Duke's defense tightens up at perfect time

INDIANAPOLIS – Michigan State spent the first three minutes and 41 seconds of Saturday's first Final Four game jabbing Duke in the mouth. Shot after shot fell -- 5 of 7, to be exact -- and the Spartans jumped to an eight-point lead.

So, when Duke's players huddled up during a media timeout, the first of the game, their coach, Mike Krzyzewski, lit into them.

"We were playing soft," Duke guard Matt Jones said. "We came out and expected them to be scared. We forgot that they were veterans."

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That was the end of that. From that point forward, Duke outscored Michigan State 75-47, walloping the Spartans with haymaker after haymaker and running to an 81-61 win to secure a spot in Monday's national title game.

Even though the difference was just 11 points, it felt as if Duke had already delivered its knockout blow by halftime, and those 16 minutes and 19 seconds after that first media timeout changed everything.

Michigan State made just 3 of 20 from the field after starting so hot. The Spartans made their first four 3-pointers; they missed their final five of the half. Their turnover percentage ballooned to 21.2 percent.

To Duke, that stretch was the perfect illustration of its defensive transformation over the past few months, particularly in this NCAA tournament. When the Blue Devils came to Louisville for a Jan. 17 conference game, their man-to-man defense, especially on pick-and-rolls, had struggled so much that they switched to a 2-3 zone.

Duke never plays zone defense, or at least doesn't want to.

But that Louisville game, junior forward Amile Jefferson said, spurred a sea change in his team's entire attitude.

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"We wanted to be Duke," Jefferson said. "We wanted to be the Duke team we knew we could be. We knew this group could be really, really good on defense."

The changes came gradually, as Duke's field-goal percentage defense improved by the week. And in the NCAA tournament's five games, Duke's field-goal defense has become elite.

Duke opponents are shooting 37.4 percent from the field -- 41.2 percent on 2-pointers and 26.9 percent on 3-pointers.

The natural question is how? How have the Blue Devils gone from a great offensive team with serious defensive holes to a well-rounded squad fully capable of winning a national title?

"It's an emotional investment on the defensive end," freshman guard Grayson Allen said. "Earlier in the season, you would see guys yelling about 3s or big dunks. Now you see them yelling about a big block or a big steal."

Jefferson also said Duke's perimeter players have learned to trust 6-foot-11 center Jahlil Okafor and 7-foot backup center Marshall Plumlee. In other words, the little guys feel more comfortable funneling opposing guards toward the paint, where Duke's big men can challenge shots.

That's a big statement. Interior defense was perhaps the top culprit of Duke's early-season issues. Okafor in particular struggled defending the pick-and-roll. That issue has seemingly been resolved, and now Duke is one win away from a national title and armed with a top-level defense to pair with what has always been one of the best offenses in the country.

"We did a great job of talking and making sure nobody felt alone," Jefferson said. "Our guys did a great job of crowding the paint and (Okafor) did a great job of protecting the paint ... That was what we needed to do."

Reach staff writer Jeff Greer at (502) 582-4044 and follow him on Twitter (@jeffgreer_cj).