Caleb Foster steadies Duke in return as Blue Devils beat St. John's 80-75 and advance to Elite Eight

Caleb Foster steadies Duke in return as Blue Devils beat St. John's 80-75 and advance to Elite Eight Caleb Foster returned from a broken foot and rescued Duke’s national title hopes, helping the top-seeded Blue Devils rally from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat St. John’s 80-75 and advance to the Elite Eight By NOAH TRISTER AP sports writer March 27, 2026, 9:47 PM WASHINGTON -- Caleb Foster and Duke proved St. John's hasn't quite cornered the market on tenacity. Foster returned from a broken foot and rescued the Blue Devils' national title hopes, helping the NCAA Tournament's top seed rally from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat St. John's 80-75 on Friday night and advance to the Elite Eight. Playing less than three weeks after surgery on his left foot, Foster scored all of his 11 points in the second half. When Cayden Boozer's ballhandling struggles were allowing the Red Storm to extend their lead, Foster came in and turned the game back in Duke's favor. “To be honest, he had no business playing tonight — 99 percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what’s happened to him,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “It was incredible the way he willed us.” Isaiah Evans scored 25 points and Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (35-2), who extended the nation's longest active winning streak to 14, but not before the fifth-seeded Red Storm (30-7) pushed Duke to the wire. Duke will face either second-seeded UConn or third-seeded Michigan State in Sunday’s East Region final. The Blue Devils led 77-74 with 32.4 seconds left when Cameron Boozer missed the front end of a one-and-one. Zuby Ejiofor drew a foul at the other end with 14.7 seconds to play, but the St. John's standout — who finished with 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists — made only one of two free throws. Evans also made one of two, giving the Red Storm one last chance to tie it, down 78-75. But Dylan Darling — whose layup at the buzzer against ...