South Second Round Recap
by David Mosse
No. 1 Duke 84, No. 8 Notre Dame 77
The Blue Devils survived a major scare, rallying from a seven-point deficit with 6:24 remaining to outlast the valiant Irish. Notre Dame was not intimidated by the prospect of facing the defending champions, and had Duke on the ropes. The Fightin’ Irish were led by 20 points each from David Graves and Matt Carroll, had Duke. But the Devils rallied behind four three-pointers from freshman Daniel Ewing who scored a career-high 18 points. Free-throw shooting, thought to be Duke’s biggest weakness heading into the tournament, proved their greatest virtue as they buried 14 of their last 15 foul shots to help Mike Krzyzewski defeat former assistant Mike Brey.
No. 5 Indiana 76, No. 13 UNC Wilmington 67
The Hoosiers advanced to the Sweet Sixteen for the first time since 1994 behind 22 points from Jarred Jeffries (20 in the 2nd half). As in their first round victory over Utah, Indiana got off to a scorching start, amassing a 17-point lead. Unlike the Utes, UNC Wilmington did not go down easily, staging a furious comeback behind Brett Blizzard, who led all scorers with 29 points. The Seahawks came within three at 66-63 with 2:45 remaining before the Hoosiers righted themselves, finishing the game on a 10-4 run to ice the victory.
