At halftime, Duke University locker room.

With the score ahead, the Duke head coach and players are naturally more relaxed.

In the first half, the players performed well, and Lao K only emphasized strengthening the defense during the break while maintaining the form of the first half.

In the University of Utah locker room, trailing at halftime, left University of Utah coach Larry Chris Kowiak frowning.

How to solve the core of Duke University, Zhang Zifeng, is obviously the first problem that the University of Utah will solve in the second half of the game.

But Wright, who is opposite Zhang Zifeng, is in very bad shape today.

Not only did it not involve Zhang Zifeng, but it dragged down the whole team.

If the University of Utah wants to turn the tables in the second half, it naturally needs Wright to recover and even play extraordinarily.

After all, several of their interior players have done their best when it comes to rebounding.

But the team is still behind by so many points, which is naturally due to the poor performance of the outside players led by Wright.

Kriskowiak shouted, "Wright, you guys didn't have a good hand today, in the second half we have to go all out to attack the inside, especially at the power forward, we have the advantage!" ”

After arranging the offensive tactics for the second half, Kriskowiak told Wright, "We must closely defend the Chinese on the other side's No. 14, whether it is offensive or defensive, the rhythm of Duke University is controlled by him." Wright, you come on and defend with all your might. As long as that damned Chinese is crucified, we will have hope of turning defeat into victory! ”

Wheath nodded and said, "I see, Coach." I'll do my best to keep an eye on him, and I won't let him do anything for it again! ”

After a fifteen-minute break, the two sides returned to the court.

Duke had possession of the ball, and Cook took a teammate's baseline serve and quickly crossed the half.

As soon as Zhang Zifeng received the ball outside the three-point line on the wing, Wright sank down and stared at the ball.

"Boy, I'm keeping an eye on you now, you're finished!"

In the face of Wright's defense, Zhang Zifeng did not rush to attack.

At this time, Okafor was already stuck in the penalty area and was opening his hand to ask for the ball.

Zhang Zifeng held the ball high with both hands, a passing motion.

Wright immediately got up, straightened his hand, and interfered with his pass.

Zhang Zifeng quickly collected the ball and cut in from the right.

Wright hurriedly slid to keep up, not giving the opponent a chance to rush directly into the penalty area.

Zhang Zifeng suddenly took a step back, leaning upward.

Wright saw it, stopped suddenly, and jumped up the cover.

Zhang Zifeng sneered, broke through, and hit the inside line to make a quick stop jump shot, and succeeded.

25：35。

As he ran back, Zhang Zifeng shouted to Wright, "Man, are you sleepwalking!" ”

Hearing Zhang Zifeng sarcastically mocking himself, Wright gritted his teeth and shouted, "You wait, I will definitely lock you up!" ”

Zhang Zifeng shrugged his shoulders and said, "You're talking in a dream!" ”

University of Utah dribbled through the half, and Wright held the ball in the high post.

Wright tried several times, but failed to break through.

He gritted his teeth and asked Kuzma on the inside for a high pick-and-roll.

Wright just broke through Zhang Zifeng and entered the inside line, and was jumping up in front of Jefferson and preparing to shoot.

Zhang Zifeng suddenly came out from behind and slapped the ball out of the court.

After landing on the ground, Zhang Zifeng shouted, "Hey, man. Woke up? ”

Seeing that Wright was fighting with Zhang Zifeng, Chris Kowiak yelled at him angrily, "Delong, fight according to tactics!" Fight according to tactics! ”

Hearing the head coach's roar, Wright came to his senses, and now is not the time to fight with the other party.

Re-kick off and Wright lobbles the ball inside.

Kuzma leaned back with the ball in front of his chest and his upper body completely resting on Jefferson behind him.

Kuzman's attacking skills on the inside are not good, but he has the height and strength to win.

The impact again and again made Jefferson retreat a little, and when Kuzma hit the basket, suddenly a shaking successfully deceived Jefferson's center of gravity, and a half-turn hooked hand.

The ball didn't go in, and the basketball bounced off the front of the basket.

Jefferson struggled to jump and the ball was about to touch his fingers at the moment.

A big hand appeared under the basketball and racked the ball with one hand, and Jefferson just wanted to jump again, but when he scrambled, Kuzma had already jumped up first and snatched the ball down.

In order to grab rebounds, Duke's defense has been completely messed up.

Kuzma sent the ball out, and Brighton Taylor took a step to catch the ball and dribble for a jumper.

27：35。

The University of Utah has a high school forward Poeltl, a big forward who can jump and grab, Kuzma, and has an advantage on the inside.

Relying on the performance of the two inside giants, the inside line led the outside line, and the University of Utah launched a counterattack.

Kuzma successfully beat Jefferson on the inside, and with Poeltl and Kuzma combined, the University of Utah went on an 11-4 run, and the score became 36-39, and Duke University only led by 3 points.

Seeing the University of Utah playing with momentum, Blue Devils fans were nervous, for fear that Duke University would be destroyed.

The opponent grabbed the frontcourt rebounds one after another, and the head coach Lao K was very dissatisfied with the team's rebounding protection.

No team's head coach wants to see that much rebounding conceded in the backcourt, which means more opportunities for opponents.

Old K called a timeout.

Old K shouted at his players, "Protect our rebounds, don't let the opponent grab the rebounds so easily." Strengthen the scramble, strengthen the scramble, you know! Jack, you guys also need to strengthen the frontcourt pressing, we have to block their links between the inside and outside, and strengthen the support for the inside players! ”

"Yes, Coach!" Duke University players shouted in unison.

Jefferson came off the court and replaced him with a backup power forward Vince Law, who has excellent jumping ability and good ability to rush for rebounds.

The game restarted, and after half time, Cook handed the ball to Zhang Zifeng, who was standing in the high post.

Zhang Zifeng stretched out his hand to Venslaw, who came over and made a high-position block for Zhang Zifeng, and Zhang Zifeng broke through to the inside line.

Kuzma came up, and Zhang Zifeng grabbed this gap before he came up, and directly stopped the jump shot.

Swish!

36:41！

Zhang's goal helped Duke stabilize the situation and stretch the margin to five points.

The ball of the University of Utah, when Wright just received the ball in the backcourt.

Zhang Zifeng stepped forward to mark the defense, and Wright struggled all the way through the half court under Zhang Zifeng's interference.

Kuzma reached out for the ball at the inside card number position, and when Wright raised the ball and wanted to pass it to the inside, Zhang Zifeng stuck up to force the ball in the opponent's hand, and the most important thing was not to let the opponent easily pass the ball into the inside.

Zhang Zifeng and Wright were entangled for a few seconds.

Kuzma was afraid of a three-second violation and walked out of the box.

That's when Wright finally passed the ball out.

The position was not good, Kuzma was stuck with his back and Winslaw pushed into the box.

Although he hit the penalty area, there was little time left to attack, and Kuzma could only make hasty shots.

Kuzma, who is not good at attacking, unsurprisingly struck iron.

Vince Law grabbed the rebound and immediately passed to Zhang Zifeng to launch a fast attack.

Zhang Zifeng rushed forward with the ball, followed by Winslow and Cook.

When he arrived in the restricted area, Zhang Zifeng did not go to the basket directly, but passed the ball from behind and avoided Wright's block.

Winslow runs to get the ball and makes a layup.

36:43。

Duke University re-stabilized the situation, and seeing this scene, the already tense mood of Duke Blue Devils fans relaxed, and some fans were still in the mood to joke.

The University of Utah fans didn't have a good life, their hearts pounding and they were worried.

Zhang Zifeng's Duke University outside defense line can't completely lock up the University of Utah's offense, but it can limit the University of Utah's outside players well.

Without the delivery of shells from outside players, the space was opened up, and the University of Utah's interior advantage was weakened.

The University of Utah finally scored a goal inside, and Duke immediately returned the favor.

The two sides alternated scoring, but the more efficient Duke slowly extended the lead, and the margin was back in double digits.

The University of Utah attempted to launch a counter-attack at the end of the game, with Brighton Taylor and Deron Wright picking up the tempo to score the game.

But their efforts were too late, and Duke was in control.

The University of Utah grabbed a whopping 18 offensive rebounds in the game, which also gave them 14 more shots than Duke. Despite this, they made a series of mistakes under the defensive line led by Zhang Zifeng, and only scored one more athletic goal than Duke University, and the poor shooting percentage (34.4%) cost them the game.

When the full-time whistle blew, Duke University defeated the University of Utah 63-57 to advance to the elite quarterfinals, where they will face the Gonzaga University Bulldogs in the next round.

On the University of Utah side, the number one star Deron Wright played poorly under Zhang Zifeng's defense, and he scored 10 points and 6 rebounds on only 4-of-14 shooting.

Brighton Taylor scored a team-high 15 points, along with five rebounds and two steals. Jacob. Poeltl had 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

Kuzma finished with 11 points and grabbed 10 rebounds.

For Duke University, Okafor was limited on the offensive end, scoring six points on only five shots in the game, but also scored seven rebounds and three blocks.

Winster, another freshman, played well, finishing with 20 points, 10 rebounds and two blocks.

Cook had 15 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Although the captain Zhang Zifeng did not score much, only 11 points, everyone knew that he was the number one hero in this game.

Whether it was limiting Wright, the core of the University of Utah, and making the opponent play poorly throughout the game, he also contributed a record 13 assists, which was a good tandem of the team's offense.

After the game, as the best player of the game, ESPN reporter Erin Andrews conducted a live interview with Zhang Zifeng.

"Congratulations, Jack! You had a great night, and you helped Duke win this and advance to the Elite 8 with your head held high. “

"Thank you, but it was the efforts of all my teammates that allowed Duke University to defeat the University of Utah. Without Okafor's inside to contain the opponent, Jefferson and Vince Law to grab rebounds, and Winslow and Cook's goals, it would be difficult for us to win the University of Utah. Zhang Zifeng wiped the sweat on his forehead with a towel and said panting.

Erin Andrews continued, "Jack, I see that you didn't have a strong desire to attack in this game, but more to help the team by passing. May I ask if this is Lao K to train you to develop in the direction of a dual-energy defender? ”

Zhang Zifeng shrugged his shoulders and said, "No, Wright is a good opponent, and under his defense, my offense can't guarantee efficiency." What's more, we still have Winslow, Cook and other good players in the team, and since they are more sure, they should certainly get more shots. ”

Erin Andrews praised, "Well, Jack, you can see that you are a team-oriented player. I hope you continue to do well in the next races! “

"Thank you!" After Zhang Zifeng finished speaking, he ended the interview. After signing a few Blue Devils fans, he walked into the players' tunnel.

"Jack, I'll be waiting for you alone. Hurry up! Winslow saw Zhang Zifeng walk into the locker room and immediately shouted.

Looking at the Okafor who was looking forward to them, Zhang Zifeng nodded hurriedly and said, "Wait for me, it'll be fine right away!" ”

When Lao K returned to the locker room after the interview, he saw the neatly dressed Zhang Zifeng just about to go out.

Old K immediately understood that they were going there, "Jack, you did well today, keep up the good work." ”

Zhang Zifeng replied affirmatively, "I will!" ”

Looking at the somewhat anxious Okafor on the side, Old K smiled and said, "Jack, you are the captain, take care of this bastard when you go out to play." Whoever is late for training tomorrow will be punished for an additional 8,000 long-distance run. Jack you're the captain, double! “

"What!" Like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, Zhang Zifeng shouted loudly.

These orangutans are in heat, who can stop them!