It truly is a David versus Goliath matchup. Duke is one of the greatest programs of all time, while Butler is most famous for hosting the final game of the movie Hoosiers.
I think that Duke will win, but I know that Butler is definitely capable of pulling off the upset. Butler versus Duke for the National Championship. How cool is that?
End of game, Duke 78-57: That's it. Duke is headed to the championship game where it will face Butler.
Second half, 1:08, Duke 75-57: Both teams are clearing out their benches to get the practice players some time on the court. Nothing wrong with that.
Second half, 2:53, Duke 72-57: Duke fans can start celebrating now. Their team is going to the championship game.
Second half, 3:55, Duke 69-55: The run that I thought West Virginia would make just never happened. Duke has been the better team throughout, and the Blue Devils have been better in every facet of the game.
Second half, 4:03, Duke 69-55: Another shot rattles out for West Virginia, but that is not the difference in this one.
Second half, 5:22, Duke 69-55: Duke has been able to do whatever it wanted on the offensive end. It has had open looks and uninterrupted drives to the bucket. West Virginia's team defense has just not been good enough.
Second half, 6:39, Duke 67-52: West Virginia's only chance to win this one is to create turnovers, something it has been unable to do thus far.
Second half, 7:07, Duke 67-52: I can't stop thinking about Da'Sean Butler. He is a senior and West Virginia's best player. This is just a terrible way for the young man to end his college career.
Second half, 7:07, Duke 67-52: Duke is ahead by 15 with just over seven minutes to play. West Virginia is going to have a tough time winning this one because Duke's offense has been so efficient.
Second half, 8:12, Duke 65-50: Duke is now in the one-and-one as West Virginia picked up fouls in a hurry.
Second half, 8:35, Duke 63-48: I hope Da'Sean Butler is all right in the long run. He is a terrific player with pro potential, but that certainly looked like a MCL or ACL injury.
Second half, 8:59, Duke 63-48: This is terrible to see. CBS should show something else. Da'Sean Butler is in agony. It looked like his knee buckled as he tried to make a cut, and he is in a tremendous amount of pain.
Second half, 9:02, Duke 63-48: West Virginia is in a danger zone right now. It cannot find a way to stop Duke.
Second half, 9:42, Duke 60-48: Singler now has 18 points, five rebounds and five assists. He has really played well after a poor performance in his last game.
Second half, 10:13, Duke 58-48: In case you were wondering, West Virginia has five team fouls.
Second half, 10:40, Duke 58-48: Duke is over the limit, so West Virginia will be shooting free throws from here on out. That will help the Mountaineers.
Second half, 11:44, Duke 58-44: West Virginia is one good run away from being right back in this one. I keep expecting that run to come, but Duke has been very solid so far.
Second half, 11:44, Duke 58-44: That was a terrible technical foul call. Plumlee was just trying to make sure he did not land on anyone. However, more important than the technical is the health of Nolan Smith, who was bent over in pain as CBS went to commercial.
Second half, 12:11, Duke 56-44: West Virginia's defense is just not playing well. It looks just a step slow.
Second half, 12:32, Duke 55-44: Jon Scheyer seems to get fouled on a lot of 3-point attempts. He is not someone you want to put on the line.
Second half, 12:56, Duke 53-44: Another foul on Duke. One more and the Mountaineers will be in the bonus. However, the Blue Devils are doing a good job of closing out on the shooters and forcing West Virginia to drive.
Second half, 14:17, Duke 49-42: Duke is starting to get in some foul trouble. Nolan Smith and Brian Zoubek have three fouls apiece and Duke now has five fouls in this half.
Second half, 15:02, Duke 49-40: A great use of the pump fake by Jon Scheyer. You need to close out on a shooter and the West Virginia defender did not do that.
Second half, 15:44, Duke 46-38: Duke continues to pound the offensive glass. The Blue Devils have eight offensive rebounds and a 15-0 advantage in second-chance points.
Second half, 16:24, Duke 43-38: Da'Sean Butler had a tough first half on the offensive end, but he can score in a variety of ways. Two free throws may be what he needs to be himself going.
Second half, 16:55, Duke 43-36: Wellington Smith hits another 3. West Virginia has a few streaky shooters who can heat up in a hurry.
Second half, 18:38, Duke 41-33: Kyle Singler is apparently still feeling it. He now has 16.
Second half, 19:28, Duke 39-31: Duke and West Virginia are underway in the second half.
End of first half, Duke 39-31: Both offenses have played great. Duke and West Virginia are both shooting better than 50 percent from inside and outside the arc.
Kyle Singler has played great, and leads Duke with 14 points. Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer have also played well on the offensive end.
There is no need for West Virginia to panic. The only change I would make is to close out on Duke's shooters and force them to put the ball on the floor. It also needs to find a way to keep Zoubek and Thomas off of the offensive glass.
End of first half, Duke 39-31: West Virginia looks good, but Duke looks better after the first half.
First half, 0:33, Duke 39-31: The Mountaineers are playing very well on offense. Assuming Duke cools down in the second half, West Virginia will be right in this one, even though it has looked overmatched in the first half.
First half, 2:28, Duke 39-31: Nolan Smith just picked up his third foul. I did not realize he had two. That is big for Duke.
First half, 3:06, Duke 39-28: West Virginia needs to make a run to end this half. You do not want to go to the half down double-digits.
First half, 3:40, Duke 37-26: What a difference between the two Final Four games. This one is a much higher scoring affair than the previous contest. West Virginia is playing good on offense, but Duke is playing great. The Blue Devils are 7-for-13 from beyond the arc. The Mountaineers need to make Duke put the ball on the deck.
First half, 4:04, Duke 37-26: Duke is dominating this game early on. Everyone is playing well for the Blue Devils.
First half, 4:43, Duke 34-24: West Virginia switches to a 1-3-1 zone, but Duke conquers it easily the first time it sees it.
First half, 5:42, Duke 31-21: Duke can score in bunches. If Singler and Smith are shooting well, the Blue Devils have three capable 3-point shooters.
First half, 6:08, Duke 25-21: Duke's big three play a lot of minutes, but the bigs will continually rotate between Thomas, Zoubek and the Plumlee brothers.
First half, 6:56, Duke 25-21: Both teams are shooting better than 50 percent in this first half. Part of that is certainly good offense, but part is also poor defense.
First half, 7:01, Duke 25-21: Both teams are flexing their offensive muscles early. Which defense will step up first?
First half, 8:15, Duke 23-18: What has gotten into Kyle Singler? He now has 11 points.
First half, 10:15, Duke 18-14: This game is much more fast-paced and open than the previous game between Butler and Michigan State. Both of these teams play solid defense, but they also like to get out and run.
First half, 11:03, Duke 18-11: Kyle Singler with a quick nine points. That is good news for Duke because he wasn't a factor in the Regional Final against Baylor, shooting 0-for-10 from the floor.
First half, 12:46, Duke 11-9: So far these two teams have combined for eight assists on the game's first nine baskets. There is no selfish play here.
First half, 12:46, Duke 11-9: Duke has three offensive rebounds early. Brian Zoubek is a load inside and Lance Thomas is a tireless worker.
First half, 13:11, Duke 11-9: Nolan Smith already has four assists. He was terrific in Duke's previous game against Baylor.
First half, 14:27, Duke 9-7: West Virginia is running its offense well thus far with lots of movement and sharp cuts.
First half, 15:50, Duke 9-7: West Virginia cannot rely on it's length on the defensive end. Duke is having an easy time getting to the rim so far. The Mountaineers need to play better on-ball defense.
First half, 16:10, 7-7: Brian Zoubek has already made space for himself down low a few times. West Virginia does not have anyone his size.
First half, 18:12, 2-2: West Virginia does not have a classic center, but it does have very good team length. The Mountaineers have already blocked three Duke shots.
First half, 19:34, 0-0: We have a five second count right away. You won't see that in the NBA.
First half, 19:56, 0-0: Duke and West Virginia are underway. Like the earlier Final Four game between Butler and Michigan State, this should be a close game between two evenly-matched teams.
9:08 p.m.: Butler has already punched it's ticket to the championship game. The only question that remains is who will join it, Duke or West Virginia.
8 a.m.: It is not a surprise that Duke and West Virginia reached the Final Four. Kentucky was certainly the favorite to come out of the East, but West Virginia was a strong No. 2 seed.
Duke's path to the Final Four hasn't been an easy one; the Blue Devils defeated the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 8 seeds in the South Region.
Conversely, West Virginia defeated only one single-digit seed to reach the Final Four — but granted, it was No. 1 Kentucky. The Mountaineers play a lot in a 1-3-1 zone, which is exactly what Duke faced in the South Regional final against Baylor.
West Virginia has been described as a guard-oriented team that does not shoot the ball well. However, Duke’s shooting percentage is just a hair better than West Virginia’s (44.0 percent to 43.1 percent). In the tournament, you do not need a team of great shooters; what you need is to have the right players to take the right shots.
Both of these teams are very talented. The team that advances may very well do so on the back of one great performance. In the regional finals, West Virginia’s Joe Mazzulla scored a career-high 17 points and Duke’s Nolan Smith notched a career-best 29 points. Who will step up in the Final Four?
