Blue Devils can’t get over the Mountain(eers)

Joe Alexander had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and No. 7-seeded West Virginia reached the NCAA tournament’s round of 16 in Huggins’ first season at his alma mater by beating second-seeded Duke 73-67 in the West Regional on Saturday.

West Virginia (26-10) limited Duke to 38 percent shooting and held a 47-27 edge on the boards. The Mountaineers also got 17 points from Alex Ruoff, and 13 points and 11 rebounds from reserve guard Joe Mazzulla, and advanced to face No. 3 Xavier or No. 6 Purdue in Phoenix on Thursday.

It represents quite a quick comeback for Huggins, who was out of work two years ago.

He got fired at Cincinnati ‘ a school he led to the 1992 Final Four ‘ after a drunken driving arrest, then sat out a season before surfacing at Kansas State in 2007. He took that team to the NIT, losing in the second round.

Now he’s back home in West Virginia, at the school he played for, and back among basketball’s elite.

His Duke counterpart, Mike Krzyzewski, is heading in the opposite direction.

Every year from 1997 through 2006, Duke was a participant in the round of 16. Every single year. It’s a stretch that featured three trips to the Final Four and the 2001 national championship. But now Krzyzewski’s team is on a two-year drought, having bowed out in the first round in 2007.

After eking out a one-point victory over No. 15-seed Belmont in the first round, three-time national champion Duke (28-6) looked much better en route to a 34-29 halftime lead against West Virginia.

And the Blue Devils went up 37-29 early in the second half.

Then things changed completely.

After missing all six 3-pointers it took in the first half, West Virginia made its first three in the second, part of an 18-3 run that put the Mountaineers in front.

When Alexander made a layup off the glass while getting fouled and then completed the three-point play with 14:38 left in the game, he put West Virginia ahead 40-38, its first lead since 4-3.

Mazzulla’s drive down the lane made it 47-40 with under 12 minutes left, capping that big spurt. Duke called timeout, and Mazzulla screamed and pounded his chest, first with one fist, then the other.

At the other end, the Blue Devils simply could not seem to make a shot. At one point, point guard Greg Paulus was 2-for-7 on 3s ‘ and his teammates were a combined 0-for-11.