WASHINGTON — Caleb Foster left even his own coach flummoxed with his latest gutsy March Madness effort.
Foster returned from a right foot fracture to score 11 points — all after halftime — in his first game in 20 days, and No. 1 seed Duke needed all of them to defeat No. 5 St. John’s 80-75 on Friday night and reach the NCAA Tournament East Regional final.
“Still a little stunned with what happened, to be honest with you guys,” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said of his junior guard, who had surgery on March 8, the day after his injury. “Because what this guy did, to be honest, he had no business playing tonight.”
Isaiah Evans scored 25 points, and Cameron Boozer added 22 points and 10 rebounds to stretch the nation’s longest active winning streak to 14 games against an admirable challenge from Rick Pitino’s Red Storm in their first Sweet 16 appearance since 1999.
Duke will play No. 2 UConn on Sunday after the Huskies beat No. 3 Michigan State 67-63 late Friday night. It will be the Blue Devils’ third consecutive Elite Eight appearance in Scheyer’s fourth season following legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“Since I was a kid, I watched Duke winning national championships,” Foster said. “And I always dreamed of being a part of it. Like I said, whatever I could do to provide a boost to these guys to help us come out with a win.”
Zuby Ejiofor scored 17 points and Bryce Hopkins added 15 for the Red Storm (30-7), who led by as many as 10 five minutes in the second half.
Dillon Mitchell added 13 points and Ruben Prey had 12 by making a career-best four 3-pointers on a perfect night beyond the arc.
But Pitino still sustained only his second career loss in 14 Sweet 16 appearances as St. John’s finally cooled from 3-point range, making only two of its last 10 attempts.
That provided a bitter end to an otherwise memorable season for the Johnnies, who won the Big East regular-season and conference tournaments.
“This team was one of the most unique teams I’ve had in 52 years,” said Pitino, whose previous Sweet 16 appearances came at Providence, Kentucky and Louisville. “Never one argument amongst the players … Not one potential fight or somebody getting upset at somebody.”
Foster scored on four consecutive possessions to help stop an early-second-half St. John’s run.
“When he scored four times in a row, I was like, ‘Oh, yeah. Yes, sir. That was definitely the moment,'” Boozer said.
And eventually, a Blue Devils squad that outrebounded the Red Storm 40-27 used their interior superiority to take control.
After St. John’s scored a quick four points for a 69-67 lead with 4:21 remaining, the tournament’s top overall seed went in front for good with an 8-0 run.
Evans’ step-back 3-pointer restored Duke’s lead at 70-69, Boozer followed by converting a three-point play and then Foster scored on a putback to make it 75-69 with 2:14 left.
“It wasn’t so much not being in the right place,” Pitino said of his defense. “We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country.”
St. John’s second-round hero Dylan Darling still had a look at a potential game-tying 3-pointer with four seconds remaining, but it hit off the side of the rim and went out of bounds for Duke’s ball.
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
