Duke decisively defeated Michigan State in their Final Four game Saturday, taking the lead halfway through the first and never handing it back.
It was a faceoff between two coaching legends. Tom Izzo has led the Spartans to seven Final Fours, and Duke's Mike Krzyzewski was in his 12th semifinal. But Coach K headed into the game with an 8-1 record against Izzo, and the trend carried.
Michigan State — a seventh-seed among top seeds in this Final Four — started strong, taking an early lead.
But a dunk by Duke's freshman star Jahlil Okafor put the Blue Devils ahead by two midway through the first half. Duke built on that lead, heading into halftime up 36-25.
The Spartans never recovered, and Duke's lead stayed in the double digits through the second half. Denzel Valentine led the game in scoring with 22 points for Michigan State, but it wasn't enough; Duke won 81-61. The Blue Devils will head to the finals to try for their fifth men's basketball title.
But first, undefeated Kentucky will face off with Wisconsin. On the line for the Wildcats: their shot at men's college basketball's first perfect season since 1976.
For the Badgers, the stakes are personal: Kentucky beat Wisconsin by a single point in last year's Final Four. As NPR's Tom Goldman puts it, "for Wisconsin, it's time to get even."
The winner of that game will meet Duke at the men's championship game Monday at 9 p.m. EDT. Women's semifinals will be in Tampa on Sunday, and the women's championship will be Tuesday night.
Copyright 2015 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.
