Duke Blue Devils storm back vs. Michigan State to keep coach Mike Krzyzewski's last run alive

GREENVILLE, S.C. — Mike Krzyzewski turned around and saw the mass of his family behind the Duke bench cheering and crying and celebrating. It had not been the easiest win of his career, but it was another one.

Sunday night, in the second round of the NCAA tournament during Krzyzewski's final year as Duke's head coach, facing one of his closer friends in the profession in Tom Izzo, it looked a bit dicey for a while. That Krzyzewski's career might end here, in an arena typically used for minor league hockey.

But it didn't. Not here. Not in the first weekend of the NCAA tournament.

With second-seeded Duke (30-6) holding on for a 85-76 win over No. 7 Michigan State, Krzyzewski continued along the milestone counter. Sweet 16 No. 26. Win No. 1,200 — more than any Division I coach in history. More than any of that, though, was the scene going on behind him.

«Turning around and seeing all my grandkids right behind the bench and they are crying and they're cheering,» Krzyzewski said. «Wow. I mean, God bless, how lucky. I mean, it's so good. It's so good. So 1,200 is great.

»But that scene was better."

It may have been in the second round of the tournament, but Krzyzewski compared it to an Elite Eight or Final Four game. It had the intensity and closeness those games have and the name programs that often come along with it. It was a game so good — a close-out so impressive to Krzyzewski that he became emotional during the postgame news conference, telling his players «you guys were terrific, man. I'm really proud to be your coach.»

It came complete with a Jeremy Roach chest bump of Krzyzewski toward the end — with Krzyzewski later joking «I don't have a chest to bump» — and a celebration of at least one more win, one more Sweet 16