St. John suffered a narrow 80-75 loss to Duke in their Sweet 16 match in Washington, with Cameron Boozer leading with 22 points and 10 rebounds. The likely National Player of the Year, who led Duke with a three-point play with 3:06 left, pushed the Blue Devils' lead to three points. The St. John's backcourt was outplayed by Duke, with Dylan Darling, Ian Jackson, Oziyah Sellers and Joson Sanon being combined 7-of-28 from the field. Duke point guard Caleb Foster was a significant player, scoring 11 points after halftime and didn't commit a single turnover in 18 quality minutes off the bench. The team's defense was criticized for their mistakes late in the second half.