Caleb Foster returned from a broken foot and rescued Duke’s national title hopes, helping the top-seeded Blue Devils rally from a 10-point second-half deficit to beat fifth-seeded St. John’s 80-75 on Friday night in Washington, D.C. and advance to the Elite Eight.

Playing less than three weeks after surgery on his left foot, Foster scored all of his 11 points in the second half. Isaiah Evans scored 25 points and Cameron Boozer had 22 points and 10 rebounds for the Blue Devils (35-2), who extended the nation’s longest active winning streak to 14, but not before the tenacious Red Storm (30-7) pushed Duke to the wire.

“To be honest, he had no business playing tonight — 99 percent of guys do not come back to play under the circumstances of what’s happened to him,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said. “It was incredible the way he willed us.”

Duke will face second-seeded UConn in today’s East Region final.

The Blue Devils led 77-74 with 32.4 seconds left when Boozer missed the front end of a one-and-one. Zuby Ejiofor drew a foul at the other end with 14.7 seconds to play, but the St. John’s standout made only one of two free throws.

Evans also made one of two, giving the Red Storm one last chance to tie it, down 78-75. But Dylan Darling missed badly from well beyond the arc. Boozer made two free throws with 1.5 seconds left.

It was just the second loss for St. John’s coach Rick Pitino in 14 visits to the Sweet 16 — and just the second loss for this season’s Red Storm in their final 23 games.

“It was our defense that broke down,” Pitino said. “It wasn’t so much not being in the right place. We just got bullied to the basket. They do that to a lot of teams. That’s why they’re the No. 1-ranked team in the country. We couldn’t defend the bully drives.”

EAST REGION

UConn 67, Michigan State 63: Tarris Reed Jr. scored 20 points, Alex Karaban added 17, and both made pressure-packed free throws in the final minute that helped the second-seeded Huskies hold off the third-seeded Spartans in the Sweet 16 in Washington, D.C.

UConn (32-5) led 63-62 when Karaban was fouled with 22.5 seconds remaining. He made both ends of a one-and-one to give the Huskies a three-point lead, and after Michigan State was unable to find a quick shot, Kur Teng’s 3-pointer missed.

UConn advances to a true heavyweight clash in today’s regional final against top-seeded Duke.

Carson Cooper had 14 points and seven rebounds for Michigan State (27-8).

MIDWEST REGION

Michigan 90, Alabama 77: Yaxel Lendeborg had 23 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists in a dazzling all-around performance and the top-seeded Wolverines beat the Crimson Tide in Chicago to advance to the Elite Eight for the first time in five years.

Trey McKenney and Elliot Cadeau each scored 17 points as Michigan set a school record with its 34th win of the season. Roddy Gayle Jr. finished with 16 points.

Led by McKenney and Gayle, the Wolverines (34-3) enjoyed a 33-6 advantage in bench points. But the versatile Lendeborg was the star of the show as his team grabbed control in the second half.

Next up for the Wolverines is today’s regional final against Tennesseee.

Labaron Philon Jr. scored 35 points for fourth-seeded Alabama (25-10), which was once again without star guard Aden Holloway, who missed the school’s tournament run after he was suspended indefinitely following a March 16 arrest on felony drug charges.

Tennessee 76, Iowa State 62: Nate Ament scored 18 points, Ja’Kobi Gillespie finished with 16 and Tennessee beat Iowa State to advance to the Elite Eight for the third straight year.

Coach Rick Barnes’ team used a dominant effort on the glass and a strong second half to put away Iowa State (29-8) and move within one win of its first Final Four.

The sixth-seeded Volunteers (25-11) will meet top-seeded Michigan in the regional final today.

Ament made three 3-pointers. Felix Okpara chipped in with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylen Carey added 11 points and 10 boards, and the Volunteers outrebounded the Cyclones 43-22.

Nate Heise and Tamin Lipsey each scored 18 points for Iowa State, but the Cyclones clearly struggled without injured star Joshua Jefferson.