Duke dominates West Virginia

No one was beating Duke last night.

No one.

I've probably seen the Blue Devils play 12-15 times this season, and never did they look as good as they did last night.

They dominated a very good team on the glass, especially on the offensive end. They shot 13-25 from three. They turned the ball over just five times. Their big three of Nolan Smith, Jon Scheyer, and Kyle Singler combined to outscore West Virginia 63-57.

Duke is headed to the title game.
(photo credit: STL Today)

West Virginia never had a chance.

The ironic part of all of this is how much hate Duke has received during this post-season. They had a gift of a bracket. They shouldn't have received the fourth #1 seed (most believed that West Virginia should have gotten it; I wonder if they still feel that way). They were overrated, winning what was an overly mediocre ACC. Yet, here they are, playing for the national title.

I don't think I'm the only one that will say this, but as good as the Devils looked last night, this isn't one of their great teams. They don't have JJ Redick and Shelden Williams. Jay Williams and Shane Battier are not suiting up. Hell, they may not have one guy on this team that becomes a successful NBA player.

Smith, Scheyer, and Singler are all very good college players. Singler was an all-american last year. Scheyer was this year. I'd bet dollars to donuts that Smith will be next season. But do you see any of them playing significant NBA minutes?

I don't.

But Duke is on a mission right now, and those three are leading the way.

Smith, Scheyer, and Singler (which sounds more like a law firm than a starting back court) combined for 63 points last night. They shot 22-45 from the floor, 12-23 from three. They handed out 17 assists and committed just three turnovers, all three of which came from Singler. Scheyer and Smith each had six assists without turning the ball over.

That was against West Virginia, a team that came into the night a top ten defensive team in the country. Duke scored 78 points on 54 possessions. That's ridiculous. From an efficiency standpoint, it was their second best performance of the season. The only one that was better?

When they lit up Penn for 114 points.

Did I mention that Duke was the most efficient offensive team in the country this season?

I like Butler's matchup with the Dukies. They are good on the defensive glass, they have a couple of very good perimeter defenders, and they don't mind turning a basketball game into a fistfight.

But if Duke played like they did last night, Butler doesn't have a shot.

No one would.