Men’s N.C.A.A. Tournament: Houston Advances to Round of 16

Some of the N.C.A.A. men’s basketball tournament’s best moments are birthed from classic David and Goliath matchups. The Goliaths, those powerhouse programs that make deep tournament runs seem routine, meet the Davids, the upstart challengers that many college basketball fans know nothing about until March.

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.

For now, Krzyzewski’s farewell tour remains intact. On its way to the tournament, Duke clinched the Atlantic Coast Conference’s regular-season title, but then lost to rival North Carolina in Krzyzewski’s final home game. It lost again to Virginia Tech in the A.C.C. tournament final in Brooklyn before dominating Cal State Fullerton in the first round and holding off Michigan State on Sunday night.

With six minutes left, the game was tied at 65. Michigan State’s Marcus Bingham Jr., who had been so good all evening, nailed a 3-point jumper amid a 9-0 Spartans run, which led to a 5-point lead. But Duke, making plays on both ends of the floor, with a pair of blocks and a steal on defense, regained the lead for good with less than three minutes left.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/20/sports/ncaabasketball/march-madness-sunday-watch.html