But that West Virginia's season would end with a whimper and not a bang? Well, that was a bit surprising.
Yet that's what happened Saturday night in the national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Mountaineers' vaunted defense seemed merely a minor annoyance to hot-shooting Duke and because of that WVU's season ended one game short of the ultimate goal.
In exactly the type of scenario West Virginia couldn't afford to see, the Blue Devils' big three of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler combined for 63 points, made 12 3-pointers and even combined for 17 assists in Duke's 78-57 win, which ended the most inspiring run by a West Virginia athletic team in half a century.
The loss, even though it came in the next-to-last game that could have been played, still provided a disappointing end of the season for the Mountaineers (31-7). Instead of playing for the national championship Monday night against Butler, the Mountaineers were denied their second-ever appearance in the title game.
Still, it was a season in which West Virginia won its first-ever Big East tournament championship, tied a school record with 24 regular-season wins, set the standard with 31 wins and played more games (38) than any team in WVU history.
It was also a bitter end for WVU star Da'Sean Butler, who was injured and carried from the floor with just under nine minutes to play and West Virginia down by 15 points. Any chance of the kind of comeback the Mountaineers almost patented this season likely ended when Butler was lost.
The initial diagnosis of Butler's injury was a sprained left knee.
"I knew it was hurting pretty bad because Da'Sean's a pretty tough guy,'' coach Bob Huggins said.
Butler finished with just 10 points of 2-of-8 shooting. Wellington Smith, like Butler playing his final game, led the Mountaineers with 12 points and Devin Ebanks, who might also have played his last college game, added 11.
Scheyer had 23 points, five 3-pointers and six assists; Singler had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Smith had 19 points, four 3s and six rebounds.
Duke also outrebounded West Virginia 29-27, but that number was deceiving. Each team had 11 offensive rebounds, but Duke turned its into 19 points and WVU just seven.
"I didn't think we came out ready,'' said Butler, tears in his eyes and icing his knee afterward. "I think they came out with more intensity than we did.''
The Blue Devils made 13 of 25 3-pointers and shot 52.7 percent for the game - consistently over 50 percent in both halves and on both 3s and two-point shots.
"They played really well,'' Huggins said. "I've watched a lot of tape and I haven't seen them play that well. And we didn't.''
That was especially true in shooting the ball, which is just one of Duke's strong suits.
"They came out and made every shot,'' Butler said. "Even the contested ones.''
Trailing 39-31 at the half, West Virginia made a couple of minor runs at the Blue Devils early in the second half and got the margin down to five at 43-38. It was still just seven, 51-41, with 13 minutes to play.
But it also seemed only a matter of time because even though West Virginia was staying close, the Blue Devils were showing no signs of cooling off in their shooting. After making 53 percent of its shots in the first half, Duke made six of its first nine in the second and nine of the first 16. Before long the lead was 14, 58-44, and then was up to 15, 63-50, when Butler left the game.
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Duke by a knockout
Blue Devils end Mountaineers' dream of a national title
INDIANAPOLIS - It had to end sometime, right?
But that West Virginia's season would end with a whimper and not a bang? Well, that was a bit surprising.
Yet that's what happened Saturday night in the national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Mountaineers' vaunted defense seemed merely a minor annoyance to hot-shooting Duke and because of that WVU's season ended one game short of the ultimate goal.
In exactly the type of scenario West Virginia couldn't afford to see, the Blue Devils' big three of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler combined for 63 points, made 12 3-pointers and even combined for 17 assists in Duke's 78-57 win, which ended the most inspiring run by a West Virginia athletic team in half a century.
The loss, even though it came in the next-to-last game that could have been played, still provided a disappointing end of the season for the Mountaineers (31-7). Instead of playing for the national championship Monday night against Butler, the Mountaineers were denied their second-ever appearance in the title game.
Still, it was a season in which West Virginia won its first-ever Big East tournament championship, tied a school record with 24 regular-season wins, set the standard with 31 wins and played more games (38) than any team in WVU history.
It was also a bitter end for WVU star Da'Sean Butler, who was injured and carried from the floor with just under nine minutes to play and West Virginia down by 15 points. Any chance of the kind of comeback the Mountaineers almost patented this season likely ended when Butler was lost.
The initial diagnosis of Butler's injury was a sprained left knee.
"I knew it was hurting pretty bad because Da'Sean's a pretty tough guy,'' coach Bob Huggins said.
Butler finished with just 10 points of 2-of-8 shooting. Wellington Smith, like Butler playing his final game, led the Mountaineers with 12 points and Devin Ebanks, who might also have played his last college game, added 11.
Scheyer had 23 points, five 3-pointers and six assists; Singler had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Smith had 19 points, four 3s and six rebounds.
Duke also outrebounded West Virginia 29-27, but that number was deceiving. Each team had 11 offensive rebounds, but Duke turned its into 19 points and WVU just seven.
"I didn't think we came out ready,'' said Butler, tears in his eyes and icing his knee afterward. "I think they came out with more intensity than we did.''
The Blue Devils made 13 of 25 3-pointers and shot 52.7 percent for the game - consistently over 50 percent in both halves and on both 3s and two-point shots.
"They played really well,'' Huggins said. "I've watched a lot of tape and I haven't seen them play that well. And we didn't.''
That was especially true in shooting the ball, which is just one of Duke's strong suits.
"They came out and made every shot,'' Butler said. "Even the contested ones.''
Trailing 39-31 at the half, West Virginia made a couple of minor runs at the Blue Devils early in the second half and got the margin down to five at 43-38. It was still just seven, 51-41, with 13 minutes to play.
But it also seemed only a matter of time because even though West Virginia was staying close, the Blue Devils were showing no signs of cooling off in their shooting. After making 53 percent of its shots in the first half, Duke made six of its first nine in the second and nine of the first 16. Before long the lead was 14, 58-44, and then was up to 15, 63-50, when Butler left the game.
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INDIANAPOLIS - It had to end sometime, right?
But that West Virginia's season would end with a whimper and not a bang? Well, that was a bit surprising.
Yet that's what happened Saturday night in the national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Mountaineers' vaunted defense seemed merely a minor annoyance to hot-shooting Duke and because of that WVU's season ended one game short of the ultimate goal.
In exactly the type of scenario West Virginia couldn't afford to see, the Blue Devils' big three of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler combined for 63 points, made 12 3-pointers and even combined for 17 assists in Duke's 78-57 win, which ended the most inspiring run by a West Virginia athletic team in half a century.
The loss, even though it came in the next-to-last game that could have been played, still provided a disappointing end of the season for the Mountaineers (31-7). Instead of playing for the national championship Monday night against Butler, the Mountaineers were denied their second-ever appearance in the title game.
Still, it was a season in which West Virginia won its first-ever Big East tournament championship, tied a school record with 24 regular-season wins, set the standard with 31 wins and played more games (38) than any team in WVU history.
It was also a bitter end for WVU star Da'Sean Butler, who was injured and carried from the floor with just under nine minutes to play and West Virginia down by 15 points. Any chance of the kind of comeback the Mountaineers almost patented this season likely ended when Butler was lost.
The initial diagnosis of Butler's injury was a sprained left knee.
"I knew it was hurting pretty bad because Da'Sean's a pretty tough guy,'' coach Bob Huggins said.
Butler finished with just 10 points of 2-of-8 shooting. Wellington Smith, like Butler playing his final game, led the Mountaineers with 12 points and Devin Ebanks, who might also have played his last college game, added 11.
Scheyer had 23 points, five 3-pointers and six assists; Singler had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Smith had 19 points, four 3s and six rebounds.
Duke also outrebounded West Virginia 29-27, but that number was deceiving. Each team had 11 offensive rebounds, but Duke turned its into 19 points and WVU just seven.
"I didn't think we came out ready,'' said Butler, tears in his eyes and icing his knee afterward. "I think they came out with more intensity than we did.''
The Blue Devils made 13 of 25 3-pointers and shot 52.7 percent for the game - consistently over 50 percent in both halves and on both 3s and two-point shots.
"They played really well,'' Huggins said. "I've watched a lot of tape and I haven't seen them play that well. And we didn't.''
That was especially true in shooting the ball, which is just one of Duke's strong suits.
"They came out and made every shot,'' Butler said. "Even the contested ones.''
Trailing 39-31 at the half, West Virginia made a couple of minor runs at the Blue Devils early in the second half and got the margin down to five at 43-38. It was still just seven, 51-41, with 13 minutes to play.
But it also seemed only a matter of time because even though West Virginia was staying close, the Blue Devils were showing no signs of cooling off in their shooting. After making 53 percent of its shots in the first half, Duke made six of its first nine in the second and nine of the first 16. Before long the lead was 14, 58-44, and then was up to 15, 63-50, when Butler left the game.
Halftime: Duke 39-31; 3-point goals: West Virginia 5-12 (Butler 0-2, Smith 2-5, Jones 1-3, Flowers 2-2); Duke 13-25 (Singler 3-5, Scheyer 5-9, Smith 4-9, Davidson 1-1, Ma.Plumlee 0-1); Technicals: Mi.Plumlee; Attendance: 71,298.
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This article is available only to our premium digital content subscribers.
Duke by a knockout
Blue Devils end Mountaineers' dream of a national title
INDIANAPOLIS - It had to end sometime, right?
But that West Virginia's season would end with a whimper and not a bang? Well, that was a bit surprising.
Yet that's what happened Saturday night in the national semifinals at Lucas Oil Stadium. The Mountaineers' vaunted defense seemed merely a minor annoyance to hot-shooting Duke and because of that WVU's season ended one game short of the ultimate goal.
In exactly the type of scenario West Virginia couldn't afford to see, the Blue Devils' big three of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler combined for 63 points, made 12 3-pointers and even combined for 17 assists in Duke's 78-57 win, which ended the most inspiring run by a West Virginia athletic team in half a century.
The loss, even though it came in the next-to-last game that could have been played, still provided a disappointing end of the season for the Mountaineers (31-7). Instead of playing for the national championship Monday night against Butler, the Mountaineers were denied their second-ever appearance in the title game.
Still, it was a season in which West Virginia won its first-ever Big East tournament championship, tied a school record with 24 regular-season wins, set the standard with 31 wins and played more games (38) than any team in WVU history.
It was also a bitter end for WVU star Da'Sean Butler, who was injured and carried from the floor with just under nine minutes to play and West Virginia down by 15 points. Any chance of the kind of comeback the Mountaineers almost patented this season likely ended when Butler was lost.
The initial diagnosis of Butler's injury was a sprained left knee.
"I knew it was hurting pretty bad because Da'Sean's a pretty tough guy,'' coach Bob Huggins said.
Butler finished with just 10 points of 2-of-8 shooting. Wellington Smith, like Butler playing his final game, led the Mountaineers with 12 points and Devin Ebanks, who might also have played his last college game, added 11.
Scheyer had 23 points, five 3-pointers and six assists; Singler had 21 points, nine rebounds and five assists and Smith had 19 points, four 3s and six rebounds.
Duke also outrebounded West Virginia 29-27, but that number was deceiving. Each team had 11 offensive rebounds, but Duke turned its into 19 points and WVU just seven.
"I didn't think we came out ready,'' said Butler, tears in his eyes and icing his knee afterward. "I think they came out with more intensity than we did.''
The Blue Devils made 13 of 25 3-pointers and shot 52.7 percent for the game - consistently over 50 percent in both halves and on both 3s and two-point shots.
"They played really well,'' Huggins said. "I've watched a lot of tape and I haven't seen them play that well. And we didn't.''
That was especially true in shooting the ball, which is just one of Duke's strong suits.
"They came out and made every shot,'' Butler said. "Even the contested ones.''
Trailing 39-31 at the half, West Virginia made a couple of minor runs at the Blue Devils early in the second half and got the margin down to five at 43-38. It was still just seven, 51-41, with 13 minutes to play.
But it also seemed only a matter of time because even though West Virginia was staying close, the Blue Devils were showing no signs of cooling off in their shooting. After making 53 percent of its shots in the first half, Duke made six of its first nine in the second and nine of the first 16. Before long the lead was 14, 58-44, and then was up to 15, 63-50, when Butler left the game.
