Friday, March 29, 2024
DUKE PUTS HOUSTON OUT OF MISERY; ACC NABS 3 E8 SPOTS
Concrete Kidheads to the front of the class; Jonna goes 4-0 after going 0-4
‘GODIZILLA X KONG‘ 3-D IMAX IN ALHAMBRA, CA (smt) – #4S-Duke returned back to the Elite 8 after a one-year absence (their 24th Elite 8 and first since Coach K retired), holding off #1S-Houston, 54-51 in the Cougar’s home state of Texas (Dallas). The Cougar’s Jamal Shead, who was the hero in overtime last game and All-American, injured his ankle 13 minutes in and never returned (well, except on a scooter). Duke will play fellow ACC member #11S-NC State who continued their incredible run in shutting down #2S-Marquette, 67-58. Marquette was just 4/31 from three (12.9%) and could never get closer than 6 in the second half. The Wolfpack were 17-14 and had to win 5 games in 5 days in the ACC tournament just to make the Big Dance and now have added three more wins.
#1MW-Purdue had a second half 16-2 run to beat #5MW-Gonzaga, 80-68. 7′-4″ Zach Edey had 27 points and 14 rebounds (but interestingly no blocks, in fact, there were zero blocks for both teams) for the Boilermakers. #2MW-Tennessee knocked off #3MW-Creighton 82-75 thanks to a 16-0 run after Creighton took a brief 39-37 second half lead. While Creighton was hitting 3s (3 in the last 22 seconds), Tennessee was making free throws (8/9 in the last 32 seconds) to keep the game out of reach. This is the only region with the top 2 teams still alive.
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