My Mountainners top Duke 73-67

Back at his alma mater, back in the NCAAs, Bob Huggins looked and sounded just like the Bob Huggins everyone remembers. He yelled. He groused. He drew an early technical foul. And he willed his No. 7-seeded West Virginia past second-seeded Duke. Playing tough man-to-man defense, grabbing what seemed like every loose ball, West Virginia used Joe Alexander's 22 points and 11 rebounds and all sorts of contributions from unlikely sources for a 73-67 victory over Duke on Saturday, getting to the NCAA tournament's round of 16 in Huggins' first season. "His passion, his lack of fear, is something we try to put out on the court," said Alex Ruoff, whose 17 points included a 3 at the shot-clock buzzer that tied the game at 37 in the second half. "When you see that passion on the sideline, the last thing you want to do is let that man down." While the Mountaineers (26-10) will face No. 3-seed Xavier in Phoenix on Thursday, the Blue Devils (28-6) must deal with a second consecutive early exit.