Duke finds way to familiar place

HOUSTON -- The Duke Blue Devils looked tentative under the basket, milling about in such a way that they seemed to need Coach Mike Krzyzewski's guidance on what to do next.

A ladder was set up. A net hung above them. Aside from being told not to run with those scissors in their hands, they were on their own.

"We didn't know how to cut it off the rim or anything," freshman center Jahlil Okafor said later in the locker room, a piece of cord stuck in his South Regional champions cap. "But we figured it out."

Duke had just beaten Gonzaga 66-52 to make its first Final Four appearance since 2010, which must seem like an eternity for a program that is viewed as royalty, with standing reservations deep into the NCAA Tournament each year.

The Blue Devils entered the South Region as a No. 1 seed and, according to how the brackets were broken down, were expected to reach Indianapolis, where they will face seventh-seeded Michigan State (27-11) Saturday.

Still, painting the Blue Devils (33-4) as plucky underdogs in early April might not play to the masses. After all, they beat Michigan State 81-71 in November and are favored again in the semifinals.

That synopsis, though, discounts the journey made by a Duke team that used essentially eight players, including four freshmen. With less depth than many intramural teams, the Blue Devils focused on stamping a legacy for themselves. And Krzyzewski was especially adamant that past perceptions of Duke should not apply to what he has called a magical season.

"It's not a birthright," he said. "It's earned each year.

"We have eight guys. Four of them are freshmen. Come on. It's the youngest team I've ever had. No one would ever say that because we're Duke, or because it's me. But there's not somebody hiding in the locker room that's going to come out and appear. They've been spectacular. It's been such an incredible year."

Those freshmen delivered again Sunday when Gonzaga refused to back down after it looked as if Duke had taken control. After Gonzaga pulled within two points with just under six minutes to play, forward Justise Winslow scored seven consecutive points. He finished with 16. Guard Tyus Jones played all 40 minutes and scored 15 points.

"When we had adversity, when we had our backs against the wall, we all just came together and we got the job done," Winslow said. "We figured out ways to win the game. We all made winning plays.

Okafor, an All-American, was neutralized for the most part and had nine points and eight rebounds. But Duke's unique and youthful chemistry were embodied by sophomore guard Matt Jones, who had averaged 5.9 points this season but made several clutch shots against the Bulldogs on his way to 16 points. The Blue Devils delivered, too, despite shooting 37.5 percent.

"We didn't make as many shots as we wanted to," Jones said. "But being the team we are, we're a very confident bunch."

So as the celebration swirled around them at NRG Stadium, as they snipped away at the nylon, it was fitting that guard Quinn Cook, the team's only senior, had the net around his neck as the Blue Devils' celebration moved from the court to the locker room.

"This is my first time," Okafor said. "I didn't know that somebody was going to have a net around their neck."

"If anybody was going to have it, it was going to be him," Okafor said of Cook.

Duke will make its 16th trip to the Final Four. Twelve have come under Krzyzewski, who has tied UCLA's John Wooden for the most appearances.

Krzyzewski deflected a question on what it meant to tie the incomparable Wooden. He spoke instead of the journey his young Blue Devils took, not his destination in the record books.

"I hear people talking about disappointments," said Krzyzewski, who in January became the first Division I men's coach to reach 1,000 victories. "Any time you make the NCAA Tournament, it's not a disappointment.

"It's an amazing honor. We run the gantlet. We don't have to win one bowl game. We're judged by whether we win or lose in this gantlet, and too much is then forgotten about the journey that each of these teams made."

Sports on 04/01/2015