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.
