Highlighting 4 key areas in Duke, West Virginia semifinal matchup

By Joey Nowak and Chris Vannini | Originally Published: 04/01/10 7:33pm |Modified: 04/01/10 7:44pm | No comments

Indianapolis — Duke and West Virginia square off in the other NCAA national semifinal at approximately 8:47 p.m. Saturday. Here are a few key issues for the two:

The Blue Devils are thrilled to be back

Duke is making its 34th NCAA Tournament, but, for such a storied program, it’s just the Dukies’ first Final Four since 2004 and the first year since ’04 that the Blue Devils advanced past the Sweet 16.

“It has definitely put a chip on my shoulder to continue to get better each and every practice and to help my team in any way possible,” Duke forward Lance Thomas said. “It’s good to start that way, and to end the way my class has, coming full circle and bringing us to the Final Four in Indianapolis.”

Nolan Smith is playing for more than just a title

The junior guard tweeted, “This one’s for you, Dad. I love you!” before the Blue Devils’ Elite 8 win. Smith’s father, who won a national championship with Louisville in 1980 in Indianapolis, died in 1996 of a heart attack.

“I’ve had a chance to watch some of his games and talk with his teammates and guys he played with to hear about how he played,” Smith said. “Now that I’ve had a chance to follow in his footsteps and do the same thing that he did going through Indianapolis, it means a lot to me.”

Pound the glass

West Virginia has outrebounded its opponent by a plus-7.9 margin in their 31 wins. In their six losses, the margin is even at zero.

“(Rebounding) is one of the emphases Coach (Huggins) stressed to us,” Mountaineers forward Kevin Jones said. “(Duke is) a very good offensive rebounding team and usually kick it back out for 3-pointers. We can’t let them do that.”

Familiar foe

The two teams met in the second round of the 2008 NCAA Tournament, where No. 7-seed West Virginia upset No. 2-seed Duke, 73-67. Six current Mountaineers played in that game.

“You just look at their history, they have such a great basketball history,” Jones said of Duke. “You know Coach Krzyzewski, they’re always going to have a great, disciplined team and they’re a very tough team.”