DURHAM, N.C. — Isaiah Evans just couldn’t hit from outside, time and time again watching 3-point shots rattle out as fourth-ranked Duke was locked in a second-half fight with reigning national champion Florida.
That is, until it was time to take the biggest shot of the night. “That’s my job, I’ve got to stick it,” Evans said.
The slim sophomore hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 19.7 seconds left in the Blue Devils’ 67-66 victory over the 15th-ranked Gators on Tuesday night. It came with Evans sitting at 0 for 7 from behind the arc, a struggle in a normally reliable element of his game with his quick release and floor-stretching range.
“I mean, it was hard,” Evans said. “I know y’all had seen I was losing my mind. I’m not going to lie. I don’t think I had shot that bad in a long time. I just had to keep telling myself, ‘It’s bigger than me, it’s not just about me, it’s about the team.’ So I had to focus on what can I do to help the team win.”
Evans finished with 13 points on 5-for-14 shooting, with most of his production coming in the second half when he scored off feeds as he cut hard to the basket. The 6-foot-6 wing also was active with his hands on the defensive end, posting an unlikely career high of five blocked shots.
It was a nice bump for a player in a starting role after largely working down-the-rotation minutes as a freshman reserve on last year’s star-laden team that reached the Final Four.
He came into this one averaging 12.5 points, but he was coming off a shooting struggle (3 for 10) in a Thanksgiving Day win against a ranked Arkansas team in Chicago.
“It’s different from a scouting-report perspective,” coach Jon Scheyer said of Evans facing increased defensive attention. “They did a good job of hanging tough with him, trying to make life difficult. It’s not always going to be your shot-making. … I thought it showed great growth, really good maturity, and we’ll continue to figure out ways to help him.”
Eventually, though, Scheyer trusts that Evans will come through. And man, did he ever.
Boogie Fland‘s 3-pointer pushed Florida to a 66-64 lead in the final minute on a night when the Gators had trailed by 15. Duke called a timeout and ran a play that put the ball in the hands of 6-9 freshman star Cameron Boozer (29 points) at the top of the arc. Evans ran over as if to set a screen on big man Rueben Chinyelu with Urban Klavzar chasing Evans, though Evans slipped the screen and popped to the other side as the Gators defenders hedged to stay with Boozer.
Boozer whipped the ball to Evans on the left wing near the Duke bench for the clean look, which sent Cameron Indoor Stadium into an ear-splitting frenzy.
“I’m thinking I’ve got to get to church,” Evans said. “I’ve got to give praise to God on that one. I have no words for that. I shot it with confidence and it went in.”
That proved to be the final scoring margin. Florida turned the ball over on the ensuing possession, and then was unable to get off a shot on a final desperation inbounds heave from the far baseline to end it.
“We did a great job on Evans,” Florida coach Todd Golden said. “He only made one 3. Unfortunately, it was the last one of the night.”
