NEWARK, N.J. — The Elite Eight: It’s the hardest game to win, and the worst to lose, according to Duke head coach Jon Scheyer. One year after exiting the NCAA Tournament this very round, the Blue Devils wouldn’t let themselves face that heartbreak again.

No. 1-seed Duke prevailed against No. 2-seed Alabama Saturday night, winning 85-65 in a wire-to-wire victory to advance to Scheyer’s first Final Four as a head coach. Freshman Kon Knueppel paced the team with 21 points. Against the Crimson Tide’s high-powered offense, the Blue Devils relied on 2-pointers and lockdown defense, and it was more than enough. 

With 7:34 remaining in the game and a seven-point Blue Devil lead, Cooper Flagg scored his first points of the second half. The freshman drove in, shot clock ticking, and put up a floater on top of Mark Sears. It was perfect. After an empty Alabama possession, Tyrese Proctor lost his footing on a drive and somehow got the ball to Khaman Maluach, who went straight up for the dunk. The lead was back to 11 with less than seven minutes left between Duke and a Final Four. 

The Crimson Tide’s next possession was extended by a Sion James foul, though the Tulane transfer also grabbed Chris Youngblood’s miss to end it. After another Alabama miss, Duke hit the five minute mark with a 14-point lead, its largest of the night. 

While the Blue Devils extended their lead, the Crimson Tide went cold. At 8:03, Labaron Philon made a pair of free throws. They then missed seven attempts from the field as Maluach contested shot after shot. Sears and Philon both turned the ball over. In crunch time, Nate Oats’ squad had nothing. It went scoreless for 5:16, and without a field goal for 6:08. 

To start the second half, Maluach picked up a foul on that offensive rebound attempt, and Alabama converted its second try of the half from beyond the arc. Flagg finally found Maluach with the lob in response. That kicked off a series of misses from both sides, interrupted only by a layup from Proctor, until Sears finally made a 3-pointer. Knueppel banked a short jumper off the glass, and Youngblood did the same, drawing a foul in the process and making the free throw. That cut Duke’s lead to six, 52-46, until Maluach hammered through the paint for a dunk. 

Though he did total 10 points in the first half, Flagg was not his usual high-scoring self. The 6-foot-9 forward was blocked twice, and with 12:50 remaining and an eight-point lead, shot the ball right into the crevice between the rim and the backboard. He missed five layups. The Newport, Maine, native remained an assist and rebound threat, but it was clear that he wasn’t going to be good for 30 again. 

Instead, Proctor and Knueppel led the offense. Both found success at the rim and in the midrange. The team relied on 2-point shots, and both guards delivered. In the second half, the two combined for 12 of Duke’s first 17 points. With their superstar having an off night, the backcourt stepped up. After the Sweet 16 win, Proctor stressed the trust they have in each other. How they have each other’s backs. That couldn’t have been more true Saturday night. 

Alabama attempted no shortage of threes, though that was not a surprise. The Crimson Tide were off their mark throughout the first half, connecting on just 5-of-19 3-pointers. Duke made the same number on just nine attempts, taking a 46-37 lead into the locker room. 

Maliq Brown entered the contest with just more than four minutes remaining in the first half after Patrick Ngongba II picked up his second foul. He immediately contested a 3-point attempt by Sears and grabbed a difficult offensive board after Flagg’s layup was off the mark. The second-chance possession ended in a Caleb Foster triple, his first of the weekend. Scheyer confirmed Friday that Brown is not at 100%, and his usage is being reserved for emergencies, like the foul trouble the Blue Devils ended up in Thursday. 

Duke’s quick hands and strong transition offense were some of its greatest assets in the first half. They notched four steals, including a takeaway off Sears by Knueppel that set up a corner three for the freshman just under the 10-minute mark. That stretched the lead to 11, the first time it hit double digits. As the shot clock expired on the Crimson Tide’s next possession, Sears drove along the baseline and was met with the extended wingspan of 7-foot-2 Maluach, who batted Sears’ layup out of the air like a fly.

Sears was a phenomenon in the Sweet 16 against BYU. In the paint, Duke’s bigs (namely Maluach) towered over his 6-foot-1 frame. He had three turnovers in the first half; Proctor and Knueppel’s perimeter defense got the best of him. Sears didn’t score for nearly 18 minutes, and that was a deep two. It was Aiden Sherrell who made two early treys for the Crimson Tide on back-to-back possessions. 

However, even Sherrell’s threes only lessened a deficit. Duke led wire-to-wire and by as much as 20. 

The Blue Devils advance to the Final Four for the first time since 2022. They will face the winner of No. 1-seed Houston and No. 2-seed Tennessee. The Final Four will be played April 5 in San Antonio. 

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Rachael Kaplan | Sports Managing Editor

Rachael Kaplan is a Trinity senior and a senior editor of The Chronicle’s 120th volume.