March Rewind: Jeff Mullins Leads '64 Duke to Second Straight Regional Final

What's March without Duke Tournament basketball? With this year's ACC and NCAA Tournaments cancelled, we'll go back in time to look at the top Blue Devils postseason games from each date in March and early April. Special thanks to SportsReference.com for boxscores and the Duke Library for the newspaper archive.

Duke saw its halftime lead shrink dramatically before the Blue Devils recovered for an 87-73 win over Villanova at Reynolds Coliseum on Friday. The Blue Devils now play Connecticut on Saturday for a chance to go to its second straight Final Four.

Jeff Mullins had a career night, helping to lead Duke to a 16-point halftime lead. The senior, who has averaged 20 ppg each of his three years, played all 40 minutes and shot 19 of 28 for 43 points, adding 12 rebounds.

Duke shot 50 percent against a Villanova zone that Blue Devil coach Vic Bubas said was the best he’s seen all season.

The Blue Devils pressured Villanova leading scorer Wally Jones, forcing him into 6-of-20 shooting, thanks in large part to the defense by Duke’s Denny Ferguson.

Duke saw its 16-point lead melt in the second half, however. Bubas blamed the Villanova rally on Duke letting up defensively, allowing Nova to get hot. Bill Melchionni hit 9-of-17 from the field for 18 points.

As Duke saw its lead down to three points, Blue Devil sophomore Steve Vacendak stepped up with a three-point play to double the margin. Villanova never got that close again as the Blue Devils pulled away for a trip to the regional finals.

Vacendak, who averaged 5.5 ppg this season after teaming with Jack Marin to lead last season’s freshman team to a Big Four championship, scored eight points, as did Marin. Hack Tison hit 7-of-8 free throws to score 13. Jay Buckley scored nine points and tied for game high with 12 rebounds.