How to watch UConn men’s basketball vs. Duke in Elite Eight

WASHINGTON, D.C. – It was seven years ago when Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski pulled Dan Hurley, then at Rhode Island, aside at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh and told him he’d run his course at a mid-major program.

Hurley had just led the Rams to the second round of the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row and saw his run come to an end with a competitive 25-point loss the No. 2 seed Blue Devils, who eventually fell in the Elite Eight. It was time for him to move on.

Soon, Hurley was announced as the new head coach at UConn, tasked with reviving a program that’s had its battles with Coach K. He proved the Hall of Famer – who he saw coach his brother, Bobby, to back-to-back national titles – right when he accomplished the same feat in his fifth and sixth seasons with the Huskies.

Sunday, at 5:05 p.m. in Washington, D.C.’s Capital One Arena, will be the first time Hurley coaches against Duke – now led by Jon Scheyer, who was an assistant on Krzyzewski’s staff in 2018 – since that day. Hurley has a chance to bring the Huskies to the Final Four for the third time in four years. Scheyer is looking to make it in back-to-back trips – which the Blue Devils haven’t done since Bobby Hurley was their point guard.

Duke earned the No. 1 overall seed after finishing one of the toughest regular-season schedules in the nation with 32 wins and just two losses – those by a combined four points to Texas Tech and North Carolina.

“I’ve watched them a lot during the year and they’ve been one of the gold standards in college basketball,” Hurley said in his postgame interview with CBS Friday night. “Jon’s done an excellent job, they’ve been the best team in the country the whole year. Now they look to be healthy and it’s exciting. UConn, Duke again in an NCAA Tournament game. I’ve seen some of them firsthand with Bobby, and now I’m in one.”

It will be the first time UConn takes on Duke since 2014 – a 10-point loss at The Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J. The blue-blood programs haven’t met in the postseason since the Final Four in 2004, when Emeka Okafor and Ben Gordon scored 18 points a piece to take down JJ Redick and Luol Deng.

Before that was the 1999 championship game, when Rip Hamilton went for 27 points to lead the Huskies to their first national title and shock the world. Bobby Hurley and the Blue Devils knocked UConn out in 1990 and ’91.

“You have two of the biggest brands in college basketball going at it to make it to the Final Four. I think it’s super special. I think it’s super exciting. I know we’re excited as a team. You’ve seen Duke, you’ve seen UConn throughout your entire life when you watch college basketball growing up. To be another piece of that story of those two programs going at it, I think it’s awesome,” said Alex Karaban, who improved to 16-1 in the NCAA Tournament over his career with Friday night’s 67-63 win over Michigan State.

Duke has one of the most talented rosters in the country, led by superstar freshman Cameron Boozer – son of Carlos – who is averaging 22.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game, shooting nearly 40% from 3 at 6-foot-9. He will likely be a top-three pick in the NBA Draft.

The Blue Devils have a pair of big guards in 6-foot-6 Isaiah Evans (15.2 points per game, 36.2% from 3) and 6-foot-5 Caleb Foster (8.5 points, 2.8 assists, 3.6 rebounds per game), along with 6-11 center Patrick Ngongba – a former UConn recruit who is averaging 10.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. Cayden Boozer, Cameron’s twin, has been especially valuable in an elevated role over the last few weeks.

Foster, the all-important point guard, courageously returned Friday night from a foot fracture in Duke’s regular season finale and scored 11 points with three rebounds and two assists in 19 minutes of an 80-75 win over St. John’s. The Blue Devils had been challenged without him, squeaking past No. 16 seed Siena – which played five players – in the first round before taking just a four-point lead into the half against No. 9 seed TCU.

UConn point guard Silas Demary Jr. is also hobbled, doing all he can to impact games despite still being hampered by the high ankle sprain he suffered in the Big East championship. It was clear on Friday night that he didn’t have his typical explosiveness and lost his footing at times, though he remains critically important as the Huskies’ best perimeter defender and director of the offense.

“Ankle’s getting better and better every day, I’m starting to figure out what I can and can’t do, figuring out how I can be effective. But defensively is what I’m trying to just do out there, go out there, guard the other team’s best player, do what I need to do. And then on offense just pick my spots, whether that’s running the team or scoring key buckets,” Demary said. “Being able to be a part of this run and give all that I can give, I’m just happy I can do that. I’m just happy I’m not in street clothes.”