Justise Winslow
Statline: Friday vs. Utah: 21 points on 8-of-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, two blocks and one steal in 37 minutes; Sunday vs. Gonzaga: 16 points on 4-of-12 shooting, five rebounds, one assist, one steal and one block in 32 minutes.
The good: Home, sweet home. Justise Winslow returned to his hometown of Houston last week, where he delivered two standout performances and helped punch Duke's ticket to Final Four in Indianapolis.
The 6-foot-6 swingman turned 19 just one day before the Blue Devils' 63-57 victory in their Sweet 16 clash against Utah. He celebrated it in style, registering his seventh double-double of the season. Thanks to a game-high 21 points and 10 rebounds against the Utes, Winslow became the third Duke freshman to register at least 20 points and 10 rebounds during March Madness and the fifth freshman who grabbed at least 10 rebounds in his first three NCAA tournament contests.
In the Blue Devils' Elite Eight commanding 66-52 victory against second-seeded Gonzaga Sunday, the freshman delivered a game-high 16 points, six of which came from beyond the arc. With 5:43 left in the second half, Kyle Wiltjer’s free throw put the Bulldogs just two points behind Duke. But Winslow proceeded to score four points from the charity stripe and drain a triple in a two-minute span to cement the Blue Devils’ lead—a punch in the mouth Gonzaga wouldn’t come back from. With the NCAA South Region title in its pocket, Duke finally gave senior Quinn Cook a banner to hang in Cameron and earned head coach Mike Krzyzewski his 12th Final Four appearance.
The bad: As Winslow is offering his best in the last push of the campaign, there’s not really an aspect of the game he struggled with last week. The freshman—who averages 63 percent from the free throw line—even did a perfect job from the charity stripe against Gonzaga, connecting on all six of his attempts. Winslow and the Blue Devils are also taking better care of the ball, as the swingman totaled just three giveaways in two games in Houston—the same number the whole team registered against the Bulldogs.
The bottom line: The Houston native has broken out in the decisive moments of the season. Starting Jan. 28—when Duke lost to then-No. 8 Notre Dame 77-73—the freshman swingman has scored in double figures in all but one of his 18 contests. If Winslow can deliver two more performances with the intensity he put up in Houston, he can be the secret weapon that leads Duke to cut down the nets for the fifth time in a Final Four.
Honorable mention: In his first season as a Blue Devil, Tyus Jones has put up solid numbers, averaging 11.6 points and 5.7 assists per contest. The 6-foot-1 guard scored in double figures in three of Duke’s four NCAA games, totaling 31 points last week.
With six assists, three rebounds and two steals to go along with 15 points, Jones—who was named the South Region's Most Valuable Player—had a critical performance in Duke’s victory against Gonzaga Sunday. As Blue Devils and Bulldogs were tied at 38 with 12:57 to play in the closing period, the Apple Valley, Minn., native assisted on a Matt Jones 3-pointer to give Duke the lead back. The Blue Devils and the two Joneses—who combined for 31 points—did not look back for the rest of the matchup. Against Utah Friday, the freshman guard knocked down nine of his 10 free throws—seven of which came in the last three minutes of the game—and added three assists, three rebounds and two steals.
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