Duke survived a scare and outlasted Michigan State in a battle of two celebrated coaches, Mike Krzyzewski and Tom Izzo. Earlier, Houston and Villanova also advanced to the round of 16.
This matchup between the No. 2 seed Duke and the No. 7 seed Michigan State instead offered a classic Goliath versus Goliath: One college basketball juggernaut against another. Two revered coaches, the Blue Devils’ Mike Krzyzewski, and the Spartans’ Tom Izzo, facing each other one final time. And in a game befitting the careers of two coaches who have been among the faces of their sport for decades, Duke outlasted Michigan State, 85-76, in the round of 32, extending its season and the career of the man nicknamed Coach K for at least one more game.
“What a game,” Krzyzewski said afterward. “It was reminiscent of Elite Eight, Final Four games.”
