Career-best night from Justise Winslow sends Duke to the Elite Eight
Justise Winslow had just sunk his second-straight 3-pointer, so as is custom these days, of course he had to celebrate it.
He preened to the crowd and turned his back on his man, enabling Utah’s Brekkott Chapman to sprint right by him, catch a great feed from Delon Wright and score an uncontested layup in transition.
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Irate as Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski was after that second-half basket, he’ll probably forgive Winslow for his blunder. The freshman wing delivered a career-best performance in his hometown of Houston, helping top-seeded Duke advance to the Elite Eight with a hard-fought 63-57 victory over fifth-seeded Utah.
Winslow scored a career-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting, hurting the Utes in transition just like he did San Diego State five days earlier but also punishing Utah for playing him to drive by knocking down a trio of big threes. As if that weren’t enough, Winslow also grabbed 10 rebounds, made a pair of memorable blocks and played a key role in limiting Utah’s typically efficient offense to just 35 percent shooting.
The biggest play Winslow made was a drive in which he drew contact, sank a floater and hit the foul shot with 3:44 remaining. The 3-point play halted a 9-0 Utah run, extended Duke’s lead back to nine and gave the Blue Devils the breathing room they needed to close out the victory and set up a potentially thrilling Elite Eight matchup with second-seeded Gonzaga.
Duke needed every one of Winslow’s 21 points because Utah consistently double-teamed Jahlil Okafor in hopes of forcing someone else to score. Okafor had only six points on five shots and Tyus Jones and Quinn Cook combined for 5 of 15 shooting, but Winslow’s output was enough.
Utah might have been able to overcome Winslow’s scoring had it enjoyed a better offensive night. With typically efficient Delon Wright only 4 of 14 from the field and the Utes’ array of shooters only sinking 4 of 16 from behind the arc, Larry Krystkowiak’s team didn’t have much offense besides offensive rebounds that led to put-backs.
There should be much more scoring on Sunday night in what should be one of the most anticipated of the four regional finals.
It will be Gonzaga taking aim at its first Final Four and Duke trying to get back for the first time since 2010.
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Jeff Eisenberg is the editor of The Dagger on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter!
