Mike Krzyzewski's final season as the head coach for Duke will appropriately include one more Sweet Sixteen matchup. Facing second-round elimination, the 2nd-seeded Blue Devils kept their title hopes alive with a late comeback win against 7th-seeded Michigan State on Sunday, earning a trip to the West Region semifinals. The final bout between Krzyzewski and his longtime peer and rival, Tom Izzo, lived up to its billing.
Duke's crunchtime heroics and resilience didn't only extended Krzyzewski's farewell tour. This win was the record-extending 1,200th of the 75-year-old's career, and his 99th in the NCAA Tournament. The Blue Devils have reached the Sweet Sixteen for the 26th time under Krzyzewski, and it look as though they've long forgotten about their stunning home loss to rival North Carolina, less than three weeks ago.
"They were extremely impressive in the way they turned that game around. They just put their head down and got to the rim," USA Today columnist Dan Wolken explained to After Hours with Amy Lawrence on Monday. "Whether it was Roach or Banchero, they were able to make plays down the stretch that mature teams make. The growth, from even a couple of weeks ago to now, is really terrific, and a credit to what they've done...
"[Coach K's farewell is] a lot to put on the plate of young players -- you don't know how they're going to handle it. And early on, maybe they needed that experience of failing against North Carolina and playing a little bit tight in the ACC Tournament to get to the point where, against Michigan State, they were able to push through it... I think Duke's really showed they've grown up from that experience they had a couple weeks ago."
Four of the Blue Devils' starters finished the contest with double-digit points, and freshman sensation Paolo Banchero recorded a team-high 19 points with four assists and seven boards. Trailing by five with just five minutes remaining, Duke turned on the switch, finishing with an electric 20-6 run. The Blue Devils shot 61-percent after halftime and 57-percent overall, and toughness on the defensive end limited the Spartans to one bucket in the final three minutes.
Duke's road to the Final Four in New Orleans will continue on Thursday night in San Francisco, with a Sweet Sixteen matchup against 3rd-seeded Texas Tech. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Blue Devils have a 48-percent chance to reach their fourth Elite Eight since 2015. No men's head coach has reached triple-digit tournament wins -- Krzyzewski's just one away.
The entire March Madness conversation between Wolken and Lawrence can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow After Hours With Amy Lawrence on Twitter @ALawRadio and @AfterHoursCBS, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.