HOUSTON — There are generally two weaknesses for a zone defense: matching up with outside shooters and keeping opponents off of the offensive glass.

Baylor was able to cover up those deficiencies with its zone all season long but couldn’t against Duke on Sunday. The Blue Devils piled up 23 offensive rebounds and went 11-for-23 from 3-point range, two major keys in a 78-71 win that propelled them to their first Final Four since 2004.

“They’re a great rebounding team, and it is tougher to rebound out of a zone,” Baylor coach Scott Drew said. “We’ve done a good job. All season long, we’ve been top 12 in the nation in rebounding margin, but sometimes balls bounce the wrong way or the other team just gets them. They got them tonight.”

Duke’s Brian Zoubek rips a rebound away from Baylor’s Josh Lomers. Foul trouble limited both big men’s playing time. Lomers ended up grabbing one rebound in nine minutes on the court.
Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune-Herald

Seventeen of Duke’s offensive rebounds came in the second half, and that amounted to a 23-16 edge in second-chance points, mirroring their margin of victory.

Lance Thomas gave the Bears the most problems on the glass, as he finished with nine rebounds — eight on the offensive end.

“They just went after it,” Baylor forward Ekpe Udoh said. “I can’t explain it. They did a good job. Lance Thomas had eight. We just couldn’t keep them off the glass. It hurt us because they were getting those kick-out 3s.”

And it was a Thomas offensive rebound that ignited Duke’s game-deciding run.

Nolan Smith made a free throw to tie the score at 61 with 3:36 remaining. He missed the second, but Thomas grabbed the rebound and kicked it out to Smith, who pulled the trigger on a huge 3-pointer from the top of the key to put the Blue Devils in front.

“We knew plays like that are huge,” Smith said. “Some teams in that situation might bring it back out, and then you don’t score. When we get into a situation like that, we shoot it with so much confidence. Those are Duke shots. Jon (Scheyer) shoots them all the time off of rebounds, kick-outs, there’s no hesitation. It was my turn to shoot a Duke shot.”

Udoh then missed a jumper on the other end, and Brian Zoubek corralled the rebound. On Duke’s next possession, Zoubek got the ball on the right low block and whipped a pass into the left corner for Jon Scheyer, who stepped into the open 3-pointer and drained it.

In the blink of an eye, the Blue Devils went from a point down to a 67-61 lead with 2:38 remaining.

“At that point, I was thinking, ‘All right, we’ve got this now. We’re in position, we just need to make a couple stops,’ ” Scheyer said. “I never felt good about it until the final seconds because that’s the kind of team (Baylor is).”

The Blue Devils really took over the boards down the stretch after the Bears lost a key component of their rebounding efforts.

Seven-footer Josh Lomers was forced to watch after fouling out with 8:10 left in the game. The senior played only nine minutes and pulled down one rebound in his final game at Baylor.

“It’s hard to watch any game that you can’t play in,” Lomers said. “But I had faith in my team, and honestly, I thought we could have won the game. Shots didn’t fall the right way, but we were in it. It is what it is. It’s part of the game.”

While Duke’s rebounding supremacy wasn’t apparent until late in the game, the Blue Devils set the tone with their 3-point shooting early.

Most of Baylor’s opponents had been able to exploit a hole in the middle of the zone around the free-throw line, but not many found success outside like Duke.

The Blue Devils, who shot only 36.1 percent for the game, bottomed out five of their first six 3-point shots, on their way to an 11-for-23 night. Smith and Scheyer had the most success, combining for 49 points and 9-for-16 shooting from outside.

“I think that we were aggressive,” Smith said. “We used our big guys tremendously. I was really looking to penetrate the gaps, get in the paint, and I was able to get some floaters to go early and that opened up the outside.”

jorts@wacotrib.com

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