that last minute spark against North Carolina on Saturday as retirement began to stare Krzyzewski in the face. The raw emotion Duke protruded directly following the game showed proved just how much his players wanted to win — and to win for their coach’s career.

“I’ll be fine. I’ve been blessed to be in [Cameron Indoor Stadium],” Krzyzewski said. “And when you’re in the arena, you’re either going to come out feeling great or you’re going to feel agony, but you always will feel great about being in the arena.

“And I’m sure that that’s the thing when I’ll look back that I’ll miss. I won’t be in the arena anymore. But, damn, I was in the arena for a long time. And these kids made my last time in the arena an amazing one.”