Mike Krzyzewski’s 900th career victory will certainly be a memorable one. His Duke #1 seed Blue Devils held off the Michigan Wolverines 73-71 to book their place in the Sweet 16 for the 12th time in the last 14 years. This was the first time the two schools have met in the tournament since the 1992 title game which featured Michigan’s Fab Five. Comments from members of the former Fab Five about the Duke players in the game which were part of a recent documentary, set off a bit of a firestorm over the past week.
Back to present day… Nolan Smith, who led Duke with 24 points, missed a key free throw that would have out the Blue Devils up by three with 8.7 seconds, giving Michigan a chance to win or tie the game on the last shot. However, Darius Morris missed a shot from the lane with just two seconds left to give Duke the win.
Coach K says he got the kind of game they expected from Michigan.
“It was a game, the type of game we anticipated. You know, in the last couple of months of this season, Michigan has really played like a Top Ten team in the country. You know, they’ve only lost to Ohio State twice, and then they lost on a bank shot from 30 feet by one point against Wisconsin, and they’ve just been playing winning basketball. "
Next up, Duke faces the winner of today’s Arizona vs Texas game.