Traditional basketball powerhouse Duke and unheralded Butler will meet for the national championship after winning in contrasting fashions Saturday. Duke pounded West Virginia 78-57 while Butler, in its first trip to the Final Four, edged 2009 runner-up Michigan State 52-50 before a crowd of 71,000 at Lucas Oil Stadium. Jon Scheyer scored 23 points and Kyle Singler added 21 for Atlantic Coast Conference champion Duke, seeking its fourth NCAA basketball title under coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke held an eight-point lead at halftime and was never threatened by a West Virginia team unable to muster the fire it displayed in upsetting Kentucky in the East Region final. The Blue Devils (34-5) are seeking their first title since 2001, with their fans chanting, “Bring on But-ler” in the final seconds of the dominating victory over the Mountaineers. Monday's title game has a David vs. Goliath feel to it, with Duke, one of America's most consistent programs, facing a school virtually unknown on the national landscape. “We might not have believed it but during our first team meeting in the Fall we said, ‘If we focus and do our jobs, then why can't we play for a national championship?'” said Butler coach Brad Stevens. “That's been our focus all along.” A pair of free throws by guard Ronald Nored with six seconds left gave Butler a 52-49 lead. The Spartans' Korie Lucious hit a free throw with two seconds remaining to trim the lead to 52-50. When he missed the second, Butler's Gordon Hayward grabbed the rebound as the horn sounded. “We didn't come here to be one and done,” said Butler guard Zach Hahn. “We wanted to push throughout tonight, take care of business and make our way to Monday. “We will celebrate, for the next 30 minutes or so. We have one more game.” Butler hit just 15 of 49 shots (30.6 percent) but came up with almost every loose ball and held a 20-2 advantage on points off turnovers. “If I was not playing I would be a Butler fan,” admitted Spartans coach Tom Izzo. “I like the way they play. They're physical. I like their story. I like the whole thing.” Hayward scored 19 points and Shelvin Mack added 14 for the Bulldogs, who managed only one field goal over the last 12 minutes but were able to win their 25th game in a row. The Spartans (28-9) were paced in scoring by Durrell Summers' 14 points, while Lucious and Draymond Green chipped in 12 apiece. Butler, a tiny school with 4,500 students whose campus is located just six miles from the site of the Final Four, has held each of its five tournament opponents under 60 points. The partisan crowd erupted when the game ended as the Bulldogs hugged each other at midcourt. “We came in here nice and cool and calm,” said Butler forward Willie Veasley. “Words cannot explain the way everybody is feeling right now, to be in the national championship game when nobody gave us a chance at all.” Duke coach Krzyzewski bristles at the notion that Butler relied more on emotion than talent to reach the final of the NCAA Tournament, refusing to underestimate it as a Cinderella story. While Duke (34-5) will seek its fourth title under Krzyzewski Monday, its opponent, a private liberal arts university in Indianapolis, had never been to the Final Four before this year. “They're one of the best teams in the country or else they wouldn't be playing for the national championship,” said Krzyzewski. “Cinderella would be if somebody had eight, nine losses and pulled some upsets. They've won 25 in a row.” “They're accomplished players,” he added. “They're a very outstanding basketball team who, because they haven't been to the Final Four, creates that Cinderella thing. They've earned it. They probably had the toughest road. Syracuse is as good as anybody. Kansas State was playing lights out. Those were two great wins for Butler.” The Horizon League champion Bulldogs knocked out West Region top seed Syracuse 63-59 and then for an encore stunned No. 2 Kansas State 63-56 to reach the Final Four.
