INDIANAPOLIS — Michigan State was quickly piling up points, hitting its first four 3-pointers to run out to an eight-point lead over Duke in the fir🎐st four min🥀utes of the first game of the Final Four.
The Blue Devils’ student section had already stopped hopping, stunned by the seven-se♛ed’s early haymakꦓers. Jahlil Okafor hadn’t yet touched the ball, while two of Justise Winslow’s touches had been turnovers, but the projected top-five picks in the next NBA Draft soon made sure their (likely) one year at Duke would last as long as possible.
Sparking a 23-6 game-changing run, Okafor and𓂃 Winslow scored 14 of Duke’s next 16 points to give the No. 1 Blue Devils the lead for good, helping the school reach its first national championship in five years with an 81-61 win over Michigan State on Saturday night at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Winslow finished with a team-high 19 p🌃oints, nine rebounds and two steals, and Okafor added 18 points six rebounds, two steals and two blocks.
“[Coach Mike Krzyzewski] gave us all this confidence,” Winslow said. “He believed and trusted in us. Since we’ve been on campus, coach never treated us like freshmen [and] I think that’s why we’ve been ꦓplaying so well lately.”
Okafor, expected to be the top p🌄ick in the draft, started the biggest game of his career as a bystander, limited to just two p🔯oints over the first 9:55.
But the talented big man only could be contained ♉so long, with the Blue Devils realizing how simple the game can be when the best player touches the ball. Displaying a rare array of moves on the block, Okafor toye💙d with Michigan State’s big men, palming the ball with the ease of Dr. J or Michael Jordan, knowing he could score at any moment, just deciding how.
Okafor’s 3-point play midway through the first half tied the game, which he followed with a putback slam and visceral scream, giving Duke an 18-16 ♊lead it would never surrender. The sꩲaliva from scouts only increased, with Okafor then mixing in agile spin move and a Tim Duncan-like bank shot from 18 feet out.
“Every time he got the ball, he just made a great move,” Michigan State’s Branden Dawson said. “Everyone talked about what can we do to stop him, [but] he’s a good player, so he’s going to score. He established position i🌜n the post and he made some great post moves.”
By the second half, Duke’ floor slaps were in full effect, main𓂃taining a double-digit lead throughout.
The Spartans, neither big enough or fast enough, could not keep up with Winslow, whose aggressive𓃲 attacks have made his quickly-rising draft stock as high as it has been🔯. He finished 5-of-7 from the field and 9-of-11 from the free throw line.
“The [freshmen] didn’t get rattled at all, even when we went on our run early on,” Michigan State’s Travis Trice said. “They just kind of stuck to their game plan.”
Sometimes, ba▨sk⭕etball can be so simple. Sometimes, talent is the difference.