NEWARK, N.J. — Two words were written on the athletic tape across the forehead of the Duke Blue Devil mascot on Saturday night at Prudential Center.
“Roll Home.”
With an 85-65 victory against Alabama in the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament, the top-seeded Blue Devils are rolling on to the Final Four in San Antonio.
Duke (35-3), which will make its 18th Final Four appearance, smothered and covered the second-seeded Crimson Tide (28-9) in a dominant defensive clinic at Prudential Center.
Alabama, which scored 113 points and made 25 3-pointers in the Sweet 16, was limited to its lowest-scoring output since scoring 64 points in a loss to Ole Miss in mid-January. Star guard Mark Sears had 34 points on Thursday in Newark, but followed with six points on 2 of 12 shooting against the Blue Devils.
Overall, the Crimson Tide shot 35% against Duke, finishing 8 of 32 from 3-point range.
Duke will play No. 1 seed Houston (34-3) or No. 2 seed Tennessee (30-7) on April 5 at the Alamodome in the national semifinals. Here are some observations from the Blue Devils' Final Four-clinching win against Alabama.
Kon Knueppel, Duke basketball out-hustle Alabama
Kon Knueppel had 11 points and two steals in the first half, but his influence on the score went beyond the stat sheet. On three occasions, Knueppel rearranged the courtside press row tables while trying to save a loose ball. The freshman finished with 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 2 steals to cap off an impressive two-game stretch in Newark. Knueppel scored at least 20 points in both games at the Eastern Regional.
Cooper Flagg stats for Duke basketball vs Alabama
Cooper Flagg looked a bit sped up at the start, but he settled down to finish the first half with 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists. Flagg wasn't as efficient as he has been for most of the season, needing 16 shots to reach 16 points. But he finished the game as Duke's top rebounder, pulling down eight boards.
Khaman Maluach, Blue Devils dominate paint points against Crimson Tide
Duke was hunting for mismatches throughout the game, finding the matchups it wanted to exploit while pounding the paint to finish with 40 points on the interior. Khaman Maluach led that effort with 14 points, throwing down a slew of dunks, and gathering eight rebounds. Tyrese Proctor, Duke's top 3-point shooter in March Madness, did most of his damage inside the arc. Proctor tallied 17 points.
Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Duke vs Alabama in 2025 March Madness: Kon Knueppel carries Blue Devils into Final ...
