College Basketball 4/3/10 NCAA Final 4
West Virginia Mountaineers (31-6) (Big East)-Duke Blue Devils (33-5) (ACC)

By Mark-Saturday, April 3rd 2010 8:45 PM EST
Line-Duke -3

West Virginia built a 14 point second half lead than held off a last minute Kentucky rally to hand the Wildcats a 73-66 defeat to reach the Final 4. The Mountaineers used the three ball as a weapon and in fact it was their offense as they didn't make a two point shot until the second half. Their 39% shooting belies their effectiveness from distance where they hit ten of 29 attempts but it was their defense that stood tall and needed too with UK holding a dramatic 51-36 edge on the glass with a whopping 24 offensive boards. The Wildcats stubborn attempt at establishing a perimeter game was nothing short of disaster (4-32) surpassed only by their 16 of 29 effort from the stripe. The loss of Darryl Bryant to injury became readily apparent in the closing minutes as every West Virginia dribble had turnover written on it. Four players landed in the double digit scoring column led by Da'Sean Butler with 18 points but the star of the game had to be Joe Mazzilla with 17 as he wasn't considered much of a scoring threat taking over for Bryant.

A 12-1 run with three minutes remaining gave Duke a lead they never relinquished sending them to a 78-71 win over Baylor and in to the Final 4. The game was close until Duke's scoring spurt but as has been the case through out the year, the Blue Devils make the timely three or clutch free throw. Baylor shot the ball well finishing at 46% but found makes difficult to come by in the closing minutes when they couldn't connect on some crucial long balls. Duke more than held their own in the paint with a 43-37 edge on the glass including 23 offensive boards, 17 of which they grabbed in the second half. The Bears failure to keep the Blue Devils off the offensive glass resulted in numerous second chance points which negated Duke's 36% total fom the floor. With Kyle Sigler suffering through a 0-10 game the big three became the big two with Nolan Smith pouring in a game high 29 while Jon Scheyer tossed in 20. Even more important was the 12 points and 12 rebounds Duke received from the bench.

West Virginia offense: 73 ppg 16 apg 39 rpg 43%
West Virginia defense: 63 ppg 11 apg 32 rpg 42%
Duke offense: 77 ppg 14 apg 39 rpg 44%
Duke defense: 61 ppg 11 apg 33 rpg 40%

West Virginia needs to exert themselves on the glass and limit second chance opporunities for Duke as they get a good portion of their production from offensive put backs. The mad scramble at the end of their game against Kentucky because of their lack of ball handlers simply can't happen here. The Blue Devils are playing their best basketball of the season and have pulled away from two quality opponents in the latter stages of games so it's hard for me to go against them here.