Blue Devils knock off No. 1 Gonzaga

No. 5 Duke moved to 7-0 on Friday after defeating No. 1 Gonzaga in Las Vegas.

Wendell Moore Jr. led Duke down the stretch in their victory over Gonzaga (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

Friday evening’s main card in Las Vegas between Duke and Gonzaga lived up to the hype. It was truly a battle of heavyweights. And on this night, Duke delivered a multitude of powerful blows to leave Sin City with an 84-81 victory over the No. 1 Zags. 

The Blue Devils started the game off at a torrid pace, and put consistent pressure on the Bulldogs on both ends of the floor. As the minutes ticked off the clock in the first half, everyone was waiting for the tempo to slow. 

It did not. 

And as a result, college basketball fans were treated to a Final Four-like matchup. 

The teams traded shots for much of the game, particularly in the second half. But when the teams were going strength against strength, it was Duke who proved to be the alpha in the room. 

Mike Krzyzewski’s team took the action straight to Gonzaga, and it was freshman Paolo Banchero who carried much of the scoring load in the first half. Clearly on a mission to prove he’s the best player in the country, Banchero torched Gonzaga for 20 first half points on 8-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from the 3-point line. 

Gonzaga had no answer for the Duke freshman. Mark Few and the Zags threw both Chet Holmgren and Drew Timme at Banchero, and neither had a chance at slowing the determined freshman. In fact, Banchero bullied Holmgren at the rim on multiple occasions and ran him to the perimeter on others. 

It was, without a doubt, a statement game for Banchero, whether he admits it publicly or not. His play speaks for itself. 

As good as Banchero was in the first half, it was not a one man show for Duke. Mark Williams was a force on both ends of the floor, while Trevor Keels, Wendell Moore Jr. and even Jeremy Roach, despite horrid shooting woes for the sophomore, made a massive difference in the game. 

It was as impressive as a half as we’ve seen. Duke led by as many as nine points in the opening half. Gonzaga responded and kept the game close, but the Blue Devils were clearly the aggressor and in charge of the game. 

Gonzaga did begin to settle in to close the second half, and after struggling mightily shooting the ball for most of the first half, shots began to fall. Duke’s defense, which was outstanding for the most of the first half undoubtedly made life difficult for Gonzaga. 

Paolo Banchero scored 20 first half points against Gonzaga (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

Duke was stronger, quicker and the defense was swarming. Again, much like how the pace early on led to questions of how long the Blue Devils could sustain it, there was concern about whether the overall assertiveness could be maintained. 

There was a dip in performance for Duke in the second half, as Gonzaga came out looking to be the aggressor. The Blue Devils matched their energy, however, and kept the Bulldogs on their heels as they upheld their lead for most of the first five minutes of the second half. 

That’s when things started to go south for the Blue Devils, though. By the time the game reached its first media timeout of the half at the 14:11 mark, a familiar foe began showing up — cramps. 

Once again, Banchero was plagued with cramps just as he was against Kentucky in the season opener. Moore was also experiencing cramps. The result was both players being taken out of the game. Banchero headed to the locker room for fluids, while Moore was seen flushing Gatorade into his system. 

Though, Moore returned to the lineup less than 20 seconds of game time later, it took him nearly three minutes to find his rhythm again. Meanwhile, Gonzaga took advantage of Duke’s unfortunate circumstances. 

With Banchero in the locker room and Moore reeling, momentum completely shifted to Gonzaga. For the next 5:46 while Banchero was out, Gonzaga stretched out a lead to as many as four points, but the feeling was that Few’s squad had seized complete control of the game. 

Duke was struggling to find rhythm on offense. Defensively they were off balance. Off-the-ball defense was lacking at times, and Gonzaga responded with four layups or dunks over that five-plus minute stretch. 

The Blue Devils were an entirely different team without Banchero and with Moore briefly limited. 

When Banchero re-entered the game with 8:25 to go, the tides began to shift in Duke’s favor. Despite scoring just one more point after returning, the freshman’s presence changed everything. Duke rediscovered his rhythm and flow on offense and Moore and Williams took over the game. 

Keels, who shot just 2-of-11 for six points on the night, was instrumental in restarting Duke’s offense. He posted six assists and created a multitude of scoring opportunities with his ability to drive to the basket and open up his teammates. 

Joey Baker and Theo John also played some big second half minutes to help Duke weather the storm. 

But it was Moore that put on a show. He confidently put the team on his back, initiated the offense and harassed Gonzaga ball-handlers, speeding up their game and forcing them into mistakes. 

He showed exactly why he’s the leader of this Duke team, and in the final moments of the game, knocked down five free throws to keep the Blue Devils out front. 

Mark Williams finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 blocks on Friday (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

DUKE’S INCREDIBLE TRIO 

To be clear, this was a team victory in every sense. Yes, Jeremy Roach struggled to score, making just 3-of-13 shots, finishing with nine points. In his defense, several of those misses were in the basket before rimming out. Beyond that, he hit two of the biggest shots of the night when he converted a layup to tie the game at 73 with 4:41 on the clock, and another layup with 48 seconds to go to give Duke a three point lead.

Keels, as we already pointed out, helped initiate the offense frequently in the second half. He and Roach were also terrors defensively, consistently speeding up Gonzaga’s guards. 

But tonight was about the trio of Banchero, Moore and Williams. 

Let’s start with Banchero. He was phenomenal in the first half, dominating Gonzaga in every way possible. He was simply unstoppable and would ultimately finish the night with 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and one steal. Beyond the statistics, his mere presence on the floor was enough to change the tone of the game. 

Despite not scoring a field goal in the second half, Duke was in complete control when the freshman was on the court. 

When it was strength against strength, as mentioned above, Duke was quite simply the better team. 

Now, let’s talk about Williams. Aside from the one mistake — an ugly 3-point attempt in the first half — he was a force in the paint. He played strong, aggressive and with confidence. 

He finished the game with 17 points on 8-of-9 shooting, seven of which were either layups or dunks. And he finished those buckets with force. As good as he was scoring the basketball, his defense and second half rebounding were critical for Duke to win the game. 

Banchero made a statement for why he is a top candidate for the No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 NBA Draft (Photo Credit: Duke Athletics).

Williams grabbed six second half rebounds and nine for the game. But the six he pulled down were strong boards and many came in pressure packed moments in which the Blue Devils needed to end scoring threats and shift the momentum. The same can be said for his five blocked shots — would have been seven had the referees not blown a call in the second half by whistling him for a foul on a what replays proved to be a clean block, and a missed goaltending call earlier in the game. 

Ultimately, the call didn’t impact the game, but the point is — Williams could have finished with six blocks had the whistle not been blown. 

Even still, his stat line was impressive: 17 points, nine rebounds, five blocks and two steals. 

While the sophomore center was doing work in the paint, it was Moore that took control of the game. The junior scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half, including nine points in the final 8:18 of the game. 

He came through most in the clutch, when he converted 7-of-8 free throws in the final 4:31. 

But his impact did not stop at scoring the basketball. Just as the game pressure seemingly mounted, Moore confidently stepped up and initiated the offense almost exclusively in the final minutes. The result was him getting to the free throw line and setting his teammates for scoring opportunities of their own. 

He was also aggressive on the backboards and was a nightmare for the Zags on defense. He finished the night with four steals and six rebounds to go along with his 20 points. He also showed impressive poise and vision on offense, finishing the day with six more assists. 

All in all, it was a team effort, but we cannot possibly overstate how these three impacted the outcome of the game and helped cement this team as one of the best in the nation.