WASHINGTON — The best player in the country was too good in crunch time.
With an Elite Eight berth at stake, Cameron Boozer willed Duke past St. John’s, and so this dream season ended in devastating fashion, the Johnnies on the short end of an 80-75 result.
In its first trip to the Sweet 16 in 27 years, St. John’s led by 10 in the second half, but Duke — the top overall seed — found a way to advance. Boozer’s 3-point play with 3:06 left gave the Blue Devils a four-point lead. St. John’s got within three on a Zuby Ejiofor 3-pointer, but the Red Storm couldn’t get the needed stops.
Caleb Foster, 20 days removed from suffering a fractured bone in his right foot, scored 11 second-half points, and handled the St. John’s pressure when the Blue Devils were struggling. Isaiah Evans (25 points) hit one of two free throws with 11.2 seconds left to push the lead to three, and Dylan Darling’s potential game-tying 3-pointer came up with air.
It ended Ejiofor’s memorable three-year career in Queens, and capped St. John’s second straight 30-win season. Ejiofor led the way with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, and Bryce Hopkins had 15 points and seven rebounds. Ruben Prey added 12 off the bench for St. John’s, which didn’t get much from its backcourt. The quartet of Darling, Ian Jackson, Joson Sanon and Oziyah Sellers shot a combined 7-of-28 from the field.
It was a rare slow start for St. John’s, as Duke scored 11 of the game’s first 15 points. The Blue Devils’ first eight points all came in the paint.
St. John’s answered with 12 of the next 14, and led by as many as six midway through the opening half. Duke responded with an extended run, as the Johnnies went into one of their offensive lulls. After five straight points from Boozer, the Blue Devils led by seven and seemed ready to pull away.
But Darling answered with one his two first-half triples and St .John’s took a one-point lead into the break as they held Duke without a made field goal over the final 4:43.
The Red Storm shot a blistering 50 percent (9-of-18) from 3 in the first 20 minutes, with Prey hitting a third of them. Prey was given extended minutes as Mitchell and Hopkins both sat due to foul trouble. St. John’s didn’t hit nine 3-pointers in 26 entire games this season. Evans (11 points) was Duke’s best player in the opening half and the Boozers, Cameron and Cayden, combined for 16 on 5-of-11 shooting.
A 13-0 run, fueled by a pair of Duke live-ball turnovers that turned into Ejiofor dunks, gave St. John’s a nine-point edge early in the second half. It went to a game-high 10 when Ian Jackson sank a jumper. Duke came storming back, and was within three at the under-12 media timeout after Cameron Boozer bulled his way inside for a layup.
Duke took its first lead since early in the second half on an Evans 3-pointer. Hopkins came right back with his own 3 to give St. John’s the lead back.