NEWARK, NJ — The number-one seeded Duke Blue Devils are headed to San Antonio, Texas.
In the Elite Eight (the East Regional Final) Saturday night at the Prudential Center — to punch its ticket to the 2025 NCAA Men’s Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament’s Final Four — Duke smacked the number two-seeded Alabama Crimson Tide, 85-65.
Despite the Crimson Tide cutting the deficit to six points early in the second half, the Blue Devils, a ‘machine’ generated by the consensus No. 1 overall selection in the 2025 NBA Draft Cooper Flagg, geared together with teammates who are projected lottery picks Kon Knueppel, and Khaman Maluach, as well as a second round bloomer Tyrese Proctor, all paved the way to an easy Elite Eight victory.
Image Credit: Duke Men’s Basketball
Graduate guard Sion James also added on with nine points, seven rebounds and an assist.
But for Flagg, Knueppel, Maluach, and Proctor, each ending the game on double-scoring figures, the Blue Devil quartet combined for 68 points, 28 rebounds, 11 assists, six steals, and three blocks.
Freshman guard/forward Cooper Flagg: 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 block
Freshman guard/forward Kon Knueppel: 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
Freshman center Khaman Maluach: 14 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks, 1 steal
Junior guard Tyrese Proctor: 17 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals
Image Credit: Duke Men’s Basketball
A pure force to be reckoned with, one in which Alabama stood no chance against, trailing the entire game from Flagg’s first made bucket — a banked three 19 seconds removed from tip (19:41).
“It’s kind of something that I’ve said a lot through this whole year is we just have such a talented team,” Flagg, who was named the East Region Most Outstanding Player, explained. “Each night could be somebody else’s night. I think tonight Kon kind of stepped up and had the ball a lot. We ran a lot of actions for him. Tyrese was huge for us…
I think it’s just having so many talented guys on the team, it’s not going to be your night every night. Just don’t hang your head, just keep playing hard.”
Image Credit: Duke Men’s Basketball
As a result of the 20-point beatdown on the Crimson Tide, the Blue Devils are set to appear in their 18th Final Four berth in program history and the first under head coach Jon Scheyer.
“To go to San Antonio, to go to the Final Four, I couldn’t be more proud of the team as a whole,” said Scheyer as Duke stands 35-3 on the 2024-2025 season with its most recent loss coming on February 8th (@ Clemson)
“Their attitudes the whole season, from day one, I think this group has been different. They make fun of me. I keep telling them, don’t change. Don’t change, keep being them.”
Image Credit: Duke Men’s Basketball
With an opponent currently pending, Duke, the East Regional champs, now await the winner of Sunday’s Midwest Regional Final between No. 1 Houston and No. 2 Tennessee (2:20 PM ET/11:20 AM PT on CBS).
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