Duke sends coach Mike Krzyzewski to his 13th Final four with win over Arkansas

SAN FRANCISCO — Before Duke beat Arkansas 78-69 on Saturday night in the Elite Eight, securing Mike Krzyzewski's record 13th trip to the Final Four in his final season, it was easier to talk about what the Blue Devils were missing instead of what they have.

Their youth and late-season slips — as evidenced in losses to North Carolina in the regular-season finale and to Virginia Tech in the ACC tournament title game — offered enough evidence for the doubters to question their staying power on a stage that has ousted more freshman stars than it was rewarded.

Over the past two games, however, Duke has grown and showcased the potency many had expected when Krzyzewski signed Trevor Keels, Paolo Banchero and AJ Griffin and paired them with returnees Jeremy Roach, Mark Williams, Wendell Moore Jr. and Marquette transfer Theo John. Toward the end of the first half on Saturday, Duke demonstrated the matchup problems that any team it sees in New Orleans must decipher.

Banchero finished with 16 points, one of six Duke players who finished Saturday's game with at least nine points. He's a 6-foot-10 athlete who can't be left alone on the perimeter. Williams, a 7-footer, gracefully soared to the rim and scored, too. And Keels hit the deep 3-pointer that made Arkansas jog back to the locker room at halftime with the look of a team that had been worn down and perplexed by a unit with five players who are projected to get picked in the first round of this summer's NBA draft.

The Blue Devils made 40 percent of their 3-point attempts and eliminated the team that had eliminated Gonzaga, the top seed in the NCAA tournament, on Thursday.

The questions in the second half of the game centered on Duke's potential margin of victory. The Blue