INDIANAPOLIS—All it took was a shooting clinic for coach Mike Krzyzewski to return to the NCAA title game, his first one since 2001 when the Blue Devils won it all.
However, Krzyzewski wouldn’t let his return to basketball prominence headline the story. “College isn’t about what I’ve done before. College is about what they’re doing right now,” he said.
“These kids can’t identify with a fourth national championship but they can identify with going for their first and their only one.”
Duke shot a mind-blowing 52.7 percent from the field and 52 percent from 3-point range against a vaunted West Virginia defense, that coach Bob Huggins lauded before the game began, en route to a 78–57 beatdown at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday night.
“We were not going to beat West Virginia without a great performance,” Krzyzewski said. “All three of our perimeter guys had outstanding shooting games, so I thought we were difficult to guard as a result of that.”
The only No. 1 seed to make it to the Final Four showed the world that it belonged by taking control early. The Mountaineers held one lead at 4–2 barely two minutes into the game, and never led again.
Junior Nolan Smith, the South Region’s Most Outstanding Player, continued his stellar tournament play with 19 points, 6 assists, and no turnovers. He is now averaging 18.6 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m just trying to make sure that it’s not Jon [Scheyer], Kyle [Singler], and Lance’s [Thomas] last game,” Smith said. “We definitely came out and played a very complete game. The team was ready.”
“I shouldn’t have went from playing man to playing 1–3–1 without a dead ball,” Huggins said. “They hit two threes when we switched. I shouldn’t have done it on the fly.”
Guard Joe Mazzulla, who filled in for the injured Darryl “Truck” Bryant and snuck up on Kentucky with a career-high 17 points in his first start of the season, could not sneak up on a Duke team who did its job in scouting. Mazzulla was held to 4 points.
The game was never close as the Blue Devils extended their lead to as much as 75–57 after Jon Scheyer hit a 3-pointer with a little over two minutes remaining. Scheyer finished with a game-high 23 points and 6 assists with no turnovers.
However, Krzyzewski wouldn’t let his return to basketball prominence headline the story. “College isn’t about what I’ve done before. College is about what they’re doing right now,” he said.
“These kids can’t identify with a fourth national championship but they can identify with going for their first and their only one.”
Duke shot a mind-blowing 52.7 percent from the field and 52 percent from 3-point range against a vaunted West Virginia defense, that coach Bob Huggins lauded before the game began, en route to a 78–57 beatdown at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis on Saturday night.
“We were not going to beat West Virginia without a great performance,” Krzyzewski said. “All three of our perimeter guys had outstanding shooting games, so I thought we were difficult to guard as a result of that.”
The only No. 1 seed to make it to the Final Four showed the world that it belonged by taking control early. The Mountaineers held one lead at 4–2 barely two minutes into the game, and never led again.
Junior Nolan Smith, the South Region’s Most Outstanding Player, continued his stellar tournament play with 19 points, 6 assists, and no turnovers. He is now averaging 18.6 points per game in the NCAA Tournament.
“I’m just trying to make sure that it’s not Jon [Scheyer], Kyle [Singler], and Lance’s [Thomas] last game,” Smith said. “We definitely came out and played a very complete game. The team was ready.”
Zone Failure
Huggins used the 1–3–1 zone to beat a more athletic Kentucky team in the East Regional finals. But the zone that West Virginia has used all year failed them against the Blue Devils. Huggins switched to the zone from the man-to-man and had no success.“I shouldn’t have went from playing man to playing 1–3–1 without a dead ball,” Huggins said. “They hit two threes when we switched. I shouldn’t have done it on the fly.”
Guard Joe Mazzulla, who filled in for the injured Darryl “Truck” Bryant and snuck up on Kentucky with a career-high 17 points in his first start of the season, could not sneak up on a Duke team who did its job in scouting. Mazzulla was held to 4 points.
The game was never close as the Blue Devils extended their lead to as much as 75–57 after Jon Scheyer hit a 3-pointer with a little over two minutes remaining. Scheyer finished with a game-high 23 points and 6 assists with no turnovers.
Junior star Kyle Singler added 21 points in what could be his second to last game as he could declare for the NBA Draft after the season concludes.
“We thought the matchup of Kyle and [Da’Sean] Butler was the key matchup for us,” Krzyzewski said.
“Kyle not only played outstanding defense, but he played outstanding offense. Singler had a great game tonight because he had the toughest matchup.”
Even the seldom-used players got in on the action as Krzyzewski cleared out his bench with a minute left. Jordan Davidson hit a three to bring the final score to 78–57.
Duke maintained a double-digit lead with 12:32 left until the end of the game. Things hit a low note for the Mountaineers as star senior Da’Sean Butler left the game with a knee injury midway through the second half.
“I knew it was bad because Da’s a really tough guy,” Huggins said in the post-game press conference. “It was more he felt like he let his team down than it was about the injury, and that’s Da’Sean. You know, that’s the way he is. He’s got such a great heart.”
Huggins then proceeded to tell the heart-warming story of how Butler found out about a female fan who had a heart attack during the second half of the Kentucky game but wouldn’t leave her house until the game concluded.
Butler went to the hospital on Monday, spent an hour with the fan, and thanked her for her literal undying support. “You just don’t find guys like that very often,” Huggins said.
The game was the second highest attended NCAA Final Four semifinal game of all-time as the Cameron Crazies brought their fanfare into Lucas Oil. The Blue Devils will now play the hometown darlings of Butler on Monday night.
