INDIANAPOLIS - In the end, it wasn't Missouri's press or Kentucky's athleticism that did in West Virginia.
It was Duke's shooting.
The Blue Devils put on a clinic in front of the more than 70,000 people inside Lucas Oil Stadium, draining 29 of 55 shots (53 percent), including 13 of 25 from beyond the 3-point line (52 percent).
The Blue Devils couldn't miss.
And it was a frustrating thing for West Virginia's usually stingy defense.
"They got us out of character," Mountaineers forward Devin Ebanks said. "We are not usually like that on defense. But we allowed a lot of penetration to the middle. They were able to convert and hit open jump shots. Usually, you know, whenever we're down, we're pretty confident we can come back. Duke just made shots."
How good were they?
Duke's Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith combined for 42 points on 14 of 29 shooting and 12 assists (six apiece) with no turnovers.
"Well, our team played really well," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I thought our defense was outstanding. Our care of the ball was excellent, to get 20 assists and only six turnovers. These two guys (Scheyer and Smith) had 12 assists and no turnovers.
"All three of our guys (counting Kyle Singler and his 21 points on 8 of 16 shooting) had outstanding shooting games. ... We beat a really good team. And I thought we played an outstanding game."
Two of the Best
With a combined 1,536 coaching victories, West Virginia's Bob Huggins and Duke's Krzyzewski had more than any two coaches who'd faced each other in NCAA Tournament history. Certainly, more of Krzyzewski's came in the tourney than Huggins, or anyone else really, as he's won more games in this thing than any coach in history (75).
While West Virginia was making its first appearance since 1959, Duke has reached the Final Four at least once in six consecutive decades.
More Stats
West Virginia's Da'Sean Butler took just eight field goal attempts, his second-lowest output of the season. The Mountaineers (5) and the Blue Devils (13) combined for the second-most 3-pointers made in a national semifinal. Arkansas (12) and North Carolina (10) hold the record of 22, set in 1995. West Virginia dropped to 15-5 this season when its bench outscores the opponent. Saturday's loss was the Mountaineers' worst of the season (18 points). The 38 games West Virginia played were a school record.
NCAA Tourney Tidbits?
The first domed stadium to play host to the NCAA Men's Basketball Championship was the Superdome in New Orleans. Fans were asked to text the top single performance in tourney history, with North Carolina's Ty Lawson's eight-steal performance and Indiana's Steve Alford's 7 of 10 effort at the 3-point line being beaten out by Bill Walton hitting 21 of 22 shots in 1973 against Memphis.
