INDIANAPOLIS — So much for Kyle Singler being a one-trick pony.
After Duke’s 78-71 win over Baylor in the Elite 8 last weekend, much was made of the fact that the star junior had sacrificed his offense—Singler went 0-for-10 from the field and scored just five points—in exchange for playing quality defense on Bears guard LaceDarius Dunn. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski even admitted after the game that Singler had “something about anxiety” in Houston.
The opposite was the case Saturday night at the Final Four in Lucas Oil Stadium, where Singler was the best player on the court by miles on both ends of the floor.
On offense, Singler looked smooth on the perimeter and was also able to score around the basket in many different ways. The junior finished the Blue Devils’ dominant 78-57 humiliation of West Virginia with 21 points on 8-of-16 shooting, and his baskets were especially important in the first half before Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer got going in their own right.
Singler’s biggest contribution, though, came on the defensive end, where he was matched up for most of the night with Mountaineer star Da’Sean Butler, a versatile 6-foot-8 scorer not all that different from himself. While Singler found room to operate against West Virginia’s man-to-man defense, Butler was consistently harried by Blue Devil defenders as tall and physical as him, and he was almost an observer to the Mountaineer offense for much of the first half. Butler was held to a mere two points on 1-of-5 shooting in the period, at the end of which the Blue Devils led by eight points.
Butler suffered a knee injury 11 minutes into the second period, and the senior All-American did not return to the court. But in the 28 minutes he did play, Butler was only able to muster 10 points, going 2-of-8 from the field. Much of that can be attributed to Singler’s defense.
“We thought the matchup of Kyle and Butler was the key matchup for us,” Krzyzewski said after the game. “I hope [Butler’s] not hurt badly, but up until the time he was hurt, I thought we still played well against him. He can dominate a game, and Kyle not only played great defense, but he played great offense.
“Singler had a great game today because he had the toughest matchup.”
Singler’s defensive effort, which involved chasing Butler across the court, around screens, into the corners and to the top of the key, disrupted the rhythm West Virginia tried to develop on offense. West Virginia head coach Bob Huggins said Butler was not as assertive against Duke as he has been in past games, and Mountaineer forward Wellington Smith said his team struggled to score because the Blue Devils—and Singler in particular—effectively blanketed Butler and took him out of the game.
“It was hard getting him the ball, just because they just kept switching and denying him the ball,” Smith said. “That’s usually what we’re supposed to do. We just didn’t do it tonight.”
“I tried to limit Butler’s touches and make him do things he’s uncomfortable with,” Singler said. “I don’t think he got in a flow.”
A slight change could be seen in the second half, especially in the early minutes, as Butler began to establish himself more. He was able to get to the basket for a layup and managed to draw two fouls down low. Before long, however, Duke adjusted to that aggressiveness by remaining physical on drives and forcing difficult shots around the basket. The result: West Virginia shot only 6-of-20 in the second half, and the eight points Da’Sean Butler scored in the period were not nearly enough to keep the Mountaineer fans from leaving in droves long before the final buzzer.
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