And so goes the story of Sunday’s NCAA Tournament South Region semifinal, when Duke’s freshman phenom took over the game and dazzled with his sweet shooting through the entirety of a 68-49 win at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte, N.C.
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Okafor, who averaged 17.8 points per game this season, finished 12-of-16 from the field for 26 points and six rebounds.
His teammates helped as well. Justise Winslow almost had a double-double by halftime. He finished with 13 points and 12 rebounds and added five assists. Quinn Cook shot 3-of-8 from 3-point range, chipping in 15 points.
But make no mistake about it: this was Okafor’s game.
“(Winslow) was phenomenal and so was Jah,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “For two freshmen, they kind of dominated the game.”
Duke’s 37-24 halftime lead was whittled down to a seven-point advantage around the 12-minute mark of the second half. The eighth-seeded Aztecs (27-9) got 16 points off the bench, but shot only 33 percent from the floor and 15 percent from 3-point range. The Blue Devils never trailed, shooting a gaudy 55 percent from the field and 43 percent beyond the arc.
It’s Duke’s 101st NCAA Tournament win, behind only North Carolina and Kentucky. The top-seed Blue Devils (31-4) use it to move on to the Sweet 16, where they’ll play five-seed Utah (26-8) on Friday in Houston.
