Duke 78-71, END OF GAME: The Blue Devils are in the Final Four for the first time since 2004. Check dukechronicle.com for postgame slideshows and reactions from the locker room.
Duke 72-64, SECOND HALF 47.3 seconds remaining: Acy was hit with the technical for his fourth personal foul, and Scheyer hit both free throws to give Duke its first double-digit lead. Udoh got a layup on the other end, but all the Blue Devils have to do now is make their foul shots.
Duke 70-62, SECOND HALF 1:19 remaining: Thomas hasn't exactly had a great shooting night, but he just made up for that with a putback dunk on yet another Singler miss and hitting the ensuing free throw for the three-point play. Who would have thought that Duke would be in the driver's seat with just over a minute to play with Singler scoreless from the field.
We're at a stoppage right now because Scheyer, Acy and Smith all got into it after the Blue Devils called timeout. Dawkins charged pretty far onto the court during the scuffle, so let's see if any technical fouls were assessed.
Duke 67-61, SECOND HALF 2:18 remaining: Zoubek just fouled out, but a couple of big threes from Scheyer and Smith have Duke in the lead.
Baylor 61-60, SECOND HALF 3:36 remaining: Duke's veterans really love the big moments. Thomas was blocked inside, but charged past three Baylor players to get the rebound. Down three, Scheyer spotted up from long range to try to tie. He missed once, but fearlessly let loose again on the reset to knot the score. On the other end, Quincy Acy was all set for a powerful slam, but Zoubek took the charge, a gutsy move considering his foul situation.
There is one notable exception to that earlier statement, however: Singler has scored one point today.
Tied 53-53, SECOND HALF 7:45 remaining: Smith is carrying the Blue Devils' offense, and Zoubek is struggling to be effective, knowing that his night could be over at any moment. Duke is doing a solid job of preventing easy baskets, but the Bears' advantage in athleticism is shining through every so often, leading to strong plays at the rim.
Singler just made a huge play, driving inside to draw the fifth foul on Lomers. The senior has been a thorn in Zoubek's side all game, so his ejection might make things a little easier for Zoubek. Also of note, every time Baylor makes a halfway decent play, the crowd goes ballistic, although it doesn't seem to be overly affecting the Blue Devils too much.
Duke 49-47, SECOND HALF 11:45 remaining: Baylor is tightening up on defense, forcing the Blue Devils to chuck up a lot of threes. Without Zoubek, who picked up his fourth foul with 13:38 to play, Duke is having a harder time getting offensive rebounds. On the other end, the Blue Devils are being equally stingy on defense and the Bears have had some bad luck with shots rimming out. It's hard to tell if they're hitting a cold shooting stretch--they shot over 50 percent in the first half--or if their fortunes will reverse soon.
Duke 45-44, SECOND HALF 15:35 remaining: Duke is making a concerted effort to drive the ball in this half, led by Smith. Krzyzewski has repeatedly said that the junior is the only player on the roster capable of consistently beating his man off the dribble, and he is showing that right now. Not only is Smith scoring, but he is getting to the line. The Blue Devils have attempted nine free throws this half, including three by Jon Scheyer when he drew the fourth foul on Baylor's big body, Lomers.
The Bears are still getting the job done as well. They're preventing Duke from getting easy putbacks, creating some especially frustrating sequences for Duke, so much so that Dawkins slammed his head on the court while sitting on the bench on one possession.
MORE HALFTIME: Reliant Stadium is showing video of Bryce Drew's big shot for Valparaiso in the 1998 NCAA Tournament. Wonder how many Baylor fans realize that head coach Scott Drew is his brother. Judging by the silence from the crowd, probably not too many.
HALFTIME, Baylor 35-32: Quick look at the stats--Duke is shooting about 10 percentage points worse than Baylor, but has taken more shots. Baylor is getting to the line, and the Blue Devils are not. As a result, Zoubek has three fouls, Singler has two, and Duke went with a four-guard lineup at the end of the half to protect its bigs from getting whistled. That didn't help resolve sloppy ballhandling on the perimeter.
The real difference today has been Baylor's quickness. The Bears have been faster to loose balls and really quick defending the perimeter, resulting in steals, and Baylor is an absolute nightmare in transition. Before the Bears' 10-0 run, Duke appeared to have an answer for Baylor's speed, but the Blue Devils will have to make some adjustments at halftime. Otherwise, Baylor's 7-0 lead in fastbreak points could balloon to an even bigger margin.
Baylor 35-32, END OF FIRST HALF: A LaceDarius Dunn steal and fast-break dunk forced Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski to call timeout, but what transpired after that was the worst possible outcome for the Blue Devils. Miles Plumlee goaltended a layup in transition, giving Baylor the lead. Ekpe Udoh followed that with a dunk, and then Tweety Carter stole the ball from Smith and took it down the court for a pull-up 3-pointer. Dawkins stopped the bleeding for Duke, but the Blue Devils can't be happy being down at the half.
Duke 27-25, FIRST HALF 3:42 remaining: Duke went a little cold in that stretch. Singler can't hit anything and Smith missed his first three as well. It's still a war inside for rebounds and foul trouble has led to the Blue Devils playing Thomas and Miles Plumlee together--not exactly the most popular lineup--as well as increased minutes for Dawkins.
Other than that, the stadium is roaring. This is the loudest I've heard a non-Cameron crowd in quite some time.
Duke 25-18, FIRST HALF 7:02 remaining: The Blue Devils are starting to remember that the way to beat a zone is through crisp passing into the paint and 3-point shooting. And Duke has built its lead to a 5-of-6 showing from beyond the arc thus far. The majority of those threes have been assisted, as Zoubek in particular is doing a good job of finding the open man from long range.
Duke 14-13, FIRST HALF 11:32 remaining: And there's the second foul on Zoubek. The Bears are being really tough inside on the senior center, bringing in their own 7-foot 280-pound Josh Lomers to counter him in the paint. Nolan Smith has taken it upon himself to score in Singler's absence, accounting for the first two baskets in this stretch, and Andre Dawkins has also connected from long range.
Baylor 6-5, FIRST HALF 15:00 remaining: I'm sure the Blue Devils would have liked a better start than that, as Kyle Singler has already picked up two fouls and Brian Zoubek has one. Duke is somewhat getting the job done on defense, not giving the Bears any good looks (although still fouling), but Baylor's zone is causing some issues. Lance Thomas has been the beneficiary of the zone. Duke is getting the ball into the senior inside, but he's only converted once. It's a real physical game thus far. Lomers is muscling Zoubek inside and Baylor's ball pressure is also very active.
STARTING LINEUPS:
DUKE
F Kyle Singler
F Lance Thomas
C Brian Zoubek
G Nolan Smith
G Jon Scheyer
BAYLOR
F Anthony Jones
F Ekpe Udoh
C Josh Lomers
G LaceDarius Dunn
G Tweety Carter
PREGAME: We're here at Reliant Stadium once more for Duke's first Elite Eight game since 2004, with a chance to advance to the Final Four for the first time since that season. Make no mistake, this is essentially a home game for the Baylor Bears, with Green and Yellow dominating about 80 percent of the crowd.
After No. 2 West Virginia's upset over Kentucky last night, the Blue Devils are the only No. 1 seed remaining in the Tournament. The last time no top seeds were in the Final Four was 2006, when Florida (a 3-seed) captured the first of back-to-back titles by defeating No. 11 George Mason and No. 2 UCLA.
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