Duke 66, Gonzaga 52, Blue Devils Going Back to the Final 4
By Jason McIntyre
Duke pulled away late to beat Gonzaga, 66-52, and will head to the Final Four next weekend in Indianapolis to play Michigan State. College basketball is one game away from a record-setting TV audience for Kentucky and Duke. Kentucky will play Wisconsin in the other semifinal.
Duke was clinging to a 53-51 lead with five minutes left when Gonzaga forward Kyle Wiltjer missed a wide-open layup. Instead of a tie game, Duke’s Justise Winslow made four straight free throws, then buried this 3-pointer, and it was, as Jim Nantz said, the dagger.
Gonzaga never recovered. The Zags got 16 points from Wiltjer, but only three came after halftime. Gonzaga was just 2-of-10 on three-pointers, and turned the ball over 13 times.
Duke was led by 16 points from Winslow and Matt Jones. The latter made four three-pointers, including two big ones in the second half after Gonzaga had briefly grabbed the lead.