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NCAA Tournament Recap (Connecticut-Duke)
Posted: Tues March 30, 1999 at 2:07 a.m EST LARGEST) CONNECTICUT 77, DUKE 74ST. PETERSBURG, Florida (Ticker) -- Connecticut captured its first NCAA Tournament title in stunning fashion, outexecuting the nation's best team down the stretch to record a 77-74 victory over Duke at Tropicana Field. Connecticut (34-2) stood toe-to-toe with the vaunted Blue Devils (37-2) for the full 40 minutes and refused to wilt each time Duke made a charge in one of the best title games of the 1990s. of failing to make the Final Four earlier this decade. Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun, in his 13th season, has given this program a stamp of legitimacy which cannot be taken away. "The kids said they wanted Duke instead of Michigan State, I gave them the wise head nod," said Calhoun. "But the kids knew better. If they wanted to be the best, they had to beat the best, and tonight, they beat the best team. And tonight, we're the best team. They truly believed this was all possible." Richard Hamilton, who finished with 27 points, made two free throws with 3:50 to play to put Connecticut ahead for good. He added a clutch 3-pointer 21 seconds later to make it 73-68 and was named Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, scoring 51 points in the two games. "You can't describe it, I still don't understand what we accomplished," said Hamilton. "It's happy to put a smile on the coaches' faces." "I think the Duke fans couldn't believe it, I looked into the section and they were shocked," said Huskies guard Khalid El-Amin. "That felt good to us. I can't take anything away from them, but we played better over the 40 minutes." Ricky Moore stepped out of character as a defensive specialist and scored all of his 13 points in the first half before returning to the role which propelled him into the national spotlight this month. He made a key defensive stop on Duke senior Trajan Langdon in the closing seconds, forcing him into a walk as he attempted to drive into the lane for a tying shot. "It was him against me and I knew I was going to get help," said Moore about the key play. "They tried to clear it out, but I stayed solid and down. He tried to make a spin move, but he traveled and we got the ball back." "Moore was on me the whole game, there was no difference the whole game," said Langdon. "I wanted to make a move, I wasn't thinking about the clock. I traveled, I might not have, that was the call. I'm not going to hang my head on that play." Moore, who deferred offensively to Hamilton and Khalid El-Amin throughout the season, also helped contain point guard William Avery as Connecticut became only the fifth team to win the NCAA Tournament in its first Final Four appearance and first since Texas Western's breakthrough victory over Kentucky in 1966. "It means we won the national championship," said Calhoun when asked what the victory meant. "I'm no better coach than I was three weeks ago, I'm no worse than I was three weeks ago. If you hear a loud yell later tonight, that would be me." Langdon, unable to get off a final shot after El-Amin sank two free throws with 5.2 seconds to play, finished with 25 points in his final college game. Elton Brand added 15 and 12 rebounds for Duke, which was thwarted in a bid to win its third NCAA Tournament title this decade. "Absolutely, positively, I wanted Trajan Langdon to take the shot," said Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski. "I will win or lose with Trajan Langdon, walk down any lane with Trajan Langdon and I'm very proud of Trajan Langdon." The Blue Devils lost a championship game for the third time in the 1990s, also falling to Nevada-Las Vegas in 1990 and Arkansas in 1994. They won the 1991 and 1992 NCAA Tournament titles over Kansas and Michigan, respectively. The two best teams in the nation this season, the only ones who held the ranking in the 1998-99 campaign, waged a 94-foot war. Neither team conceded an inch, with both unable to gain more than a six-point lead throughout the second half. Hamilton had six points in a 14-5 run and Connecticut gained a 57-53 lead with 12:35 to play on a driving lay-in by Albert Mouring. The Huskies extended to a 65-59 edge at the 8:57 mark as Hamilton curled off a pair of screens to hit a 17-footer. All the talk about Duke being unable to handle the pressure of a close game did not materialize as Brand refused to let the Huskies pull away. The 260-pound center swatted a shot by Hamilton, then rumbled downcourt to take a pass from Avery and convert a layup that cut the deficit to four. He also had a steal at midcourt but missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Chris Carrawell pulled the Blue Devils within 65-63 with a 15-footer. Langdon, an 84 percent foul shooter, missed the second of two with 6:47 to go, leaving Duke behind by one. Edmund Saunders made 1-of-2 from the line before Carrawell slashed into the lane and sank a 10-footer to tie it, 66-66, with 4:54 remaining. "I don't think we showed we were under pressure, in the last minutes we played our best basketball," said Krzyzewski. "The pressure to guard Connecticut, is a different type of pressure." Calhoun called a 20-second timeout to settle his team, and it paid off as El-Amin dribbled left and floated an eight-footer to give the Huskies a 68-66 lead with 4:19 to go. Langdon countered with two free throws 12 seconds later, but Hamilton dropped in two to give Connecticut a 70-68 lead with 3:50 left. On the ensuing possession, Moore tipped the ball away from Avery from behind and Connecticut took full advantage as Hamilton drilled a huge 3-pointer from the left side to stretch the lead to 73-68 with 3:28 to go. Carrawell hit 1-of-2 from the line, and neither team scored again until Langdon hit an NBA-range 3-pointer to pull Duke within 73-72 with 1:43 to play. Calhoun took another 20-second timeout and again, it was El-Amin with the answer as he drove past Brand on the left baseline and stuck a 10-footer with 66 seconds remaining. Avery quickly countered with two free throws to again make it a one-point game, putting the pressure back on the Huskies. "I don't think it was hard," said Hamilton about scoring. "I've been doing it all year. When you have guys setting screens and guys like Ricky Moore and Khalid, the only thing I have to do is get open and hit a shot." El-Amin missed a 15-footer and Duke attacked, getting the ball to Langdon on the left side. He tried to power his way past Moore, but the UConn guard held his ground and forced Langdon to pick up his pivot foot as he attempted to complete his spin move and shoot a 10-footer. "I've said Ricky Moore was the best defensive player in the country, I hope he didn't need the tournament to prove that," saic Calhoun. "He's the best defensive player I've ever coached. I didn't need to reach the Final Four to think I can coach basketball. I'm as happy as anyone." Avery quickly fouled El-Amin, but the stocky 5-10 sophomore sank them both, atoning for a pair of misses with 12:06 left. Connecticut applied fullcourt pressure, forcing Langdon to move laterally before getting the ball. He was 35 feet from the basket before being stripped, fittingly enough, by Moore as the Huskies were able to celebrate a stunning upset of the Blue Devils. "We made so many big plays to almost win the game, our kids made huge shots," said Krzyzewski. "We had a tremendous defensive exchange prior to that. They're good, we're good and they're playing better than we did and they won. It was that type of game." Free of the bruising physical play which slowed them against Michigan State, the Blue Devils raced to a 9-2 lead despite two blocked shots by UConn forward Kevin Freeman. Moore, considered the Huskies' fourth option on the court, stepped up on the offensive end, scoring nine of their next 13 points and giving them a 15-13 lead with a 3-pointer with 13:11 left. "I don't know from coaching, I just tell them what to do," said Calhoun. "The key is what they did on the court. When adversity hit, the way they reacted to it was absolutely incredible. They've done everything to get to this point themselves. I think the Duke matchup was what they wanted. They wanted to be the best. Tonight, if you count character, we may have played our best game." Connecticut opted to double-team Brand immediately after he received the ball in the low block, but doing so with different players on each side, depending on where Brand set up. It was very successful as he did not score until making a free throw with 9:52 left to put the Blue Devils ahead, 24-22. Knowing center Jake Voskuhl's propensity to get into foul trouble throughout the NCAA Tournament, Calhoun immediately substituted with Souleymane Wane when Voskuhl picked up his first foul 3:09 in. He freely rotated the 6-11 Voskuhl, 6-11 Wane and 6-8 Saunders to contain Brand. "We wanted to put ball pressure on them, stop avery," said Calhoun. "(We also) wanted to double big to big. Elton Brand is a great basketball player, but we only doubled to have the same guys rotate to the same spots, like a zone." El-Amin picked up his second foul with 9:05 left, relegating him to the bench for the rest of the half. But Hamilton and Moore scored nine of Connecticut's final 15 points to keep it in the game. Duke was able to grab a 39-36 lead in the final minute of the first half as Langdon hit a 3-pointer and four-point play in a 42-second span. Hamilton sank 1-of-2 free throws to make it 39-37 at halftime. A dunk by Battier gave the Blue Devils a 48-43 lead at the 16:35 mark of the second half before Mouring hit a 10-footer to trigger a 14-5 run over the next four minutes. Connecticut shot 53 percent (32-of-61) from the field and held a 41-31 rebounding advantage. Moore was 6-of-8 from the field in the first half, while El-Amin totaled 12 points, four assists and four rebounds for the Huskies, who scored 19 points off 12 turnovers. They received 17 points from their bench, including a combined eight from Wane and Saunders in 19 minutes. Avery was held to 11 points on 3-of-12 shooting as Duke shot a season-low 41.1 percent (23-of-56) from the field. The Blue Devils were 7-of-19 from 3-point range, but only 2-of-9 over the final 20 minutes. Corey Maggette was the only Duke reserve to score, finishing with seven points. © 2000 Sportsticker Enterprises, LP
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