The roots for Duke’s 85-65 win over Alabama in the Elite Eight reach back a year ago and halfway across a nation.
In March 2024, Duke was upset by NC State in the Elite Eight, missing out on a trip to the Final Four. That game was held in Dallas, Texas, an hour’s flight from San Antonio, site of this year’s Final Four.
Distraught by the loss, coach Jon Scheyer and guard Tyrese Proctor had a meeting in the American Airlines Arena locker room. Proctor had missed all nine of his shots in the game and didn’t want to go out that way.
“Obviously being on a journey with Coach, a lot has changed in a year,” Proctor said. “When we were in the bathroom last year after we lost, I told Coach I was coming back.
“(Caleb Foster) and I made the decision to come back and wanted to lead the guys back. We had that meeting and just spoke about what the future looked like.”
To reach that goal, Duke had to get past an Alabama team that led the nation in scoring and was coming off of an NCAA tournament record 25 three-pointers in its Sweet 16 win over BYU.
Against Duke, the Crimson Tide made just 8 of 32 three-point attempts. Mark Sears, who was 10-of-16 from three and scored 34 points two days before, was held to six points, his fewest since playing just 17 minutes against LSU in January, and made just one three-pointer.
“I think it’s a credit to our guys for not getting spooked by the 25 threes,” said Scheyer, “because it can spook you where you’re so spread, but obviously where you still have to contest because they can go (snaps fingers) like that.”
The Blue Devils took a team approach to covering Sears and the other Alabama shooters, with everyone, including 7-foot-2 center Khaman Maluach, playing out on the perimeter to cover Sears.
“It was by committee,” said Sion James. “We were switching a lot especially in the second half, so Khaman was on Sears just as much as me or Tyrese was. The big thing for him was showing them bodies, making sure whoever was guarding the ball knew they weren’t on an island by themselves and making sure Sears knew that he wasn’t on an island with our big or whoever else. And I think we did a good job for the most part of keeping him off the foul line where he gets a lot of his points from.”
It was also a team effort on offense, where four Blue Devils scored in double figures, led by Kon Knueppel’s 21 and Proctor’s 17. Four Blue Devils also had three or more assists, led by Knueppel’s five. Duke jumped out to a 10-point lead at the first media timeout of the game and never trailed and iced things with a 13-0 run starting with eight minutes remaining in the game.
The result was Alabama’s second-lowest point output of the season, the Tide’s second-worst offensive efficiency and worst shooting game of the year. It also produced a 20-point Duke win, and a trip to the Final Four, Duke’s first since 2022 and Scheyer’s first as head coach, thanks in large part to the groundwork that was laid down in that somber locker room in Dallas.
“Tyrese and I, the feeling of losing last year at this point, every decision we made, everything we did was to get back here and then have the team have the opportunity to advance to the promised land,” Scheyer said. “To go to San Antonio, to go to the Final Four.”
“We both had a vision,” Procter said, “and I think just the way we executed and doubled down, the way I doubled down in the off-season, the way these guys had my back, I had theirs, I think it just shows a lot of resiliency, and I just couldn’t be more proud of our group.”
In the game’s final minute, Proctor hit a three-pointer to put the Duke lead at 20. A few seconds later, he shared an emotional hug with his coach.
“Just (told him) that I love him,” Proctor said. “We’ve been through so much together, and I don’t think I could put into words the emotions that we had together. Last year, obviously, the way it ended wasn’t how we wanted. And just having the trust in him and him putting all his trust in me, just being able to lead these guys has been huge.”
