Duke roars into national title game playing better than anyone else in tournament

INDIANAPOLIS – To borrow a phrase from the Cameron Indoor Stadium announcer: Here comes Duke.

Like a freight train.

Here comes Duke, back into the national championship game, with a very real chance to win. A large segment of America may not like it, but that segment may just have to deal with it.

The Blue Devils are playing the best of any team in the NCAA tournament. Their average margin of victory is 17.4 points, with only one game decided by single digits. After ripping Michigan State 81-61 in the first national semifinal at Lucas Oil Stadium Saturday night, they'll get a chance to cap off this remarkable Big Dance surge with a fifth title Monday night.

This is a team peaking at the perfect time.

From late in the first half onward, this was another low-stress Duke victory. The lead was double digits for the final 22:40, and coach Mike Krzyzewski was able to empty his bench for the third time in this tournament.

"That's the best we've played in the tournament," Krzyzewski said. "And we've played really well in the tournament."

So now Krzyzewski will try to win a third national title in Indianapolis, having captured his first (1991) and last (2010) in this city. And he will attempt to do it with a young team that has rapidly figured things out on the defensive end of the floor.

"Week by week, I felt that guys were making tremendous strides on the defensive end," senior point guard Quinn Cook said. "It was fun to string some stops together."

The Blue Devils were so porous defensively during the first half of the season that Krzyzewski installed a zone defense. For a staunch believer in man-to-man, this was almost like waving a white flag of surrender. It helped Duke at the time, but the Devils have needed the zone less and less as the season has progressed because the man defense has been so vastly improved.

"They've really picked up on man-to-man," Krzyzewski said. "They've played great man-to-man defense in this tournament."

In five tourney games, Duke is limiting opponents to 37.4 percent shooting from the field. Michigan State started the game Saturday night on fire, making its first four 3-pointers and taking a 14-6 lead – and then the Devils locked up the Spartans. After taking that eight-point lead, Michigan State made three of its next 20 shots.

"We've been trying to hang our hats on the defensive end," forward Justise Winslow said.

Even freshman center Jahlil Okafor has hung his lottery pick hat on that end lately. A fairly flagrant defensive liability much of the season, Okafor is moving better, communicating better and guarding ball screens better than ever. He jumped out with guard Tyus Jones to trap Michigan State's Denzel Valentine at one point Saturday, deflected Valentine's pass and grabbed it out of the air for a steal – an impressive play for a guy who hasn't been much of a defensive presence anywhere but right around the rim.

"He was understanding [ball-screen defense] in February, and then he got hurt," Krzyzewski said. "For three and a half weeks he was playing with a sprained ankle. ... By the time the ACC tournament started, he's been getting a little better, but he still wasn't as good.

"The week after the NCAA tournament started, he had great practices. He's gotten in better shape. He's done it better. He can defend the ball screen. I mean, he doesn't have deficient ball-screen defense genes; he can do it."

That last line sounds like a barb Krzyzewski might have aimed at his star center from time to time this season. Now he doesn't have to go there.

On the offensive end, Okafor is as pretty to watch as ever. His ability to palm the ball and extend it, passing with one hand, allows him to play even taller than his listed 6-foot-11. His footwork is big-man Baryshnikov. His shooting touch (everywhere but the foul line) is feathery soft. When Okafor one-handed the ball, faced the basket and banked in a shot from the wing, you could almost hear Tim Duncan applauding.

But Okafor might not be Duke's best player down the stretch – or even its best freshman. Winslow, a sculpted wing slasher, led the Devils in scoring Saturday with 19 points. It was the third straight game he has either been the team's high scorer or co-high scorer, and he's led Duke in rebounding all tournament as well.

Krzyzewski's other two freshmen, starter Tyus Jones and backup Grayson Allen, were big against the Spartans as well. Jones had nine points and a team-high four assists, and Allen had nine points and five rebounds – highlighted by a rebound of his own missed shot and violent dunk.

"He's fearless," Cook said of Allen. "He gets overlooked [because of] our three great freshmen. But he brings it ever day. ... He showed some things out there tonight, not just on the offensive end, but defensively, that we needed tonight."

There is a chance that the biggest of all stages will catch up with the Duke freshmen Monday night. But they haven't showed a sign of nerves yet. The Blue Devils are every bit as poised as they are talented.

The matchup Monday night will be a titanic one – a pair of No. 1 seeds facing off. But Duke definitely took the easier route to the title game, easily dispatching an overachieving No. 7 seed. The Blue Devils should be the fresher team – and maybe the better team.

"Look, we've gotten better," Krzyzewski said. "We keep getting better."

Duke could go from better to best Monday night.