WASHINGTON, D.C. — Caleb Foster returned to the lineup and may have saved Duke’s season.
Less than three weeks after suffering a fracture in his right foot, Foster scored 11 second-half points and helped the top-seeded Blue Devils to an 80-75 comeback victory over fifth-seeded St. John’s in the East Regional semifinals on Friday night. Duke (35-2) will play second-seeded UConn (32-5) on Sunday for a spot in the Final Four. Tip-off is set for 5:05 p.m.
“He had no business playing [Friday],” Duke coach Jon Scheyer said after the game, seated next to Foster. “Ninety-nine percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what happened to him. It was incredible the way he willed us. There’s no analytics. There are not stats that can measure how big this dude’s heart is for what he did.”
Foster injured the foot in the first half of Duke’s March 7 game against North Carolina. He underwent surgery on March 8. Scheyer said at the time that Foster might be able to return by the Final Four, but even that sounded like a longshot.
“He said two weeks and that’s where my mind has been ever since,” said Foster, a junior guard.
Scheyer interjected: “Nobody said two weeks. You heard two weeks.”
The Blue Devils desperately needed Foster against an aggressive, pressing St. John’s team that led at halftime and extended its edge to 55-45 early in the second half.
That’s when Foster scored on four consecutive possessions — a rebound putback, a driving layup, a jumper and a free throw — as Duke began its comeback.
“When he scored four times in a row, I was like, ‘Oh yeah. Yes, sir.’ That was definitely the moment,” said Duke star Cameron Boozer, who had 22 points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Scheyer said he thought Foster could give the Blue Devils eight to 10 minutes Friday night. He hasn’t participated in any 5-on-5 drills or practices since the injury, Scheyer said. Instead, Foster played 18 minutes and made 5-of-8 field goal attempts with three rebounds and two assists.
“He completely surpassed my expectations of what I expected, what I was hoping for,” Scheyer said. “And obviously, you guys saw it, we needed every last shot.”
Foster might not have been in position to help if not for the shot-making of Isaiah Evans, who had a game-high 25 points on 10-of-15 shooting, including 4-of-8 on 3-point attempts. Evans, Boozer and Foster combined for 38 points in the second half. The rest of the Blue Devils had just three.
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino lamented his team’s inability to stop Boozer’s drives to the basket.
“Bully drives, bully drives, bully drives,” he said. “It was our defense that broke down. It wasn’t so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1 ranked team in the country. We could defend the bully drives.”
St. John’s (30-7), the champions of the Big East, played with fierce aggression throughout the game. Boozer’s jersey was torn at the “K” in Duke, and the Red Storm forced nine turnovers.
St. John’s made 9-of-18 first-half attempts from 3-point range. But were just 4-of-14 in the second half. Reserve forward Ruben Prey, who had just 20 3-point attempts all season, made all four of his 3-pointers. Dillon Mitchell made his lone attempt, his first make of the season. Duke went to a matchup zone for parts of the second half.
Nothing was as big as getting Foster back. Foster made two baskets in the final 2:14 as Duke worked to hold off the Red Storm.
“Him coming back just gave us a tremendous boost, insurmountable confidence,” Evans said.
Foster missed the NCAA Tournament during his freshman season after a late-season injury. He wasn’t about to let that happen again, especially with Duke favored to win the event and coming off last year’s Final Four heartbreak.
“Since I was a kid, I watched Duke winning national championships and I always dreamed of being a part of it,” Foster said. “Whatever I could do to provide a boost to these guys.”
Foster could have transferred after his first season, or, especially, after his second, when his stats, minutes and points all dropped on a loaded Duke team. He didn’t.
“His commitment to Duke, his commitment to me and this program has been unmatched,” Scheyer said. “And then for [Friday], most guys wouldn’t come back, just that’s the reality. There’s no blame. This decision had to come from him, and I just want to support him in that decision. And when he did, it was a surreal thing to coach. I really felt like he was going to will us to victory, and that’s what he did.”
