DALLAS – Not always, but sometimes, it really does come down to who wants it more.

Tyrese Proctor said that was the difference in taking the ball away from Houston’s L.J. Cryer twice in the closing minutes of Duke’s 54-51 win in the Sweet 16 on Friday night at American Airlines Center.

“Just trying to do my job and I think I just wanted it more,” Duke’s sophomore guard said after the game. “He brought the ball up too high and I ripped it off him, and then I just read him on that crossover and dove on the ball before he did.

“I feel like that’s why we won.”

It comes as little surprise that’s where Proctor had the biggest impact on Duke’s win over Houston. The sophomore emerged in the second half of last season as Duke’s best on-ball defender, and when he’s been healthy this season, he’s been that player again.

It was the anticipation, as he alludes to above, that helped him put the clamps on Cryer.

“Obviously when (Jamal) Shead went out, we knew that Cryer was really going to try and take over,” Proctor said.

Proctor pointed out that when Cryer and the third leg of Houston’s guard tripod, Emanuel Sharp, are making 3s, that’s when they win games. Duke took away those chances, with Cryer going 1-for-3 on 3s and Sharp missing both of his attempts.

That’s where lessons learned comes into play, with Proctor mentioning Pittsburgh’s Blake Hinson as an example of getting into a rhythm and the Blue Devils unable to slow him down earlier in the season.

Houston scored 186 points in the first two games of the NCAA tournament, at a clip of 1.31 points per possession. The Cougars’ 51 points came on 56 possessions (0.91) on Friday night.

“I think we’ve got one of the best defensive teams in the country,” Proctor said. “No one talks about us enough on defense, everyone overlooks us. I think we can win any game as long as we keep taking pride and keep playing together on defense.”

We’re talking plenty about Duke’s defense now, though.

Duke has held 30 of 35 opponents under their season averages. Houston’s 51 points were the second-fewest the Cougars have scored this season.

The last two times Duke held its first three opponents in the NCAA tournament under 60 points were 2010 and 2015 — both ending in national championships.

Why don’t people talk about Duke’s defense as much as they should? Proctor isn’t sure — he’s just happy to have the Blue Devils just keep clicking along at their current rate.

“I don’t know, to be completely honest with you,” Proctor said when asked why he thinks Duke’s defense is overlooked. “I think we’ve proven all year we’ve been able to guard. I think after the two losses early in the season against Arkansas and (Georgia) Tech, we sort of ramped it up.

“I think now there’s more eyes on the tournament, so people are watching more and realizing. But I don’t know why it wasn’t talked about more early on.”

Here are a few other notes from Duke’s win over Houston, and previewing Sunday’s game against N.C. State:

If you were surprised at how quickly Duke’s sixth-year forward elevated for a dunk against Houston, you’re not alone.

The 6-10, 238-pounder took a close-quarters pass from Kyle Filipowski about 5½ minutes into the second half and flushed it with both hands, breaking a 32-32 tie. Duke never trailed after that — it started a stretch of the Blue Devils scoring on six of eight possessions.

Young himself, no stranger to self-deprecation, noted that it was his first dunk in the NCAA tournament.

“Usually if I see a guy coming down the lane like that trying to block it, it’s typically a pump fake,” Young said on Friday night. “But felt good, got a step into it. Flip’s one of the best-passing bigs in the country, if not the best, so he found me in a great spot.”

He added: “Just went up and hoped for the best. … I know myself pretty well as a player, that’s not my game.”

But here’s the thing: That’s the second time he’s had a dunk like that against Houston in the last 18 months.

Last year’s closed-door preseason scrimmage saw Duke travel to Houston. Jeremy Roach remembers Young faking a handoff and taking a straight path to the basket, rising up for a dunk.

“What you don’t know, in the scrimmage last year he had a fake handoff and dunked on someone last year,” Roach said. “That’s nothing new.”

Houston’s fourth-year guard passed Hakeem Olajuwon on the program’s all-time scoring list and had his season end in the same minute of Friday night’s game.

Shead scored his first bucket of the game with 7:22 left in the first half, putting the Cougars up 16-10. On the next possession, he landed awkwardly on his right ankle and crumpled, writhing on the ground and grabbing at his foot.

It was a scene nobody wanted to see — from Shead gingerly walking off the court to him returning to the court in a sweatshirt to him remaining on the bench through the end of the game.

“We know what he brings to the table,” Roach said. “Prayers up to my man because that’s my man right there, praise up to him, hope he’s all right.”

“I hope he’s good,” freshman Jared McCain said. “I know him from some camps I went to.”

Shead has another season of eligibility because his freshman year was played during COVID. He lands in the second round of a few NBA draft projections.

TIP-INS: Duke is 25-1 when leading at halftime this season. The loss was when the Blue Devils were up by two at halftime at Wake Forest. … Duke’s assist rate has been over 50% in all three NCAA tournament games, and it’s been 66.7% and 70% against James Madison and Houston, respectively. The Blue Devils are 20-1 this season when their assist is over 50%; 7-7 when it’s 50% or lower. … Duke is 22-2 when outrebounding its opponent this season; one of those losses was to N.C. State. … Duke is 122-40 in the NCAA tournament, which is the best winning percentage in tournament history by a program that’s played at least 20 games.