Written by :
Published on :
Gambling911.com has the line on Texas Tech vs. Duke a PICK'EM. The books opened with Duke a rare +1.5 underdog against the Red Raiders. The Blue Devils have only been an underdog 17 times since 2016, going 3-8 (27.3%) Straight Up as a road dog over that time.
Texas Tech beat Notre Dame 59-53 to advance to this year's Sweet 16.
No. 3 seed Texas Tech relied on stops and free throws during a closing 10-1 run.
“We have the mindset of not going home,” said forward Kevin Obanor, who hit two go-ahead free throws with 1:10 left and finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds.
It was such a workmanlike performance by the bigger, stronger Red Raiders that they won despite making one of their final 11 field goals. That was an emphatic dunk by Kevin McCullar with 15 seconds left.
“This is a March game. I’m so excited right now I can’t put it into words,” McCullar said. “It came down to defense. We knew we needed to get stops against a really good Notre Dame team. That’s what we ended up doing. And we hit some big free throws.”
Duke advances with an 85-76 win over Michigan State, thus putting Mike Krzyzewski's retirement on hold for several more days at least.
“You guys were terrific, man,” Krzyzewski told the players sitting alongside him, his voice quavering with emotion. "I'm so — I'm really proud to be your coach.
“It had nothing to do with coaching in those last four or five minutes. It all had to do with heart and togetherness. They followed their hearts and God bless them — we're in the Sweet 16.”
Star freshman Paolo Banchero scored 19 points and muscled in the go-ahead drive through contact with 2:05 left, putting the Blue Devils ahead to stay in the record-extending 1,200th win of Krzyzewski’s career. Duke reached the Sweet 16 for the 26th time under Coach K, who announced last summer that his 42nd season with the Blue Devils would be his last.
- Dan Shapiro, Gambling911.com
