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NCAA Tournament Recap (Sw Missouri St-Duke)
Posted: Sat March 20, 1999 at 1:04 a.m EST EAST RUTHERFORD, New Jersey (Ticker) -- If it wasn't Trajan Langdon on the outside, it was Elton Brand on the inside. If it wasn't Chris Carrawell slashing into the lane, it was William Avery hitting open 3-pointers. If it wasn't Southwest Missouri State missing shots, it was Duke blocking them. And it was the top-seeded Blue Devils rolling to another big victory, 78-61, over the Bears in the East Region semifinals of the NCAA Tournament. Langdon scored 24 points and Brand added 14 for Duke (35-1), the overwhelming favorite to win the NCAA Tournament which had too much of everything and simply overwhelmed Southwest Missouri State. "The way Elton has been playing all year long has drawn that kind of attention," said Langdon about getting open looks with Brand drawing double teams. "They doubled every time. I think we did a lot better job of moving and cutting in the second half and getting open looks and knocking them down. Elton did a great job of relocating to the perimeter." "I thought we did a pretty good job on Brand, but that left Langdon open," said Bears coach Steve Alford. "He's a great player and great shooter and he made all of his shots. I think that was the difference." To their credit, the Bears (22-11) challenged the Blue Devils into the second half, the first team to do so in Duke's three NCAA Tournament games. The Blue Devils, who will play Temple in the East Region final Sunday, set a tourney record by winning their first two games by a combined 82 points. Langdon, a 6-3 senior, played without the rust that plagued him in the second round against Tulsa, his first game back after missing three with a strained left foot. He made a back-breaking 3-pointer in the final minute of the first half that pushed the Blue Devils to a 39-30 halftime lead. "When we are out of sync like that, Trajan does bring more consistency to our team," said Brand. "He is always knocking down shots. He is our leader out there. He really brings a presence that leads and guides us." Reserve Allen Phillips scored 16 points and Danny Moore added 15 for Southwest Missouri State, which was denied in a bid to be the first seed to win a regional semifinal. "I think we did a good job of following our game plan," said Alford. "They can beat you in so many ways. I thought our guys did a really great job tonight. They gave it all they had and they just got beat by a better team." The game also is expected to be the last for Alford, who led Indiana to the 1987 NCAA Tournament title as a shooting guard. He is expected to be named the next coach at Iowa, succeeding Tom Davis. The Bears seemed excited just to be on the court after five days of waiting to play Duke and ran excitedly through the first 90 seconds. The Blue Devils, though, began to set the tone by dumping the ball inside to the 260-pound Brand, who bullied the 6-11, 240-pound Moore in the paint for three baskets. Duke held a 12-4 lead after a dunk by Nate James 5:12 into the game. Southwest Missouri State continued to hang around and pulled within three on four separate occasions, the last time at 23-20 on a lay-in by Scott Brakebill with 8:17 left. Brand had a bucket and Langdon drilled a 3-pointer to rebuild the lead to eight. The Blue Devils threatened to pull away and led 36-27 after a 17-footer by Langdon with 3:03 to go, but Ken Stringer hit a free throw and Phillips drove for a layup to make it a six-point game 48 seconds later. Duke stymied the Bears until Langdon hammered a 3-pointer to give the Blue Devils a nine-point lead at intermission. Early in the second half, Avery added a free throw and Brand hit a four-footer in the lane on Duke's fourth shot of the possession to push the lead to 12. "We knew that we were playing a great team, and to be playing with them pretty evenly or to be down five or 10 in the first half was a great feeling for us," said Bears guard Kevin Ault. "We knew that if we kept it under double figures that we might have a chance in the second half." The Bears continued to scrap and were within 52-42 at the 14:05 mark on a 3-pointer by Phillips. They had a chance to draw closer, but Matt Rueter had his five-footer blocked by Brand -- one of his five blocks -- and then the Blue Devils put away the game. Langdon hit a 17-footer before James sank a 3-pointer to make it 57-42 with 12:35 left, prompting a timeout by Alford. Ryan Bettenhausen hit a short jumper, but Avery drilled a 3-pointer from the top of the key to make it a 16-point game. Brakebill hit two free throws before Brand hit a follow shot, Shane Battier had an easy basket in the lane and Carrawell made the second of two free throws, extending Duke's lead to 65-46 with 8:35 to go. Avery finished with 12 points as the Blue Devils shot 50 percent (29-of-58) from the field and 9-of-23 from 3-point range. They also held a 41-35 rebounding advantage, scoring 19 second-chance points on 13 offensive rebounds. The Bears shot 37 percent (23-of-62) and had eight blocks. Phillips was 6-of-12 from the field and 4-of-5 from beyond the arc. Moore was 5-of-15 from the floor, while the backcourt combination of Fontleroy and Ault were a combined 6-of-18.© 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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