Duke, Cooper Flagg closed Alabama while the second seed Top advances to the four finals

Newark, NJ – With 6:39 that separates Duke from the last place that chased throughout the season, Jon Scheyer has curled up his team and made a deep breath.

What he said after would be the thread: either the thing that sent the Blue Devils to San Antonio … or the most misleading moment of the three -year mandate of Scheyer.

“It’s our time, Giusto F – On Ora. Giusto – F – Now!” Scheyer Abba. “This is our game.”

And soon, it was.

Two days after Alabama published one of the truly historical offensive efforts in the sanctified story of March Madness, Duke committed his highest defense once again and put the terminals on the Crimson Tide, 85-65, to advance at the first final of next Saturday. N. 1 Florida advanced on Saturday before having defeated Texas Tech.

Duke’s defense had brought the Blue Devils to ACC the titles of the regular season and the tournaments, to the ranking n. 1 in the country and seed n. 1 in the East Regional.

Now, only two other games separate the Blue Devils from immortality and a sixth banner of the National Championship to hang at the Cameron indoor stadium.

Given the offensive explosion of Alabama on Thursday against Arizona, Saturday’s regional final would always have been decided by the fact that Duke could sufficiently slow down the crime of the Nate Oats team of Nate Oats. Crimson Tide finished the game to shoot in a sad 23 out of 65 (35.4 percent) overall and 8-to-32 from 3-a dramatic departure for two days before, when Bama made a record of 25 triples. But perhaps everyone’s most noteworthy was limited to a team that marked on average 13.7 Fastbreak points per game – the 18th more in America, for CBB analysis – just eight Saturday evening.

It is not a coincidence, therefore, what Scheyer’s message was the whole game, apparently repeated every time his team curled up inside the Prudential Center: “He reports our asses, plays our pace and do what you do.”

He helped the fact that Duke could not have asked for a better start, with Cooper Flagg (who closed with 16 points, nine rebounds and three assists) that downloaded a 3 top-of-the-table on the first possession of the team to start a 15-5 outside the gate. And while Alabama at the end settled, that initial pillow proved to be fundamental for Duke by building an advantage of the game, which was 46-37 in half a time. So he did the fact that Duke’s offense – which entered an average of 94 points in his first three games of the tournament – faced little early resistance. The Blue Devils shot 56.3 percent in the first half.

But equally critical? That blue blue blue defense, which suffocated an offense of Alabama which remained comfortably among the top 10 throughout the season. Duke and Alabama made the same number of three (five) in the first 20 minutes, except that Duke did it in 10 less attempts: nine compared to the 19 of Crimson Tide. He obviously helped that Duke launched entire waves of Defenders in Alabama.

Sears did not scattered for the first 17:43 of the game, instead accumulating many turnover (three) as much as shots did. And while finally he had a medium fall a few minutes before the break, the length of Duke – like the highest team in the country, for Kenpom, without rotating players of less than 6 feet and 5 – has proved as an impediment as for the whole season.

There is a reason why Scheyer and one of his closest friends in basketball, the general manager of Boston Celtics Brad Stevens, has agreed for the best philosophy for the construction of college rosters in the Preseason: there is no substitute for the length.

While Duke came back to the field for the second half, Flagg’s mother Kelly said what Duke fans in their lounges at national level were certainly thinking: “Another 100 minutes, that’s all I want.”

Alabama’s response for the 1-to-7 shooting start range and a lost opportunity to reduce the deficiency has only made it more likely. Even when Duke went to three minutes of the second half without a basket made, the ability of the Blue Devils to reach the charitable strip fired 19 by 22 from the game line, including 14 Per-16 in the second half-kept Alabama at bay.

But in the end, that same free shooting ability was what allowed Alabama to return to the competition. Alabama shot 10 of its 14 total free shots in the second half. In the same Huddle with 6:39 to play, Scheyer did not diminish the words in reminding his team: “They are automatic free shooting shooters”.

Message received. For the rest of the game, Alabama scored seven points, ending up with the least from January 14th.

And what do you know? A racing for 11-0 during the last minutes of the game, highlighted by a Floater Flagg, extended the margin of Duke and had the house lengthened at home.

For a team that, once again, has shown that it is more than capable of winning all this.

(Photo by Cooper Flagg: Vincent Cocetta / Imagn Images)