GREENVILLE, S.C. – It seemed as though every one of Duke’s many stars touched the basketball on the possession that determined whether Mike Krzyzewski was finished coaching – all but the two on the bench, Coach K and injured freshman shooter AJ Griffin. No one on the court either wanted the responsibility or could concoct a way to fulfill it responsibly. So it fell to Jeremy Roach, the other Blue Devil.
On a team whose roster is spread across the first round of every media mock draft, Roach will not be a lottery pick. He will not be a first-round selection by any NBA team. He may or may not play in the league. He was benched multiple times during the regular season, until Krzyzewski chose to start him in this tournament to provide better on-ball defense following two losses in the past four games. Ostensibly the team’s point guard when he did appear, which certainly was plenty, he ranked just third on the team in assists.
He will have this moment, though, whatever becomes of this Blue Devils team in the one or two weeks that now are promised to them. He forever will be the hero of their 85-76 victory over Michigan State in the NCAA Tournament West Region second round, which assures another Sweet 16 and at least one more game for Krzyzewski on the Duke bench.
“That last media timeout, I was just thinking to myself: If I get a 3, I’m going to knock it down,” Roach told reporters. “So I think there was like a minute-thirty, something like that, the shot clock was winding down, I knew I had to make a play.”
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Retiring at the close of this season after 42 seasons as Duke head coach, Krzyzewski had been one or two plays from the final buzzer sounding on his career, and it happened that his guys made them and extended it, as well as securing the 1,200th victory of his career. The final score looks as though this had been a comfortable exercise for the Blue Devils, but it wasn’t until 17 seconds left and MSU center Marcus Bingham’s final shot deflected out of bounds, with the ball awarded to Duke, that Krzyzewski turned his back to the floor and pointed toward his assembled family in a gesture of joy.
A comfortable cruise toward his 26th Sweet 16 would not have left him nearly in tears, fighting them back just effectively enough as he talked about how much he loved coaching this team.
“You guys were terrific, man,” Krzyzewski said to the players beside him on the press conference podium. “I’m really proud to be your coach.
“It had nothing to do with coaching in those last four or five minutes. It all had to do with heart and togetherness. They followed their hearts and God bless them. We’re in the Sweet 16.”
They will travel to San Francisco and its sparkling Chase Arena, and they will go there for many reasons. All-American freshman Paulo Banchero tallied up 19 points and 7 rebounds, and center Mark Williams had 15 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocks, the latter two categories coinciding when he snuffed Spartans guard A.J. Hoggard’s drive with 2:16 left and MSU up a point. That was turned quickly into drive by Banchero that put the Devils ahead for good.
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Veteran forward Wendell Moore greatest contribution might have been his massive interception of a Max Christie pass with 1:01 left, which led to a couple of free throws he converted to secure the Devils’ late lead. His 15 points and 4 assists mattered so much, especially his last scoring pass, which was delivered to Duke’s unlikely hero.
“(Roach) is a sophomore, you know. We’ve had guys we were playing against – not today – but guys who were in their sixth year,” Krzyzewski told TSN. “Along the way, you’re going to have ups and downs. He’s had many more ups than downs.
“We needed great ball pressure, and he can do that. He did that today. But also to lead us. His scoring, though … He made some big-time baskets. It wasn’t just that three. Those drives to the basket were huge. And everybody got energy from it. We never stopped believing in him because he was believable.”
Ahead by only a point with fewer than 90 seconds remaining, the Devils attempted to work the matchup that had generated so much success throughout the 40 minutes: Banchero against anyone MSU put in front of him. In this case, though, a switch matched him against 6-11 Marcus Bingham, who used his impossible length to even make an entry pass to wide-open Williams seem uninviting.
So Banchero moved right and dished it to playmaker Moore. Hoggard, concerned about Moore possibly throwing the ball inside, momentarily lost track of Roach coming up from the left wing. And what would it matter? It was Jeremy Roach. He wouldn’t take a shot in that situation. Would he?
“Knowing that situation, we call ‘Green.’ Which means a person has got to get a shot up – got to get a good shot up,” Moore told The Sporting News. “I was looking at the matchups, and I thought Jeremy had a great matchup. I took my one dribble, gave it to him, and he made it happen.”
Roach’s 3-pointer boosted the Devils to a 78-74 lead with 1:16 left, and they protected that cushion to the end. Roach finished 6-of-10 from the field and scored 15 points, but that was his only successful 3-point try. Given the distance, the angle and the consequence of the shot, anyone who was in the building on both occasions – and it might not have been many more than me, Krzyzewski, his wife Micki and their daughters – might have thought at least once about its similarity to the 3-pointer launched by Bobby Hurley in Duke’s massive 1991 upset of UNLV in the national semifinals, the shot Coach K has called the most important during his career.
This one may not deliver a championship. But it could. And there might have been even more weight on Roach when it launched. The sudden proximity of Krzyzewski’s retirement imposed a debilitating sense of pressure inside Bon Secours Wellness Arena, and Roach wanted every part of that.
“I’m proud of the fact that we’ve been there for four decades, that we’re at least knocking on the door,” Krzyzewski said. “Five times the door let us completely in. I got guys who want to win. And our goal is to win the whole thing all the time, even if we’re young.
“It says a lot for the caliber of player that I’ve coached. These guys are good players, but they’re really good guys. You don’t go to those Sweet 16s just with talent. You do it with character. That’s why my teams have had. But it’s not like I’ve given them that. We’ve recruited that, and made use of it.”
COACH K’S FINAL SEASON:
Chapter 1: Ending the era
Chapter 2: Inside the greatest game
Chapter 3: Getting recruited by the legend
Chapter 4: Redeeming USA Basketball
Chapter 5: Coaching against K