SECOND ROUND
West Virginia 73, Duke 67: After surviving a first-round scare, Duke's luck ran out against a dominant West Virginia team.

The Mountaineers kept it close in the first half, but an 18-3 run in the second half gave them a lead they never let go of, not to mention a berth in the Sweet 16. Duke, on the other hand, missed the round of 16 for a second year in a row, something that never happened to them from 1997 to 2006.

FIRST ROUND
West Virginia 75, Arizona 65: West Virginia's prowess from long range made Arizona's 24th consecutive trip to the NCAA tournament another one-and-done performance. Alex Ruoff scored 21 points, Da'Sean Butler had 19, and the Mountaineers prevailed in the opening round of the West Regional.
FULL STORY

How they got in: At-large bid

Basically: Bob Huggins was supposed to need at least a year to make the Mountaineer relevant, but a 10-1 start, with a win over Winthrop being the only one of mention, set the tone and a decent Big East season has moved up the timetable on success. No, there haven't been many statement wins outside of two victories over Marquette, but for those who believe the Big East is the league's best conference, finishing the regular season in the upper-division is a good start to the Huggins era. Now can the Mountaineers produce? They're great at blasting the dregs, and they should be able to tough their way through a game or two, but there might be a very hard ceiling on how high they can go in the tournament.

Strengths: Ball security. The offense just doesn't give the ball away, turning it over a mere 11 times per game, while doing a great job of moving the ball around and finding the open man for the easy shot. This isn't a great three point shooting team, but it rains in enough of them to make close game blowouts, and to open things up a little bit inside. It's all about the midrange jumper, and with the way the Mountaineers pass, that's not a bad thing.

Weaknesses: Size. There isn't any. Jamie Smalligan is a seven-footer, but he's not much of a facto. Joe Alexander is a nasty rebounder and a good 6-foot-8 scorer, but he's about it as far as real height in the rotation. Everyone hits the boards and everyone battles on both ends, but WVU will be in trouble against a team with some bulk and power inside.

Players you should care about: Alexander is the scorer who must go for 20 for WVU to go on any sort of a good run, and Da'Sean Butler has to do what he does best which is rebound and pump in around 12-to-15 points. Without a lot of front-court depth the 6-foot-7 Butler has had to be one of the team's toughest players on both ends of the floor. He might not by a tournament star, but the Mountaineers can't win without him.

Best wins: Marquette 79-64; Pitt 76-62

Worst losses: Cincinnati 62-39; at Villanova 78-56