SAN FRANCISCO — Mike Krzyzewski’s final tour added one final stop on the bayou.
No. 9 Duke muscled its way past No 17 Arkansas, 78-69, in the NCAA Tournament’s West Regional final Saturday night at the Chase Center, sending the Blue Devils and their retiring coach to the Final Four in New Orleans.
Coaching in his 17th Elite Eight game with Duke, the 75-year-old Krzyzewski has led the Blue Devils (32-6) to the Final Four for the 13th time. That’s more Final Four appearances than any other men’s college basketball coach.
Now Duke, which was seeded No. 2 in the West, heads to the national semifinals in the Superdome seeking its sixth NCAA championship in Krzyzewski’s tenure.
Against fourth-seeded Arkansas (28-9), Duke built a 45-33 halftime lead and used a 10-0 run midway through the second half that helped it lead by 18 points with 6:19 to play.
Freshman forward A.J. Griffin paced Duke with 18 points, with 12 coming in the second half when Duke pulled away and cruised to the win. Fellow freshman Paolo Banchero added 16 points as the Blue Devils shot 54.7%.
Sophomore center Mark Williams added 12 points and 12 rebounds for the Blue Devils. Wendell Moore scored 14 points.
Duke limited Arkansas to 41.9% shooting, using man-to-man defense early but switching to zone in the second half to stop a Razorbacks rally.
The Blue Devils led 51-39 but saw Arkansas unleash a 9-2 run by getting to the basket far too easily for Krzyzewski’s liking. After Jaylin Williams scored, drew a foul from Banchero and hit a free throw with 13:19 to play, Duke’s lead had shrunk to 53-48 — its smallest since the first half.
Krzyzewski called timeout and the Blue Devils ditched their traditional man-to-man for a zone. Duke did the same thing late in its 78-73 win over Texas Tech in Thursday night’s Sweet 16 game and the move proved successful again.
Arkansas failed to score on four consecutive possessions, with Mark Williams blocking shots in the lane on two of them.
Banchero scored inside and, after Griffin drove for basket, Banchero hit two free throws.
Griffin added a layup and when Wendell Moore hit a jumper in the lane with 10:20 to play, Duke had completed a 10- 0 run to lead 63-48.
The Blue Devils never trailed by more than three points in the first half and that deficit was only because they turned the ball over on four of their first eight possessions.
But after Arkansas led 9-6, Williams scored eight consecutive Duke points and the Blue Devils never trailed again.
When Trevor Keels scored after a drive to the rim with 10:14 to play, Duke led 22-14.
Jaylin Williams did his best to keep Arkansas close, scoring seven points inside including a basket inside at 7:58 that cut Duke’s lead to 24-21.
But Jaylin Williams picked up his second foul with 5:29 left in the half and didn’t play for the final 4:56 until halftime.
Duke took advantage.
After Trey Wade’s 3-pointer cut Duke’s lead to 35-31 at 3:14, the Razorbacks didn’t make a shot the rest of the half.
Keels scored a basket off a Moore pass in transition giving Duke at 37-31 lead and Chris Lykes answered with two free throws.
Banchero’s first 3-pointer of the game pushed Duke’s lead to 40-33.
Duke took possession again with 56 seconds left and called timeout to set up a 2-for-1 scenario to end the half. Moore missed a jumper but Mark Williams rebounded and scored with 35 seconds left.
Arkansas had a chance to use most of the rest of the half but Lykes missed an open 3-pointer with 10 seconds left. That allowed Duke to hustle the ball up the court where Keels drilled a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer giving Duke its largest lead at 45-33.
The Blue Devils shot 54.8% from the field, dominating play inside on offense. Duke had 30 points in the paint in the first 20 minutes.
Arkansas shot just 40.6% in the first half.
