Duke, South Carolina, LSU and UCLA are elite!
Those four squads punched their tickets to the Elite Eight on Friday, doing whatever it took to survive and advance through the Sweet 16. Here’s how the Blue Devils, Gamecocks, Tigers and Bruins got it done:
Duke wins ugly over UNC
They began the game down 0-11. They did not score until the four-minute mark of the first quarter. They shot just 31 percent from the field and under 21 percent from 3. They only scored 47 total points. And yet, No. 2-seed Duke has advanced to the Elite Eight for the first time since 2013, defeating No. 3-seed North Carolina in a slugfest between in-state rivals, 47-38.
The 85 combined points is the fewest ever in an NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 game. Duke also is the first team to win a tournament game by scoring just 47 points since 2008, when Tennessee best LSU 47-46 in the Final Four. Pat Summitt, of course, was still in charge of the Big Orange back then, the same Summitt who coached Duke head coach Kara Lawson when she was a Lady Vol. Summitt surely would be proud of the top-notch defensive team that Lawson has guided to the Elite Eight.
After the game, Lawson was all business, focusing on the Blue Devils’ big picture goals rather than the fact that they defeated their biggest rival,
