Duke saw their run through March Madness end in heartbreaking fashion. After having a 19-point lead in the first half and a 15-point lead at the halftime break, UConn came back and hit a game-winning three to send the Huskies to the Final Four.
Mike Krzyzewski retired from being the head coach at Duke after the 2021-22 campaign, but he still follows the team avidly. Now, Coach K is speaking about the loss for Duke, appearing on the Pat McAfee Show.
“It was heartbreaking, I’m telling you. I haven’t coached for four years now, but, again, it was a great, great basketball game. Not a good one. It was a great game. And I could not fall asleep last night. I felt like I was part of that,” Coach K said. “And then you’re thinking about all these individual kids and how you’re going to take care of them. And [I have] just such great empathy for our guys. Obviously, I’m a Duke guy and have concern for them. And still do. Because that’s a tough one to get over.”
The Hall of Fame coach spoke for 20 minutes with McAfee about everything around the Duke program and the brutal loss. He made sure to credit Cayden Boozer, noting the game did not come down to one play, while also praising Boozer for talking to the media after the game.
“I felt so bad for Cayden Boozer because I felt that the interviews afterwards—one, he was man enough to do the interviews, and he took individual responsibility for it,” Coach K continued. “Hopefully, I’m sure his teammates and his coaches hugged him afterwards, said, ‘Listen, man, we were there. Hey, you’re 15 points in the first half were the reason that we’re up by 15 points at halftime.’ He played an outstanding game, and it’s that one turnover.”
While the season has come to an end for Duke, UConn will continue. The Huskies face Illinois on Saturday with tip-off at 6:09 pm ET.
