SAN ANTONIO—Duke's NCAA tournament run came to an end Saturday, as the Blue Devils ran into a buzzsaw in the Final Four.
Top-seeded Villanova used an electric 3-point barrage to down No. 2 seed Duke 95-79 at the Alamodome in the semifinals. Redshirt junior Eric Paschall had the hot hand all night for the Wildcats with 24 points on 10-of-11 shooting, and Villanova shot 18-of-40 from beyond the arc to shatter the Final Four record for made triples in a game.
"That's as good a team as we've played against that I can remember," Blue Devil head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We didn't play very well, obviously, and when we got spread out and our game plan went to crap on how we were going to guard certain actions, then we got caught in between, and that's the worst thing you can do defensively is be caught in between."
The Wildcats (35-4) seized control of the game early, knocking down six 3-pointers to take a 22-4 lead. Duke came out of the gates in an uncharacteristic man-to-man defense, but with Wendell Carter Jr. struggling to step out to the arc to defend Villanova big man Omari Spellman, the Blue Devils switched back to their usual 2-3 zone briefly.
Duke (30-8) showed signs of life with a 7-0 run to trim the deficit to 11, including a pair of tip-ins from sophomore Javin DeLaurier, who provided a spark off the bench with his athleticism. But Villanova answered with 3-pointers on four straight possessions and did not have its lead cut to fewer than 12 for the rest of the game.
The previous Final Four record for 3-pointers in a game was 13, which the Wildcats matched by the end of the first half. They took a 47-32 lead into the locker room, and the Blue Devils never strung together enough stops to stage much of a comeback after the break.
After putting the Blue Devils in the Final Four with a dramatic floater at the buzzer last week against Kansas, Grayson Allen was Duke's only consistent threat on offense in his final college game, scoring 23 points with an assortment a 3-pointers and pull-up jumpers. Gary Trent Jr. also attacked the basket well at times, attempting eight free throws and finishing with 21 points, but no other Blue Devil player finished with more than 10 points.
ACC Player of the Year Marvin Bagley III was held in check, with Duke struggling to feed the ball into the post and finishing the night with only eight assists.
"We were stagnant on offense, so it gave them a better chance to go at us," Trent said. "They were just kind of guarding areas. And when you play a good defensive team like Villanova, you definitely have to move and get the ball moving."
The Blue Devils will now wait and see which of their freshman starters decide to declare for the NBA Draft while Villanova advances to Monday's championship to face No. 3 seed Michigan.
"We had an unbelievable season. It's not the way you want it to end," Allen said. "I just knew it was my last time coming off the court in a Kansas uniform and just got really emotional. But it has been a great ride, great journey. These last four years have been a blessing."
Editor's note: Happy April Fool's Day! In case it wasn't clear, this is a satirical article for "The Chomicle." Check out more Chomicle content here.
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