Coach K Earns Win No. 1000 as Duke Rallies against St. John’s

Duke basketball rallied against St. John's at the Garden to give coach Mike Krzyzewski his 1,000th career win.

"That's the crazy thing about the game: you would not think we were going to win," said Krzyzewski reported by the New York Daily News. "Then after it was going, you would not think we could lose. Just like that...Boom."

St. John's dominated the first part of the game with Sir'Dominic Pointer and Rysheed Jordan closing the early 10-point deficit. The pair led the Johnnies to a 43-39 lead during halftime and extended that lead to 53-43 with 14:07 left to play.

"For 20 minutes they just killed us with their athleticism, Jordan and Pointer especially," Krzyzewski said. "We didn't have answers for them no matter what we did."

Despite the strong start, the duo's shooting streak stopped right when No.5 Duke found their rhythm. Led by Jahlil Okador, Duke went on a 15-1 run. For six minutes, the Red Storm did not make a field goal.

"We were getting our butts kicked most of the game," Krzyzewski told FOX's Gus Johnson on the floor. "St. John's played so well. Then all of a sudden we put Marshall Plumlee in. We haven't used that lineup much. And Marshall and Jah together, I don't know, there was a spark.

Duke held on to the lead, winning 77-68.

"We got open looks . . . we just didn't answer their run," St. John's coach Steve Lavin said. "Obviously it's disappointing. We had the lead and they went on a run and that lost us the game. We wish we could have gotten this one... Now we have to take care of the Big East."

The victory made Krzyzewski the first ever Division I men's basketball coach to reach 1,000 wins. In his career, which spans 40 seasons at Army and Duke, Krzyzewski is 1,000-308.

"There will be others who will win more. It's kind of neat to be the first one to 1,000," Krzyzewski said.

Krzyzewski joins Pat Summitt, the former Tennessee women's coach, as the only coaches with 1,000 wins in Division I.