PARADISE ISLAND, the Bahamas– Mike Krzyzewski’s final season as the Duke basketball coach just got a lot more interesting.
The fifth ranked Blue Devils (7-0) celebrated another special moment with an impressive 85-81 victory over top-ranked Gonzaga Friday night before an electric crowd of 20,381 at the T-Mobile Arena in Vegas– the largest crowd ever in Nevada.
The epic win proved three things: Gonzaga, playing its second straight Top 5 opponent within a week, is no longer invincible. And they are no longer the odds-on favorite to win the tournament. Finally, Duke’s 6-10, 250 pound freshman center Paolo Banchero is starting to get support to challenge Gonzaga’s slender 7-2 freshman unicorn center Chet Holmgren as the No. 1 pick in the 2021 draft.
Banchero scored 20 points of his 21 points in the first half on 8 for 13 shooting and 3-6 from beyond the arc as Duke took a 45-42 lead, dominating play for 20 minutes. He developed cramps and early in the second half and missed considerable time or his dominance may have been even more evident, but his performance set the tone for the Devils to make a statement that could have voters in the AP poll ready to vault them past Purdue to No. 1 in this week’s poll.
Holmgren scored 16 points on 8 of 13 shooting and finished with seven rebounds and three blocks, but picked up a second personal foul midway through the half and had to sit while the more aggressive Banchero took the game over, leading the break, draining deep threes and scoring 13 of the Devils’ 21 points during one stretch as Duke expanded a 19-16 lead to 40-32 with 3:40 to play and Williams made more of an impact than Holmgren as a rim protector, shot blocker.
Gonzaga, which buried Top 5 teams Texas and UCLA in the past two weeks, looked vulnerable against a much-improved Devils’ team, which showed it is more than Banchero. Junior guard Wendell Moore Jr, who looked like a mid-first round pick, added 20 points for Duke while 7-0 sophomore center. Mark Williams, who finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and five blocked shots to help the Devils hold off the turnover prone Zags.
“It was really a players’ game,” Krzyzewski said. “And I love it. I just love being part of it and seeing how players take over. The players won tonight for me. They took me over the finish line.”
The Devils left Gonzaga coach Mark Few, who shapes his program after Duke, impressed. “We’ve always asked over the years before we had to make decisions on anything– how we travel, how we operate, how we schedule, faculty wise– the first question is ‘What’s Duke doing?”’ Few said. “I don’t think I can pay any higher respect than that.”
But the Zags could never match Duke’s resilience when the game was on the line.
Julian Strawther, who finished with 20 points and 10 rebounds, scored eight of the Bulldogs’ first’ 14 points in the second half and the Zags seized the momentum with Banchero on the bench, rallying for a 64-61 lead at the under 12 mark before Moore, the team captain, fired up his team during a time out then picked up the slack,
“I guess the PG version was just, “We got to pick it up,.” Moore said when asked about his timeout speech.
“Sometimes when a leader says stuff, he never remembers what he says,” Krzyzewski said. “I remember what he said. We said be strong with the ball, right? Let’s get going. We can’t be giving them layups. You were saying the things I should have been saying, but when it comes from a player it’s better.
“And especially that moment– that was a critical moment. And I’ve been in a lot of game– we could have gotten knocked out
And what that kid did in that timeout was really big time.”
Moore played a huge role in the back and forth contest, making two free throws with 4:35 to put the Devils on top for good, 75-73. Gonzaga, struggling with front court foul trouble and 17 turnovers, couldn’t finish, suffering through an 0 for 5 shooting drought down the stretch and turned the ball over three minutes to allow Duke to close the game on a 13-9 run.
”It was a Final Four type game,” said Gonzaga center Drew Timme, who finished with 17 points. “The atmosphere was great, and it was two Goliaths going at it.”.
This might by Krzyzewski’s most complete team since 2015. The Devils, who had six players record at least one steal, are certainly better defensively, limiting the Zags to 81 points in a 79-possession game.
The loss was Gonzaga’s first in the regular season since Feb. 22, 2020, when the Bulldogs lost to BYU. Based on early season results, Duke, Gonzaga, Purdue and Baylor look like early favorites to make the Final Four in New Orleans.
Stay tuned to for potential grudge match.
