WASHINGTON, D.C. — Fifth-seeded St. John’s threw every punch they had Friday night inside Capital One Arena, yet all the haymakers were still not enough to get past No. 1 Duke.
As the Blue Devils escaped their Sweet Sixteen bout against the Red Storm, 80-75, the killer instincts appearing out of Isaiah Evans (25 points) and Cameron Boozer (22 points) made for the defining factors in successfully pushing Duke ahead in crunch time.
Add in Duke’s Caleb Foster to that mix as another Blue Devil with killer instincts, an unsung hero (11 points off the bench), returning from a fractured right foot which he got surgery on less than three weeks ago.
“I wanted to come out and provide anything possible, experience, whatever the team needed,” said Foster, doing exactly that. “I didn’t know what we needed or what to expect, but just providing a boost out there any way I can.”
Duke’s Caleb Foster, scoring 11 points, underwent surgery to repair a fracture in his right foot approximately 19 days before Friday’s Sweet 16 matchup vs. St. John’s – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
While the trio of Evans, Boozer and Foster did combine for 58 of the Blue Devils’ 80 points on the night, the second half is where the story unfolds for this one.
“We call it ‘punches.’ They threw the first punch in the first half and we responded.”
-Duke sophomore guard Isaiah Evans on the Blue Devils defeating St. John’s in the Sweet Sixteen
With the Red Storm up 40-39 at intermission, Evans had 11 points with Boozer recording nine and Foster going scoreless—perhaps what Rick Pitino and St. John’s were game-planning for—minimizing the production out of the first two, not knowing what Foster can bring to the table due to his injury, with the team’s offense potentially matching Duke’s overall output.
Across nine minutes in the first half, St. John’s Ruben Prey scored nine points on 3/3 shooting from three, but only saw the floor for four minutes in the second half and banked an additional three to finish with 12 – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
Besides that, St. John’s also chomped at every bit of inbound passes, ‘hounding’ at times, resulting in the strategy of pressing the Blue Devils to work in the first half of the affair as well as the beginning of the second half.
Pretty much all good for say the first 25 minutes of action.
Not so much for the final 15 minutes.
The Red Storm went cold late—recording 20 points as a team in the final 15 minutes, compared to the Blue Devils’ 35 during that stretch.
And at that very point in the game, with 15:01 remaining, St. John’s led 55-45.
With 15 minutes remaining and down by 10, Duke locked in on both ends vs. St. John’s to pull out a 80-75 win at Capital One Arena Friday night in the Sweet 16 of the East Region – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
With Friday’s result, a key category to look at is the rebounding battle as Duke compiled 40 boards as a team while St. John’s recorded 27 – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
Evans, Boozer, Foster along with Patrick Ngongba II, and Dame Sarr, among others, willed Duke all the way back within the next seven minutes, and after that, despite St. John’s tying it up and regaining the lead with just four-plus minutes to go, Duke kept punching and punching until the final buzzer sounded to ultimately come out with the victory.
“It’s hard, but I’d like to believe that Duke has come back many times,” said Pitino in the postgame, as St. John’s, losing just their third game in the calendar year of 2026, closed their 2025-2026 season at 30-7 overall.
“They’re a great basketball team. We could not defend them. That’s why up ten did not last. That’s why we couldn’t defend them. We played a great first half. We answered the bell on every punch. And in the second half, we just could not guard certain things they ran to the basket. If we could have, if we were a little bit bigger and more physical there, probably could have made a difference, but we did not. There’s no regrets about that, just great feelings for the team. You can see how much it hurt them.”
No. 5 St. John’s went to the free throw line eight times in Friday’s Sweet 16, banking four while No. 1 Duke was 15/24 from the charity stripe – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
Like the Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer Pitino, 73, mentioned—you could tell just how much the loss stung St. John’s after winning the Big East regular season title and conference tournament in back-to-back years as well as getting out of San Diego last weekend on a historic shot from Dylan Darling in the Round of 32 vs. No. 4 Kansas to set the Red Storm up for Friday’s Sweet Sixteen matchup vs. No. 1 Duke.
“This team was one of the most unique teams I’ve had in 52 years. Never one argument amongst the players, impossible summer and regular season. Not one potential fight or somebody getting upset at somebody. I’ve never seen that in my 52 years. They were just the greatest kids in the world. They wanted to win so badly. They were willing to do anything to try and win. I’ll never have a team like this again with that type of attitude.”
-St. John’s head Rick Pitino on the 2025-2026 Red Storm
“We had opportunities down the stretch to be able to come out with the win, but little mistakes here and there with our coverages, and they were able to exploit us with some mismatches and stuff like that,” noted St. John’s Zuby Ejiofor, finishing off his final game of his collegiate basketball career with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists—all team highs.
Zuby Ejiofor, one of the most-winningest players in program history, saw his St. John’s career come to an end Friday night as the Red Storm fell to Duke in the Sweet 16 – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
The senior forward, Ejiofor, winning the 2026 Big East Player of the Year and conference’s Scholar-Athlete of the Year, added moments later:
“Obviously disappointed. Fell just short of the Elite Eight and our chance to go to the Final Four. One heck of a year, but yeah, pretty disappointed.”
For head coach Jon Scheyer, 38, and number one-seeded Duke, capturing their 35th win of the season to improve to 35-2, the Blue Devils punched their ticket to the Elite Eight, marking their third consecutive year as one of the final eight teams still standing in March Madness.
For the third consecutive season after falling in the Round of 32 in his first year at Duke, Jon Scheyer has led the Blue Devils to an Elite Eight appearance – Image Credit: Terry Mayo Jr./A Lot of Sports Talk
And in their next matchup scheduled for this coming Sunday at 5:05PM ET on CBS, Duke will be facing off against No. 2 UConn (32-5) with a trip to Indianapolis for the Final Four on the line—just the 11th all-time meeting between the historic programs with the Blue Devils winning six of the first 10 contests.
“We gotta move on quickly from this game,” said Duke’s freshman forward Boozer, the ACC Player of the Year for 2026 and conference’s Rookie of the Year Award winner on Friday following Duke’s Sweet Sixteen win.
“Just gotta get our minds right back into the fight with the will to win and find a way.”
Follow us on Social Media for updates and exclusive content
Instagram: @latinosportsoficial
Facebook: Latino Sports
Twitter: @latinosports
