Democratic offense propels Duke over Gonzaga, into Final Four

For a while, it looked as though Gonzaga was going to steal this one away from Duke.

The Bulldogs were down two with less than six minutes remaining, but from there it was all Blue Devils. 

Duke received offense from everywhere, nixing Gonzaga's bid at the Final Four with a 66-52 victory on Sunday night.

It was the type of clean basketball everyone expected out of two of the nation's top programs, but Duke was especially on point - the Blue Devils failed to commit a single turnover in the final 17 minutes of the game, with only two throughout.

It's difficult to pinpoint a single player who stole the show, but it was clear that Matt Jones owned the first half while Justise Winslow took flight later on.

Jones finished the contest with a game-high 16 points, three rebounds and three steals, including a 4-for-7 mark from beyond the arc.

Winslow was fairly silent early on, but went off for 11 points in the second half to carry the Blue Devils. He ended with 16 points and five boards.

The story early on, though, was foul trouble from both squads. Domantas Sabonis earned three personal fouls in the first half, while Przemek Karnowski and Jahlil Okafor had two each - forcing all three to the bench.

Two nights after Utah shut him down, Okafor flexed his muscles and came out to a fast start. Though he didn't play a major role in the dying moments offensively, the Duke freshman finished with nine points and eight boards on 4-of-10 shooting from the field. 

Tyus Jones put the cherry on top of a democratic offensive display from Duke. The freshman scored or assisted on 18 of Duke's 31 first-half points, scoring 11 of his own and assisting on three. He closed the day with 16 points and six dimes.

Across the court, it was the end of Gonzaga's pursuit of not only the national title, but the program's first Final Four berth.

Kyle Wiltjer led the way with 16 points and five rebounds in the loss, while Kevin Pangos was nowhere to be found all night, scoring all of four points on 2-of-8 shooting and goose-egging from 3-point range.

Duke was also able to shut down Sweet Sixteen darling Karnowski, silencing him to the tune of four points and five rebounds while forcing him to commit a game-high four turnovers. 

The Blue Devils will move on to the Final Four to meet de facto Cinderella Michigan State, who scraped by Louisville 76-70 in overtime earlier in the day.

From there, they'll have their eyes set on glory, but they can't overlook the task at hand, as the giant-killer Spartans have risen to the occasion time and time again.