One Last Hurdle: Duke and Butler will try to make most of biggest stage of season

Duke's on a mission, while Butler's living a dream.

And tonight, one will win the NCAA Tournament championship and sit atop all of college basketball.

They will play each other at 9:21 p.m. at Lucas Oil Stadium in a championship game full of contrasts. Duke is a national power, seeking its fourth title. Butler, not unknown but certainly not basketball royalty, is in the title game for the first time.

Duke's Mike Krzyzewski has been coaching for 35 years, the last 30 on the sidelines in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Brad Stevens, the Butler coach, is 33 and could pass for 20. He is in his third season, all at Butler.

Duke has reached the title game, its objective since practice began last October. The drive now is to complete a near-dominating tournament run and win the title for the first time since 2001. Only one of Duke's tournament wins has been by less than 13 points.

Lance Thomas, a Duke forward, has heard Butler called a mid-major program and basketball's version of Cinderella for its tournament run, and laughs at each description.

"We don't have time to celebrate our semifinal win," Thomas said. "We're playing against a really good Butler team. It's going to be tough.

"As a competitor and seeing them on film, I know how hard they play. This is going to be probably the toughest game we've played all year. The two best teams are playing for the championship. They're that good, so we have to make sure that we're ready."

Duke is 34-5 and Butler is 33-4. The teams have played once before, on Jan. 30, 2003, in Durham, which Duke won 80-60. Stevens was an assistant coach on that Butler team.

Many will view the matchup in David vs. Goliath terms, given that a team from the Horizon League is taking on an ACC power. Gordon Hayward, a Butler forward, said he isn't certain that the description is apt, but he considers it helpful.

"I think we embrace it," Hayward said. "If that's what the story is going to be, we'll accept that. We're up for that challenge, although I don't know if we think of ourselves like that.

"Obviously Coach believes in us and we believe in ourselves. I've said this before. We've played other opponents like this. Once the ball goes up in the air, all that's going to disappear and it's just five on five. We view them as another opponent, someone we're going to play and try to beat."

At first glance, Duke would seem too talented, tall, deep and driven for Butler to stop. Butler, though, is not a team to take lightly, and certainly not to overlook. What it lacks in talent, it makes up for in effort.

Butler's 52-50 win over Michigan State in the semifinals was its third in a row against a team ranked in the top 15 and a team seeded at least No. 5 in the tournament. Butler went 10:44 in the second half without a field goal and still won.

Butler's winning streak has reached 25 games, the longest current streak in the country. It is giving up an average of 59 points a game through a combination of tough defense and patient play. None of the five teams it has played in the NCAA Tournament has scored 60 points.

In addition to Michigan State, Butler has knocked off Syracuse, its regional's No. 1 seed, and Kansas State, the No. 2 seed.

Quick hands and smothering defense produced 12 steals against Michigan State. Butler has 33 steals in its last three games and 44 for the tournament.

And Butler's shooters seem capable of keeping up with Duke's. Butler has won its last 23 games when making at least nine 3-pointers. It has a 40-1 record under Stevens when making at least nine 3-pointers in a game.

One health concern exists for Butler. Matt Howard, a 6-8 junior, sustained a slight concussion against Michigan State. Stevens said that the injury appeared to happen when Howard was knocked down and his head struck the floor.

Howard was held out of practice yesterday. Stevens said he feels confident that Howard will play, but Ryan Galloy, Butler's trainer, said late yesterday afternoon that Howard's status will be a game-time decision.

Howard is Butler's third-leading scorer and its second-leading rebounder. The Butler team physician will examine him today.

"He did have a good night's sleep," Stevens said. "He's feeling a little bit better.

"One thing is, his health is numero uno priority. If he can't play, he can't play."

Stevens said that Butler will likely play a tall reserve if Howard can't go. Krzyzewski said that any change by Butler should not present problems because Howard has been in foul trouble in almost every NCAA Tournament game and reserves have played extensively, allowing Duke to see how Butler adjusts.

Jon Scheyer, one of three Duke seniors seeking a first NCAA Tournament championship, said he is confident that his team can build on Saturday's sharp, precise, 21-point win over West Virginia in the semifinals.

"I couldn't have told you exactly how it would be this year," Scheyer said. "For us, this is where we expected to be this year. This is the position we wanted to be in. We're going to make the most of it."

bcole@wsjournal.com.