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Moving up Duke wins ACC tourney, likely No. 1 national ranking
Posted: Sunday March 12, 2000 10:04 PM
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- No. 3 Duke expected a long, inspirational speech from Chris Carrawell when the team's lone senior called a meeting before Sunday's ACC tournament title victory over Maryland. The message was more to the point. "There was a revenge factor, I'm not going to lie," Carrawell said following an 81-68 victory over the only ACC team to beat the Blue Devils in the last two seasons. "I was like, `Look, we're not going to lose this game. It was embarrassing, they beat us at home, celebrated on our court.'" The Blue Devils (27-4) secured a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament and most likely the nation's top ranking with an 81-68 win over No. 20 Maryland in the ACC tournament title game Sunday. Duke should ascend to No. 1 after losses by Cincinnati and Stanford -- teams ahead of the Blue Devils in the poll. "I thought we won the tournament because of our defense, not our offense," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who brought one of the nets to his postgame news conference. Duke's freshmen led the way this time. Jason Williams scored a season-high 23 points and Carlos Boozer added 21 as top-seeded Duke became the first program since the 1973 and 1974 North Carolina State teams to win consecutive ACC regular season and tourney titles. Mike Krzyzewski, who won his fifth ACC crown, pulled his starters with 33 seconds left and gave each a bear hug near the bench. Juan Dixon led the second-seeded Terrapins (24-9) with 19 points. "We struggled a little bit with our rotation, getting the right people in the right spots," said Maryland coach Gary Williams. "That's going to happen sometimes during a game, but against a team as good as Duke, you're going to pay the price." Maryland had to go the final 32 1/2 minutes without starting forward Danny Miller, who injured his left ankle trying to block a shot on a breakaway layup by Mike Dunleavy. "When you lose a guy that's averaging 33 minutes a game, it affects your game time," Gary Williams said of Miller's loss. The Blue Devils' home loss to the Terrapins a month ago snapped their ACC regular-season record 31-game winning streak, but Duke avenged the loss with a strong second-half performance Sunday. Williams, the team's point guard, scored 15 of his points in the second half and got Duke's outside game going with a 3-pointer to open the half. The 6-foot-9 Boozer scored 11 after the break, taking care of Duke's inside game. "We wanted to go into Carlos, and he responded in an amazing way," Krzyzewski said of the 6-foot-9 Boozer. "It is kind of nice when your best game is in a championship game. That was his best game against a great player in [Lonny] Baxter." After struggling from the outside in the opening 20 minutes and leading by one at halftime, the Blue Devils hit their first three 3-pointers in the second half to begin pulling away, They shot 64 percent in the second period. Maryland trimmed a 10-point lead to four at 56-52 with 8:50 left, but Williams hit a 3-pointer and got a goaltending call, and Boozer converted a 3-point play as Duke pulled away to win its 11th ACC crown. "We got a 10-point lead and I thought we lost our focus," Krzyzewski said of a timeout he called to regroup his team for the stretch run. "I tried to stress poise in that time, and boy they showed it from then on. We almost scored just about every time we had the ball after that."Williams' previous career high was 22 against North Carolina A&T on Dec. 12, 1999. "I've had a lot of roller coasters as everyone can see with my six turnovers today, but when you have players around you that give you an extra boost, and who are always on you to be the best, they help you out," said Williams, who became only the fourth freshman to win the tourney MVP award. Duke made 30 of 59 3-pointers in its first two games of the tourney, but went 1-for-11 in the first half against Maryland. But Maryland's offense was just as ineffective early. The Blue Devils took a 25-13 lead 8:50 before the break, going on an 11-2 run as four different players scored. The Terrapins countered with an 8-0 run of their own as Dixon and Terence Morris sank 3-pointers 34 seconds apart.
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