Blue Devils roll on

HOUSTON

Duke stopped a six-year NCAA Final Four drought yesterday by outlasting Baylor in the South Regional championship game at Reliant Stadium.

The Blue Devils captured a 78-71 victory in a tense, taut finish. Lance Thomas contributed two critical plays and Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer each hit crucial 3-pointers to help Duke pull away from a 61-61 tie with 3:36 left.

During a timeout, Scheyer said that Duke found the fortitude needed to take control against one of its toughest opponents of the season.

"We kept telling each other, ‘We need stops,' and ‘We're going to win,' " Scheyer said. "Mentally you need to stay so tough in that type of game because they keep coming at you.

"When it was crunch time down at the end, we just said, ‘This is all we've been working for the whole year. We want to be in situations like this.' The five of us looked at each other and said, `Let's go.' "

Duke improved to 33-5. It will play West Virginia, the East Regional champion, on Saturday at 8:47 p.m. in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium in the Final Four semifinals.

Duke will make its first Final Four appearance since 2004. Smith led Duke with a career-high 29 points.

Baylor finished 28-8.

Smith was on the free-throw line for two shots when play resumed after the timeout. He made the first to force the tie, but missed the second.

Thomas soared in traffic at the basket to control the ball, first tapping it and then grabbing it. Thomas passed to Smith, who had run out to the right wing, and he buried a 3-pointer to give Duke the lead for good with 3:30 left.

Baylor missed two shots and Brian Zoubek grabbed the ball. A pass went inside to Zoubek, and he passed outside to the left wing to Scheyer, who hit another 3-pointer for a 67-61 lead.

The play was a staple of Duke's strategy. To combat Baylor's stifling zone, Duke passed the ball inside near the free-throw line to Zoubek and Thomas and used quick outlet passes to the wings.

The back-to-back 3-point shots were the blows against Baylor that Coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted to land after 37 draining minutes of play.

"I thought it just knocked them back for just a second," Krzyzewski said. "It gave us a little wiggle room. We just got that separation."

Baylor knocked one point off the lead on a free throw. Kyle Singler missed a 3-pointer for Duke, mired in one of the toughest shooting games of his career in missing all 10 of his shots from the field, but Thomas once again beat everyone to the rebound.

And this time, he dunked it after grabbing another rebound. He drew a foul from Ekpe Udoh and made the free throw, and Duke led 70-62 with 96 seconds left. The margin, at that point, was the largest of the game.

Thomas said that the play was his first this season when he soared to grab a rebound and dunked on a follow shot while still in the air.

The basket was Duke's last, but it stayed ahead by making eight of 10 free throws in the final 79 seconds. Thomas grabbed eight offensive rebounds and nine in all. He and Zoubek helped Duke grab 23 offensive rebounds in 43 rebounds total.

Krzyzewski thought that offensive rebounding kept Duke in the game, especially after Baylor took a 42-37 lead in the second half after leading 35-32 at halftime.

Scheyer thought that no offensive rebound was more important than Thomas' grab and dunk.

"Lance had a couple of plays where he kept the ball alive, which he doesn't necessarily get credit for," Scheyer said.

"The tip-in dunk was just a huge play. Really, a huge play, if not the biggest one of the game."

bcole@wsjournal.com.

BAY. Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Udoh 37 6-14 6-9 7-10 6 4 18

Jones 33 1-3 0-2 2-5 1 1 3

Lomers 9 2-2 0-0 0-1 0 5 4

Dunn 35 8-18 4-5 0-6 2 4 22

Carter 38 5-12 0-0 0-2 4 2 12

Ellis 2 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0

Acy 33 5-7 2-3 6-8 0 4 12

Walton 13 0-3 0-0 1-3 1 1 0

Totals 200 27-59 12-19 17-37 14 21 71

Percentages: FG .458, FT .632. 3-Point Goals: 5-18, .278 (Carter 2-7, Dunn 2-8, Jones 1-2, Walton 0-1). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 8 (Udoh 5, Jones, Acy, Lomers).

Turnovers: 11 (Carter 4, Dunn 2, Udoh, Walton, Acy, Jones, Lomers). Steals: 8 (Carter 2, Dunn 2, Walton, Acy, Jones, Udoh). Technical Fouls: Acy.

DUKE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A PF Pts

Singler 34 0-10 5-6 2-3 4 2 5

Thomas 19 2-9 3-4 8-9 2 3 7

Zoubek 19 2-5 1-2 4-9 2 5 5

Smith 40 9-17 7-8 1-3 1 0 29

Scheyer 40 5-12 5-5 1-5 4 1 20

MaPlml 15 1-2 0-0 3-5 2 2 2

Dwkins 13 2-2 0-2 0-0 0 0 6

MiPlml 20 1-4 2-2 3-7 0 2 4

Totals 200 22-61 23-29 23-43 15 15 78

Percentages: FG .361, FT .793. 3-Point Goals: 11-23, .478 (Scheyer 5-10, Smith 4-6, Dawkins 2-2, Singler 0-5). Team Rebounds: 2. Blocked Shots: 0. Turnovers: 11 (Singler 4, Smith 2, Ma.Plumlee 2, Thomas, Scheyer, Zoubek). Steals: 7 (Zoubek 2, Smith 2, Singler 2, Scheyer). Technical Fouls: None.

Baylor 35 36 -- 71


Duke 32 46 -- 78

A--47,492.