Duke vs. St. John’s preview, prediction

When Jon Scheyer was born in August 1987, Rick Pitino had already established himself as a successful coach, getting ready for his first season in charge of the New York Knicks.

More than 38 years later, the two face off as head coaches with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line as Scheyer’s Duke squad battles Pitino’s St. John’s in Washington, DC on Friday evening.

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“Really it’s just admiration and respect for him, what he’s done,” Scheyer said of Pitino. “You look at the variety of his coaching, right, the different levels of college basketball, NBA, Europe, which I’m well aware what he did over there.”

While the coaching matchup might get some headlines, it will be the players on the court that ultimately decide the winner. The Blue Devils are led by consensus All-American and ACC Player of the Year Cameron Boozer, who has put up one of the best freshman seasons in college basketball history, averaging 22.4 points and 10.3 rebounds per game.

Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden, has filled in nicely since Caleb Foster went down with an injury, while Isaiah Evans (15.0 points per game) is deadly from three. There might be some good news for Scheyer’s squad, as Foster is a game-time decision to return for the first time since fracturing his foot in the regular-season finale against North Carolina.

The Red Storm are full of veterans, including all-around senior star Zuby Ejiofor, who leads the team with 16.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 2.2 blocks per game. He’s joined by fellow forward Bryce Hopkins, who puts up 13.6 points per game.

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St. John’s loves to be physical, but Duke freshman Nikolas Khamenia knows the Blue Devils can give it back.

“I think that’s part of our identity, too, is being a physical team,” he said. “Rebounds and defends. Obviously, from the beginning of the year, I think we’ve just grown in that aspect, focusing on those little parts of the game.”

Duke and St. John’s tip off at 7:10 p.m. ET on CBS.

Game…

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Publish date : 2026-03-27 17:02:00

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