Arkansas Razorbacks vs Duke Blue Devils Match Player Stats On Mar 26, 2022

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is going to end his career at the Final Four with a record-setting 13th appearance.

The long-time Blue Devils marvel is also two wins away from his sixth national championship after his club recorded a 78-69 victory over fourth-seeded Arkansas in the West Regional final on Saturday night at San Francisco.

Second-seeded Duke led for more than 33 minutes while outplaying the athletic Razorbacks and Krzyzewski basked in the achievement.

"There is nothing like being a regional champ and going to the Final Four and playing on that Saturday with three other champions," Krzyzewski said. "It is an amazing day."

AJ Griffin scored 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and Paolo Banchero recorded 16 points and seven rebounds as the Blue Devils (32-6) controlled the Elite Eight matchup. Duke will face either eighth-seeded North Carolina, its archrivals from the ACC, or 15th-seeded sensation Saint Peter's next Saturday in New Orleans.

Krzyzewski was tied for the most Final Fours with legendary UCLA coach John Wooden, who made 12 appearances in 27 seasons with the Bruins during a 29-year coaching career. Coach K is retiring after 42 seasons at Duke and 47 overall.

Wendell Moore Jr. scored 14 points and Mark Williams was 6-for-6 shooting while contributing 12 points, 12 rebounds and three blocked shots for Duke.

Krzyzewski said Williams was the difference in the contest.

"If it was hockey, he would have won the Vezina Trophy for the top goalie," Krzyzewski said. "He either blocked or altered shots so much and he scored. Mark was sensational today."

The Blue Devils won for the 13th time in the past 15 games.

"This has been a great week for us," said Moore, also noting Thursday's Sweet 16 win over Texas Tech. "We came together. We got the job done. But for us, the job's not finished. We still got two more to go."

Jaylin Williams registered 19 points and 10 rebounds for Arkansas (28-9), which lost in the Elite Eight for the second straight season.

JD Notae scored 14 points before fouling out with 3:47 left and Stanley Umude also had 14 points as the Razorbacks lost for just the fourth time in the last 22 contests.

"We got beat by a better team tonight. That's what happened," Arkansas coach Eric Musselman said. "Our defense did not hold up like it has all season long.

"You have to tip your hat to them and they won the game. It's a really good basketball team."

Duke connected on 54.7 percent of its field-goal attempts, including 4 of 10 from 3-point range, and held a 34-25 rebounding edge.

The Razorbacks made 41.9 percent of their shots and were 6 of 20 from long distance.

The Blue Devils led by 12 at halftime and again led by that amount after Moore's basket with 15:12 remaining.

But Arkansas suddenly showed some life with a 9-2 run and Jaylin Williams' three-point play cut Duke's lead to 53-48 with 13:19 left.

However, the Blue Devils answered with the knockout punch, scoring 10 consecutive points to push their lead to 15. Banchero and Griffin each had four points during the run.

Griffin later drained two 3-pointers in a 77-second span to increase Duke's lead to 72-54 and the Razorbacks were unable to mount another charge.

"It's hard to make an Elite Eight, real hard," Musselman said. "We have some guys in that locker room that have done it back-to-back years. We're proud of the effort that we put forth all year."

Mark Williams had 10 points and eight rebounds in the first half as Duke led 45-33 at the break.

The game was tied at 14 after Notae's 3-pointer with 12:40 left in the half before the Blue Devils scored the next eight points and led the rest of the contest.

Arkansas trailed by four late in the half before Duke scored the final eight points, capped by Trevor Keels' 3-pointer as time expired.

--Field Level Media