Road to the Final Four

SI Staff | Mar 31, 2010

Road to the Final Four /

Road to the Final Four

A look back at how each of the Final Four teams fared in their four tournament games thus far, beginning with Duke. Four Blue Devils scored in double digits while no player on the Golden Lions registered more than nine as Duke eased into round two in a blowout.

Despite shooting just 3-of-17 from beyond the arc, Duke dominated Cal with low-post presence Brian Zoubek, who scored 14 points to go along with 13 boards, pushing Duke to Coach K's 19th regional semifinal.

The Blue Devils had more turnovers than field goals as the teams headed to the half, but stingy defense (only two Boilermakers scored more than six points) and hot second-half shooting from the Big Three -- Singler, Scheyer and Smith -- gave Duke the W.

Nolan Smith scored a career-high 29 as Duke became the only No. 1 seed to survive to Indianapolis, earning its 11th Final Four berth under coach Mike Krzyzewski.

The Mountaineers started slow -- missing their first 11 shots from the field -- but found their groove and blew past the Golden Bears behind 16 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore forward Devin Ebanks.

Da'Sean Butler dropped in 28 points, including 19 in the first half, to lead West Virginia past the overmatched Tigers and give the Mountaineers their first trip to the Sweet 16 since 2008.

West Virginia held Washington's Quincy Pondexter (19.4 PPG) to just seven points, and clinched an Elite Eight appearance without the services of point guard Darryl Bryant, who broke his foot during practice.

Billed as the tourney's toughest matchup to date, the Mountaineers outplayed Kentucky's talented trio of freshmen from the tip to reach their first Final Four since 1959.

The Aggies gave Sparty a scare in round one, roaring back from 13 down before Raymar Morgan's late free throws gave Michigan State a 70-67 victory.

Robert Beck/SI; Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

With Michigan State's leading man and reigning Big Ten player of the year Kalin Lucas sidelined, fill-in point guard Korie Lucious drilled a three at the buzzer to stun the Terps.

Durrell Summers poured in 19 points as the Spartans quieted the upstart Panthers, the tournament's sexiest Cinderella through two rounds.

Coach Tom Izzo and the Spartans booked a return trip to the Final Four on the strength of four-year starter Raymar Morgan's free throw with less than two seconds to play.

Sophomore guard Shelvin Mack turned in a 25-point performance as Butler cruised to a big win against a fellow mid-major, despite trailing by a half dozen at halftime.

John W. McDonough/SI; Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images

Butler's Gordon Hayward deflected a Racers' perimeter pass in the waning seconds to give the Bulldogs a berth in the Sweet16, edging Murray State 54-52.

After taking a four-point lead late in the second half, Syracuse went scoreless for nearly five minutes, allowing Butler to seize control en route to its first Regional Final in school history.

Led by Gordon Hayward's 22 points, Butler sent K-State packing and punched a ticket to the Final Four, held in its home city of Indianapolis.

Published Mar 31, 2010

SI STAFF