
Duke vs. Gonzaga: Score and Twitter Reaction from March Madness 2015
Duke clinched the last spot in the Final Four thanks to a 66-52 victory over Gonzaga on Sunday.
The Duke bench contributed zero points, but the Blue Devils starters had big games. Justise Winslow led the way with 16 points, while Tyus Jones added 15 points and six assists.
Matt Jones was the surprise contributor for Duke, finishing with 16 points after combining for just 11 in his three previous NCAA tournament games.
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The game was a battle that featured more defense than most likely expected from two of the best offenses in the country. The Blue Devils were held to just 37.5 percent shooting as a team, and freshman star Jahlil Okafor scored nine points. However, Duke only had three turnovers all game, which helped get the most out of the offense and ultimately come away with the win.
Kyle Wiltjer led Gonzaga with 16 points, although 13 of those came in the first half. Wally Szczerbiak of CBS Sports had very high praise for the Bulldogs' lanky sharpshooter early on:
Unfortunately for Gonzaga, poor shooting down the stretch allowed what was a close game to get out of hand.
Duke seemed primed for an easy victory early in the contest, getting out to an 11-point lead in the first few minutes. As Bleacher Report's C.J. Moore noted, Tyus Jones was a big reason for this success:
However, Gonzaga battled back thanks to Wiltjer, who had half of the team's 26 points at halftime. Seth Davis of CBS Sports broke down Duke's perspective on the forward's great play:
Still, the Blue Devils went into intermission with a 31-26 lead. Eric Prisbell of USA Today broke down the highs and lows of the offensive play to that point:
Gonzaga came out firing in the second half to earn a 38-34 lead. As Grant Hill noted, via TurnerSportsPR, the Bulldogs' fantastic defense played a big role in their comeback:
But Duke once again took control in the second half thanks to some hot shooting by Matt Jones. CBS Sports joked about how well the usually quiet guard was playing:
Gonzaga worked its way back but couldn't even things up. Down by two with 4:51 remaining, Wiltjer missed a wide-open layup that would have made it a tie game. ESPN's Jeff Borzello described the impact of that game-changing moment:
All seven of those points came from Winslow, who overcame shooting woes to make some major contributions on both ends of the court.
The Bulldogs had their chances to come back again but simply couldn't make their shots down the stretch. A Byron Wesley free throw ended up being the only point for the underdogs in the final five minutes of the game.
The Blue Devils then made their free throws to pull away and earn a 14-point win to advance to the Final Four for the first time since winning the title in 2010.
Jon Solomon of CBS Sports summed up the career for head coach Mike Krzyzewski.
While getting to this point is an incredible accomplishment with such a young roster, the Duke players have their sights even higher.
“Me, Justise, Tyus, Grayson (Allen), the freshmen who are coming in here, we had one big dream of winning the national title,” Okafor said earlier in the tournament, via Laura Keeley of The News and Observer. “That’s what led me to come to Duke was the opportunity to win a national title.”
The next step will be to play Michigan State in the national semifinals in Indianapolis. While the Spartans have surprised many in this tournament by winning their region as a No. 7 seed, getting past them in the next round will not be easy.
Either way, it seems fans will be in for a real treat with four great programs still alive in the Final Four.



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