[I](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3zKjXxmyvY)n 2008, Duke ran into West Virginia in the NCAA tournament and, well…took a beating. West Virginia was physically more mature and significantly tougher. They were led by a reserve off the bench who would rise to prominence later, as the coach of the Boston Celtics. His name?
Joe Mazzulla. He finished with 13 points, 11 rebounds and 8 assists.
That was the final game for DeMarcus Nelson and by the time the teams met again in [the 2010 Final Four,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3zKjXxmyvY) Greg Paulus and Gerald Henderson would be gone, too.
But freshmen Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, sophomores Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and Jon Scheyer would all be there for the rematch, and all of them had become key players for the Blue Devils.
And the rematch was very different.
The Mountaineers were still tough, but in 2008, Mazzulla essentially mocked Duke. He couldn’t do that in the second game, because Duke was now the tougher team.
It was a great game in many ways, not least of all because Duke paid the Mountaineers back for a tough loss. Two days later, they would beat Butler in one of the most taut championship games ever played.