High-scoring big men have often been a key ingredient on NCAA championship teams.

Bill Russell led San Francisco to back-to-back titles in 1955 and 1956. Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton were the keys to UCLA's domination in the late 1960s and early '70s.

Since 2004, North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough and Sean May, Connecticut's Emeka Okafor and Florida's tandem of Al Horford and Joakim Noah have been primary scorers for championship teams.

Every NCAA champion since 2001 has had a low-post big man who averages at least 12 points per game. That's one luxury Duke doesn't possess in Indianapolis as it prepares for Saturday's 8:30 p.m. NCAA semifinal game with West Virginia at Lucas Oil Stadium.

The Blue Devils (33-5) are the only No. 1 regional seed remaining in the tournament and are generally considered the favorite to win the championship. They have the highest-scoring threesome in the nation in Jon Scheyer (18.2 ppg), Kyle Singler (17.6) and Nolan Smith (17.4).

They play excellent defense and lead the ACC in rebound margin. But Duke's highest-scoring big man, Brian Zoubek, averages just 5.5 points per game.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski admitted that having a high-scoring, low-post presence is ideal.

"It's good to be balanced," he said. "... If you start with a point (guard) and a big, you can fill in easier (around it)."

Nonetheless, Krzyzewski said Duke does possess some scoring ability in the low post. Unlike in many seasons, the Blue Devils have depth with four legitimate big guys in Zoubek at 7 feet 1, Lance Thomas at 6-8 and 6-10 brothers Miles and Mason Plumlee rotating at two true low-post positions.

"Although we don't have a guy averaging 10 points a game, that position has done pretty well ... whether it be Miles and Brian or Mason, we can do it a little bit by committee there," Krzyzewski said.

In this particular Final Four, the Blue Devils won't be severely disadvantaged by the lack of a big guy who scores a lot. The premier big men in the tournament - Kentucky's DeMarcus Cousins and Kansas' Cole Aldrich - have already been eliminated.

West Virginia has a couple strong low-post scorers in Kevin Jones (13.7 ppg) and Devin Ebanks (12.0 ppg) but doesn't have a dominating big man in the mold of a Hansbrough or Okafor.

Much of Butler's offense is perimeter-oriented, and Michigan State's top big guy is Raymar Morgan (11.5 ppg), who is known more for his rebounding and toughness.

One of the important things for Duke is that its big guys accept their roles and stick to them. Zoubek never even thinks about attempting a shot if he's more than 10 feet from the basket, and all of the Blue Devils' post players concentrate on defending and rebounding first.

"As we've developed our identity this year, our presence, whether it's one guy having a big game or all of us together, we really focus on rebounding," Miles Plumlee said. "That's something we have done every game."

That's not to say having a big guy who can score the way Carlos Boozer or Elton Brand did wouldn't help the Blue Devils.

But Krzyzewski is pleased with the contributions his post players have made, and said Duke is better defensively because of what its big guys say rather than what they do.

"A key thing for our team is what Lance and Brian do when they're in," Krzyzewski said. "They're really good talkers, not to the other team. But when you can have an inside voice talking on defense, it really galvanizes you. It galvanized this team. It brings you together."