The Nutshell by Rob CloughAgainst Arizona State, Duke played five minutes of near-perfect, flowing basketball and 35 minutes of
ugly slopball, but that was enough to get them to their 11th straight Sweet
Sixteen. The Blue Devils broke out to an early 10-point
lead against the Sun Devils, and that initial burst sustained them through
several scoring droughts. Duke never trailed, and even when Arizona State
pulled to within 2 points with under two minutes to go, the Blue Devils never
felt like the game was out of their control. Duke got the win because they
controlled the boards (+11) and got plenty of second-chance points (18-12
edge). Chante Black was the focus of Duke's attack, scoring 26 points and
taking a third of the team's shots. While Duke didn't shoot well, their
ability to get to the free throw line (24 attempts) made up for it, which
didn't always happen in the regular season.
The Blue Devils will now travel to Oklahoma City to take on Texas A&M at 6 PM Sunday night (ESPN2).
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