Utah vs. Duke 2015 final score: 3 things we learned in the Blue Devils’ convincing victory
Duke is headed to the Elite Eight for the third time in the last 14 years.
Ricky O'Donnell has covered basketball at all levels for more than a decade at SB Nation. He’s currently the Associate Director of Programming.
On a night when star center Jahlil Okafor struggled to get his offense going, another freshman decided Duke’s season wasn’t going to end in the Sweet 16. Justise Winslow returned to his hometown Houston and was the driving force behind Duke’s 62-57 victory on Saturday night.
Winslow finished with a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds in the victory. He also made several impressive defensive plays, including another chase down block:
Duke’s starting backcourt also provided quality production. Quinn Cook finished with nine points and freshman Tyus Jones added 15 points in the win. Okafor only had six points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Duke is headed to the Elite Eight for the third time in the last 14 years. Somewhat surprisingly, it was their defense fueling the victory. The Blue Devils held Utah to only 32.7 percent shooting from the field and 2-of-10 shooting from three-point range.
Utah made things interested with a run late in the second half, but it couldn’t score consistently enough to match Duke. Brandon Taylor led the way for the Utes with 13 points.
Here’s three things we learned in Duke’s victory:
1. Duke isn’t a one-man show
Jahlil Okafor has been the center of attention for Duke all season long. The freshman from Chicago is a contender for the Wooden Award and likely to be a top two NBA draft pick in June. He isn’t the only reason Duke is playing so well right now, though.
Okafor only scored six points on the night going against Utah’s two seven-footers in Jakob Poeltl and Dallin Bachynski. He had seven rebounds, but also turned the ball over four times. At least now Duke knows it can still beat quality competition when its star big man isn’t playing well.
2. Duke’s defense finally stepped up
Offense has never been much of a worry for Duke . The Blue Devils finished No. 2 in offensive efficiency this season. Defense has been a different story.
To be fair, Duke’s defense did improve considerably this season. The Blue Devils were No. 116 in defensive efficiency a year ago, and moved up to No. 44 this season. Still, defense was the biggest concern for Duke heading into the tournament. After stifling San Diego State and now Utah, perhaps Duke has answered those questions. If nothing else, so far, so good.
3. Duke-Gonzaga is going to be awesome
There’s so much to like about the Elite Eight meeting between the ‘Zags and Duke. It’s a matchup between two huge centers, Gonzaga’s Przemek Karnowski vs. Duke’s Okafor. Each team will have multiple shooters on the floor at all times. And the stakes, obviously, can’t get much higher.
Gonzaga has never been the Final Four. Duke is looking to capitalize on what’s going to be its only season with Okafor, Winslow and Jones.
SB Nation presents: How Duke will win the NCAA Tournament
See More:
