Duke Bound for Elite Eight After Topping St. John’s, 80-75

Friday, March 27

Washington, D.C.

7:10 p.m.

Duke University

35-2,17-1ACC

St. John's

30-7,18-2Big East

St. John's (NY)

Duke

Caleb Foster and Patrick Ngongba celebrate against St. John's

Duke Bound for Elite Eight After Topping St. John’s, 80-75

3/27/2026 9:26:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

WASHINGTON, D.C. – For the third straight season, the Duke men's basketball team is in the Elite Eight as it held off St. John's, 80-75, in the Sweet 16 on Friday evening inside Capital One Arena. The Blue Devils, who were down by one at the half and trailed by as many as 10 after intermission, clawed back and took the lead for good with 3:54 to play. Duke outscored the Red Storm 22-15 over the final 10 minutes en route to the comeback.

Isaiah Evans poured in a team-high 25 points while Cameron Boozer finished with 22 and 10 rebounds. Caleb Foster, who returned to the lineup for the first time in the postseason, added 11 points on five-of-eight shooting in 18 minutes of action.

Duke (35-2) extended its current winning streak to a nation-best 14 while pushing its victory total in the last two seasons to 70, the most in a two-year span in program history.

HOW IT HAPPENED

After a defensive stop to open the game, Isaiah Evans got Duke on the board with a layup on the first offensive possession of the Blue Devils' evening. An offensive rebound and putback by Maliq Brown gave Duke a four-point edge, 8-4, after four minutes of play.
Cayden Boozer connected on Duke's first triple of the contest on the next trip down the floor. Duke remained in front, 11-9, at the first media break of the game. Caleb Foster checked in for the first time out of the timeout and promptly lobbed an alley-oop to Patrick Ngongba II.
St. John's (30-7) took its first lead, 14-13, with a three-pointer at the 13:39 mark. The Red Storm continued to increase its lead, growing it to as large as five, 20-15, at the halfway mark of the first half.
An acrobatic putback by Brown, followed by a fast-break dunk from Evans, pulled Duke back within one possession, 23-21. The Blue Devils' defense forced a shot-clock violation and knotted the score with a poster dunk courtesy of Dame Sarr.
Boozer put his team back in the lead, with a layup in transition as the clock ticked towards six minutes before halftime. Evans drilled his first trifecta of the night, increasing the margin to four and Cameron Boozer converted a three-point play on Duke's next offensive possession.
An extended 12-2 scoring run increased Duke's lead to seven, 35-28, at the under-four timeout. The Red Storm scored 12 of the final 16 points in the half, taking a 40-39 lead into the locker room.
Boozer opened the second half with a contested layup and Cayden Boozer found Evans for a fast-break three-pointer to quickly put the Blue Devils back in front, 44-40.
The Red Storm reeled off eight quick points, leading to a Duke timeout after three minutes of action. St. John's scoring run reached 13 unanswered, heading into the under-16 break, putting the Red Storm up by nine, 53-44.
After the lead grew to double-digits, Foster scored four quick points, forcing a St. John's timeout with 13:29 on the clock.
The junior guard continued to attack the basket, with another layup followed by a free throw after drawing contact at the rim. A floater from Nikolas Khamenia made it a one-possession game, 60-58, as the second half reached the halfway mark.
The Red Storm's lead continued to swing between two and four points, before an Evans triple briefly put Duke in front by one, 63-62. Boozer broke a 65-65 tie at 6:05 with a layup through contact.
Evans sank a step-back three-pointer as the game approached the final timeout, pushing the lead back in Duke's favor for the final time, 70-69. Boozer finished a layup while being fouled and capped the three-point play out of the timeout at the 3:06 mark, giving the freshman 20 points and his 22nd double-double on the season.
A Foster jumper pushed Duke's lead to 75-69 with 2:14 to play. The Red Storm did not go quietly, as a Zuby Ediofor three made it 75-72 with less than two to play.
After trading layups, an Ediofor free throw brought the score to 77-75 with 14 ticks remaining.
Ediofor missed the second free throw, setting up an Evans free throw with 11 seconds left to make it 78-75 Duke.
A missed three by St. John's with four seconds left led to Cameron Boozer's final two made free throws of the night and the 80-75 final score.