Mar 22, 2008 - 6:22 AM
1 shoutNo. 7 West Virginia (25-10) vs. No. 2 Duke (28-5) 2:10 pm EDT
WASHINGTON (Ticker) - After nearly becoming just the fifth No. 2 seed to lose in the first round, Duke goes for its second straight win in the NCAA Tournament when it faces West Virginia in a West Region second-round matchup Saturday.
Gerald Henderson's game-winning layup with just under 12 seconds to play lifted the Blue Devils (28-5) to a 71-70 first-round victory over 15th-seeded Belmont on Thursday. The basket saved Duke from joining Iowa State, South Carolina, Arizona and Syracuse as the only two seeds to lose in the first round.
"In the last nine minutes of the game, our team had tremendous pressure on them," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I've coached in 89 of these games now, and as far as pressure goes, that one ranks in the top three."
Henderson finished with 21 points for Duke, which is trying to go to the "Sweet 16" for the 10th time in the last 11 seasons. Leading scorer DeMarcus Nelson had just two points on 1-of-6 shooting.
The Mountaineers (25-11) advanced after making 11-of-19 shots from the arc en route to a 75-65 victory over Arizona in the first round on Thursday.
Alex Ruoff scored 21 points and Da'Sean Butler added 19 for seventh-seeded West Virginia, which had made it to two straight regional semifinals before winning the National Invitation Tournament last season.
The winner will move on to face either Xavier or Purdue next Thursday.
From the Bleachers
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WEST VIRGINIA: 73
DUKE: 67
Final
Mar 22 4:32 PM -
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WEST VIRGINIA: 29
DUKE: 34
Halftime
Mar 22 3:02 PM
