Duke vs. Utah: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2015

The top-seeded Duke Blue Devils struggled to find a groove offensively Friday night, but they stifled the fifth-seeded Utah Utes defensively in a 63-57 victory in Houston.

With the win, the team is going to the Elite Eight for the 20th time in school history. ESPN Stats & Info reported that that ties them with UCLA for third all-time in NCAA tournament history.

The game was particularly special for Justise Winslow, who went to high school in Houston. The freshman forward also celebrated his 19th birthday Thursday.

"I've been blessed to be part of the Duke family for the past year, and it's really been the best year of my life," Winslow said before the game, per Stephen Hawkins of The Associated Press. "Fortunate enough to come home and play in my hometown. It's also my birthday. I mean God works wonders."

Winslow finished as the game's leading scorer with 21 points. He added 10 rebounds to register a double-double. According to ESPN Stats & Info, only three freshmen in Duke history have gone for 20 and 10 in the NCAA tournament:

His massive block in the first half was also one of the game's biggest highlights:

ESPN's Jeff Borzello sees a bright future for Winslow in the NBA:

Some of Duke's offensive problems stemmed from the fact Jahlil Okafor only contributed six points to the team effort.

While it wasn't a trademark Duke performance, head coach Mike Krzyzewski will take it.

One of the bigger questions for both Utah and Duke was how each team would adjust to playing in a more cavernous football stadium and on an elevated court.

David Worlock, the NCAA's director of media coordination and statistics, made a compelling argument during the earlier game in Houston that playing in domes doesn't provide a marked impact on offensive output.

Sports Illustrated's Seth Davis countered that it must be harder to see, even if the numbers don't support that theory.

Given the way the first half unfolded, it was hard to argue with Davis. The game got off to a very sloppy start, with each team heaving up a host of bricks. USA Today's Eric Prisbell just wanted it to end:

Eventually, the Utes and Blue Devils found their bearings, with Duke in particular closing out the half well. It shot a respectable 42.3 percent from the field, which was all the more impressive considering its dreadful start.

A big moment of the first half came when Delon Wright, the Utes' leading scorer and best player, picked up his third foul with a shade under five minutes until halftime. That left Utah head coach Larry Krystkowiak with no choice but to take him out of the game.

Particularly galling for Utes fans was the rather ticky-tack nature of the foul call. CBS Sports' Sam Vecenie was one of many critical toward the referee's decision:

Duke immediately went on an 8-0 to grab a 27-17 lead with Wright off the floor. Utah's reliance on Wright was impossible to ignore during the stretch, with Ken Pomeroy advocating for Krystkowiak to insert Wright back into the game, three fouls and all:

"

That was an incredibly awful, terrible call on Delon Wright. Totally changed the game, refs.

— Sam Vecenie (@Sam_Vecenie) March 28, 2015"

The Utes, however, scored five unanswered points to halve the deficit heading into the locker room, which allowed them to get some much-needed momentum.

Wright had two points on 1-of-6 shooting, while the team's second-leading scorer, Brandon Taylor, went scoreless, missing all three of his field-goal attempts. Utah arguably was lucky to be down only five at that point.

Dallin Bachynski's 11 points off the bench played a big role in the team having a more manageable margin with which to deal. As The Salt Lake Tribune's Kyle Goon noted, Bachynski's defense couldn't go unnoticed, either:

While there's no question foul trouble adversely affected Utah's first-half performance, Duke had problems of its own with the referee's whistle. Both Okafor and Winslow picked up two first-half fouls, which curtailed their impact somewhat. Combined, they accounted for 14 of the Blue Devils' 27 points.

The Utes needed somebody else other than Wright to step up in the second half to match the depth of the Duke rotation.

When that didn't happen for Utah, the Blue Devils opened up some separation. Former Duke point guard and current ESPN analyst Jay Williams felt it was only a matter of time before the Utes' issues took them out of the game for good:

A dunk by Amile Jefferson gave Duke a 13-point lead, 47-34, with 8:55 left, which looked to signal the Blue Devils' firm ascendancy. But their offense dried up a bit in the ensuing minutes, which allowed Utah to get back into the game. The Utes closed the gap to six points inside four minutes to go.

A Winslow jumper and subsequent foul shot helped to right the ship for Duke, and Utah was never truly within striking distance of the Blue Devils again.

The game devolved into a free-throw shooting contest for Duke, and it didn't throw away the win at the foul line.

As a result, it will play the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Elite Eight and look for its first trip to the Final Four since 2010. The Zags are hoping to get into the Final Four for the first time in school history.

The positional battle between Winslow and Kyle Wiltjer alone should be worth the price of admission and will play a big role in which team comes out on top. The early edge might have to go to Winslow since he has the defensive advantage. Wiltjer will have trouble tracking Winslow's movement over the course of the game.