NEWARK, N.J. – Even when Cooper Flagg wasn’t at his best in the NCAA men’s tournament East Regional Final against Alabama, his potential NBA lottery-bound teammates picked up the slack, and it was good enough for Duke to advance to another Final Four.
Kon Knueppel scored 21 points, Tyrese Proctor added 17 despite an off-game from Flagg, Duke held off a cold-shooting Alabama in the second half to win 85-65 on Saturday,
The top-seeded Blue Devils will play the winner of the South Regional Final between Houston and Tennessee next Saturday in San Antonio, Texas. It will be their 18th Final Four (and first since 2022), tying them with UCLA for the second-most appearances all-time.
Alabama, the nation’s highest-scoring team, kept the game close in the first half despite a dreadful shooting performance, hitting five of its 19 shots beyond the arc, and All-America guard Mark Sears struggling. After a 34-point, 10 3-pointer performance in the regional semifinal against Brigham Young, Sears didn’t hit his first bucket until two minutes left in the first half. He finished with six points on 2-12 shooting and five turnovers in 30 minutes.
Duke, who allowed only 61 points a game in the regular season, put that defensive prowess to work, as Alabama went stretches of four and five minutes in the second half without a field goal. It was anchored by 7-2 center Khaman Maluach, who clogged the paint and harassed Alabama shooters, allowing the Duke perimeter defenders to force low-percentage shots. He had 14 points, eight rebounds, and two blocks for Duke, who shot 53.6% from the field and had 40 points inside the paint.
The Blue Devils used a final 13-1 run, highlighted by a Knueppel dunk, to stretch the lead to 72-58 with four minutes remaining to seal the contest.
The Crimson Tide, who were aiming for a second consecutive trip to the Final Four, simply couldn’t find their way, especially their outside shooting. When it seemed everything went against BYU, hitting an NCAA Tournament record 25 three-pointers on 51 attempts, most of their long-range shots misfired, finishing 8-31 from downtown against the Blue Devils.
Flagg, the Most Outstanding Player of the East Region, scored 16 points, but had only six in the second half, and added nine rebounds. The Blue Devils have won 31 of their last 32 games, and now have won 15 consecutive games.
Labaron Philon had a team-high 16 points, Chris Youngblood added 10 for Alabama, who shot 35.4% from the field, made just 8 of 32 of its 3-pointers, and was held to 26 points below its average. It was only the second time all season that Alabama failed to score 70 points.