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Monday, April 2
Sophomores super for Duke
Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – No comeback. No blowout. Just another Duke
title in the Twin Cities.
The top-ranked Blue Devils won their third national championship
– and second in the Metrodome – with an 82-72 victory over Arizona
on Monday night.
With All-Americans Jason Williams and Shane Battier having off
nights, sophomores Mike Dunleavy and Carlos Boozer picked up the
slack and Mike Krzyzewski moved into impressive coaching company.
Still well behind UCLA's John Wooden's 10 national
championships, Krzyzewski moved one behind Kentucky's Adolph Rupp
and tied his college coach, Bob Knight, who won three at Indiana.
To get to this game, Duke (35-4) had to overcome a 22-point
deficit in Saturday's semifinal win over Maryland. The last time
the Blue Devils won it all, it was by 20 points.
The loss ended Arizona's bittersweet season and kept the
Wildcats (28-8) from matching their own record of beating three No.
1 seeds in the NCAA tournament as they did when they won it all in
1997.
Duke's other titles came in consecutive years, and the second in
1992 was won in this building after the same trip through the
tournament – Greensboro, N.C., Philadelphia and Minneapolis for the
Final Four.
Dunleavy, playing in front of his father, Portland Trail Blazers
coach Mike Dunleavy, led Duke with 21 points, 18 in the second
half.
Dunleavy hit a career-high five 3-pointers, while Boozer, who
just returned last weekend after missing six games with a broken
foot, had 12 points and 12 rebounds.
Battier, the national player of the year, had 18 points, 11
rebounds and six assists. Williams, saddled with foul trouble, had
16 points on 5-for-15 shooting.
Duke is the first No. 1-ranked team to win the national
championship since UCLA in 1995.
Loren Woods had 22 points to lead Arizona, the team that
rebounded from a poor start and overcame the death of coach Lute
Olson's wife on Jan. 1 to reach the championship game.
Dunleavy had three 3-pointers in an 11-2 run that put the Blue
Devils up 50-39 four minutes into the second half.
Arizona came right back with a 9-0 run that was capped by a hook
shot by Woods with 14:11 left that made it 50-48.
It took Duke just four minutes to get the lead back to 10,
61-51, on another 3-pointer by Dunleavy with 10:08 to play.
Again, the Wildcats came back.
Four times Arizona got within three points. Three times it was
Battier, the outstanding player of the Final Four, who responded
for Duke.
His dunk on a pass from Williams made it 77-72 with 2:31 left,
and Williams hit a 3 with 1:45 left that gave the Blue Devils an
eight-point lead.
Duke, which set NCAA records this season for 3-pointers made and
attempted, finished 9-for-27 from beyond the arc. Arizona really
struggled from long range, finishing 4-for-22 with Jason Gardner
missing all eight attempts.
Duke shot 47 percent from the field (30-for-64), well above the
38 percent Arizona's other opponents, including No. 1 seeds
Illinois and Michigan State, shot during the tournament.
Arizona shot 39 percent (28-for-71), nowhere near the 50 percent
mark the Wildcats were at for the first five games of the
tournament.
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 Players and coaches sound off after Duke's victory over Arizona in the NCAA championship game.
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 Lute Olson says Duke was too strong down the stretch for his Wildcats (Courtesy: NCAA Production).
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ESPN.com's Andy Katz catches up with Jason Gardner after Arizona's loss to Duke.
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Mike Dunleavy says he did not lose confidence, and found his shooting touch in the second half (Courtesy: NCAA Production).
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Mike Krzyzewski knew early that Duke would have to play great to beat Arizona (Courtesy: NCAA Prduction).
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Shane Battier attacked the offensive boards to help lead Duke to another championship.
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ESPN's Brad Daugherty talks with Jason Williams after Duke's national championship performance.
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