Duke Is Final Four Bound, Is New Orleans Bound After Defeating Arkansas In The Elite 8 Of The NCAA Tournament 78-69 At The Chase Center Home Of The Golden State Warriors Of The NBA

Duke final four bound, New Orleans bound after defeating Arkansas in the Elite 8 of the NCAA Tournament 78-69 at the Chase Center home of the NBA’s Golden State Warriors.

In Duke’s 78-69 win over Arkansas in the Elite 8 (32-6) used a 10-0 second half run to pull away and send Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski to his NCAA-record 13th Final Four, surpassing the legendary John Wooden (12). Duke emerged as champions of the West Region for the first time and will head to New Orleans to take on the winner of North Carolina and Saint Peter's on Saturday, April 2 at the Caesars Superdome.

After the Razorbacks (28-9) cut the Duke lead to four with 3:14 left in the first half, the Blue Devils closed the period on an 8-0 run, capped by a deep Trevor Keels three-pointer at the buzzer, to go into the break ahead by 12. Arkansas started the second half strong, closing the gap to five with just over 13 minutes left before Duke's 10-0 spurt shut the door.

Freshman Paolo Banchero scored 16 points with seven rebounds and four assists, earning West Regional Most Outstanding Player honors. Classmate AJ Griffin netted a team-high 18, going 7-of-9 from the floor and 2-of-3 from behind the arc, while sophomore Mark Williams registered a 12-point, 12-rebound double-double. Ten of Williams' points came in the opening half to help Duke establish an early lead.

Wendell Moore Jr., playing in his first career Elite Eight, also scored in double figures with 14 points while helping Duke hold Arkansas' high-scoring guard, JD Notae, to 5-of-14 from the floor.

Duke maintained a double-digit lead from the 11:29 mark of the second half all the way until the final minute, never letting Arkansas make a lengthy run.

“according to an article on goduke.com”

Duke is now going prepare await their opponent in the National Semifinals on April 2, 2022 in New Orleans!

Duke who was the 2nd seed in the West Region is going play the winner of 8 seed North Carolina, 15th seed St. Peter’s in National Semifinal on April 2, 2022 who play their Elite 8 game this evening in the East Region in Philadelphia Pennsylvania at Wells Fargo Center home of the NBA’s Philadelphia 76ers.

Duke, North Carolina have already met twice this season because Duke, North Carolina are both members of the Atlantic Coast Conference as well as tobacco rivals as campuses of Duke, North Carolina are 8 miles apart

Duke, North Carolina met once in Chapel Hill, once in Durham!

Duke, North Carolina split regular season because each team won on the opponents court!

Duke won in Chapel Hill 87-67 in Chapel Hill on Saturday February 5, 2022!

Why?

AJ Griffin scored a career high 27 points. Duke shot 58% and took all drama out of the renewal of the famed rivalry early in both halves, both in building a big lead and then stretching it back out after the Tar Heels had made a run to climb back in it. Paolo Banchero had a double double with 13 points, 10 rebounds! Wendell Moore Jr. like Paolo Banchero scored 13 points but unlike Paolo Banchero Wendell Moore Jr contributed 8 boards 5 assists.

North Carolina won on Saturday March 5, 2022 in Durham 94-81!

In North Carolina 94-81 win in Durham over tobacco road rival Duke Caleb Love — who overcame an 0-for-8 shooting start to score 15 of his 22 points after halftime. Armando Bacot scored 23 points to lead North Carolina who shot 59% after halftime.

“according to an article by Aaron Beard of the Associated Press”