Duke 95
Kentucky 92 (OT)

December 18, 2001.  
Continental Airlines Arena.  

  The problem, and joy, of this sort of matchup is that the echoes of history tend to reverberate with each play.  One is forced to remember Laettner and Hill, Turner and Sheppard as the new generation plays.  This is media hype, but it does contain a kernel of truth, and the buzz surrounding this game was a positive for college basketball.  And when Kentucky went into halftime with a 3-point lead, I couldn't help but think of an old line from a highlight film of the '92 classic: "They didn't know that this battle would become an all-out war."  And the game simultaneously echoed past runs and plays and developed its own character.  There were so many plays that stood out on both sides, lucky bounces and bank shots that miraculously went in.  But what made the game truly great were the last five minutes of regulation and overtime, with fourteen lead changes and brilliant play from both squads.  The beauty of this game was the passion from Duke and Kentucky, wanting to win an individual game but being swept up in a greater, and longer-standing, drama.

  When Duke was down in double-digits in the second half, I had no doubt that they'd make a comeback.  I just wasn't sure they could move Kentucky out of their incredible offensive rhythm.  The key to understanding this game is that Duke found an opponent who exploited all of their weaknesses and wasn't intimidated by their talent.  Tubby Smith's deep bench gave him the luxury of auditioning players to see how they'd respond and going with those hot players.  The Devils didn't have the discipline at first to treat every Kentucky player with the level of defensive respect they were giving Tayshaun Prince and Keith Bogans.  The Wildcats got rebounding from every position, relying more on quickness and desire than sheer size and strength.  Duke had to face a string of Kentucky players who were ready and willing to make clutch shot after clutch shot.  More than anything, Kentucky taught Duke the folly of players relying on individual ability rather than trusting your teammates.

  The game started with a lot of intensity from Duke.  Chris Duhon immediately forced a steal and scored on a runout.  After the Cats tied it up, Dahntay Jones immediately dished to Jason Williams for a three.  Tubby Smith took an immediate time out to let his team know that they weren't meeting Duke's  level of intensity.  After Kentucky pulled within 5-4, Duke went on a 5-0 mini-run.  Carlos had his way inside, posting up for a basket on a Duhon feed and then taking the ball in the lane and using a spin move to get free for another basket.  The Devils continued to push the tempo with Casey Sanders using a pretty reverse layup on a rebound and Duhon whipping off a no-look bounce pass to Mike Dunleavy for an easy basket.  Duke led 14-9 and had controlled the first five minutes of the game.

  The Cats struck back, showing that they weren't going to be blown out,  by going on a 9-0 run that culminated in a Rashaad Carruth three.  Jones tied the score at 18 with a couple of free throws, but Kentucky took the lead right back.  Duke went to its bomb squad to get back the lead, with Duhon finding Jason for a three.  Jason then drove the lane and dished to Boozer, who sank a 10' baseline jumper.  Kentucky countered with a long three that tied the game again at 21, but Jason and Mike Dunleavy struck with back-to-back threes.  With over nine minutes left in the half, Duke had taken Kentucky's best shot and fired back.

  Things were about to get difficult, however.  Kentucky went on an 8-0 run to take a 29-27 lead.  Reggie Love tipped in a basket to tie it again, and the two teams proceeded to traded leads over the next minute.  The Cats seized control with four minutes left, with Duke just barely hanging on. Kentucky went up four a couple of times, but Dunleavy answered with 2 free throws and Jason responded the second time with a drive.  UK then scored 4 in a row to take a 41-35 lead, but Dunleavy pulled up and hit a three that cut it to 3.  After Kentucky scored again, Carlos Boozer rebounded a Williams miss to make it 43-40 at the half.

  The beginning of the second half is the time of the game when Duke likes to make their move and bury their opponents.  This time, however, it was Kentucky wielding the shovel and throwing dirt on Duke.  The Devils were resorting to individual play, with way too much dribbling and not enough teamwork.  When Carlos plowed over his man for an offensive foul and the Cats had started the half on a 7-0 run, Coach K had seen enough.  He yanked the entire starting lineup and put in Sanders, Dan Ewing, Matt Christensen, Andre Buckner and Reggie Love.  It was quite a risk to take, but it was clear that the group on the floor wasn't interested in playing defense.  And of course, Coach K has done this before.  It's been noted that in a 1992 game against a bad Clemson team, Duke was being crushed and looked listless. Coach K inserted Erik Meek, Cherokee Parks, Christian Ast, Marty Clark and Kenny Blakeney, who managed to chip away at the lead thanks to some tough defense. And in this game, precisely the same thing happened. 

  To begin with, it was clear that the Kentucky players stopped competing as hard when the bench came in.  Carruth was in fact laughing at them when they entered the game.  The bench picked up some quick fouls, but they stopped Kentucky's offensive rhythm.  It took UK over a minute to score against the bench, but when they did Ewing scored off a nice drive.  With over fourteen minutes left and his starters standing up and begging to get back in the game, K sent them to the scorer's table to check in.  The players had to wait for play to stop to be admitted back into game.  As they were waiting, Buckner called Matt's name and fed him for a big-time three point play.  Matt even sank the free throw as Duke was now ready to compete again.

  The Wildcats, however, were not going to make it easy.  The return of Duke's starters fired them up as well, and while Duke was able to prevent  them from extending their lead, they had trouble cutting into it for the next three minutes.  This is the point where Jason must have had a dose of Super-Soldier Serum and a shot of Vita-Rays, because he was involved in nearly every scoring play until the end of the game.  Kentucky had pushed the lead back up to 12, but Jason drove for a bucket and then dished to Dunleavy for another.  The Cats scored again to push the lead up to 61-51, but Jason drove again to score and hit 2 free throws on the subsequent possession.  Kentucky matched Duke score for score and kept them at arm's length, holding a 65-57 lead with eight minutes left.  That's when Duke really made their move.

  It began with Dunleavy dishing inside to Boozer, who powered up for a potential three point play.  Duke's defense started disrupting Kentucky, and UK started throwing the ball away.  Williams came right down, moved off a pick, and nailed a three.  After a Williams free throw, Kentucky missed a shot that then bounced funny and was heading out of bounds.  Duhon ran after it and tossed it back in bounds, ahead to a streaking Williams, while falling down.  Jason slammed it home and the two squads were tied 65-up with about five minutes left.  What followed was a truly beautiful series of plays for both teams.

  Kentucky took the lead back after Duke tied it up, but Jason used another high screen to free himself for a three.  The Cats went up by 1 on the next play, and Jason hit yet another three on a daring Duhon drive that  set him up.  Duke led 71-69 with four minutes left.  Kentucky scored 4 in a row thanks to some daring drives by Cliff Hawkins, who was beating Duhon off the dribble with ease.  Jones tied things up with some free throws after he had a free lane to the basket.  Boozer put Duke up again with a free throw, though he had hurt Duke by missing 3 of 5 foul shots in the half.  Duke led 74-73 with 1:53 left.

  Prince juked Dunleavy and drove in to hit a lefty running one-hander with 1:39 left.  Duhon once again drove until Jason had worked himself free, and hit him for a big-time three with just over a minute left.  Jules Camara hit a free throw that put Kentucky down just one, but Duke could not score.  Kentucky had the ball and gave it to Prince once again, who drove in with another floater to give Kentucky a 78-77 lead with 15 seconds left. Duke will usually just run a play rather than take a timeout, but Coach K thought there was enough time to set up something decent.  He freed up Jason to go the basket, where he was tagged by Prince by his hip for a foul.  Jason's first foul shot hit the back of the rim, hesitated, and rolled in.  The second one missed and Prince grabbed the rebound.  With eight seconds left, the Cats tried to work it up court, but Duke was prepared.  Using a wall of defenders with their hands up to obscure his vision, they delayed Prince getting the ball downcourt until there was only enough time for a desperate heave.  Result: overtime. 

  While some of the Kentucky players were whining about the foul on Prince that sent Williams to the line, they had plenty of time to get off a   good shot.  They simply didn't execute.  The players on this Duke squad were quite familiar with overtime and looked confident.  The overtime had more than its normal share of weird bounces.  The first came right away, when Jones picked up a loose ball and laid it in.  A free throw for the Cats made it 80-79 Duke, and Dunleavy pushed it further with a rebound basket. 

  Kentucky showed their resiliency by scoring 4 in a row, once again using dribble penetration to attack Duke.  Down a point, Boozer and Dunleavy worked a two-man game as Mike fed it inside to Carlos, who waited for the double-team to come and then fired it back out to Mike for a big three.  After another Wildcat free throw made it 85-84 in favor of Duke, Williams threw a bullet pass to Dunleavy on a cut.  What looked like a questionable shot for Kentucky on the next possession became an amazing banked-in three that tied the game at 87 with two minutes left.  It  was clear that neither team was going to crack--someone would have to make a play to win.

  Williams hit a free throw to put Duke up by 1, but Kentucky's Cliff Hawkins made a great shot to make it 89-88 in favor of the Cats with 1:47 left.  Jason, seemingly tireless despite playing 42 minutes, zoomed right by the Cats on his way to a three point play.  That gave Duke a 91-89 lead, and it was now Kentucky's turn.  Hawkins had been hot in the entire overtime and had in fact had the best game of his career.   So who could blame him for putting up a quick three?  Boozer corralled the miss and Duke ran off a little clock.  Jason then expertly worked a give-and-go to Boozer, who put up a hook shot that hit the back of the rim, bounced once, bounced twice and then went in.  Duke had a 4 point cushion, but Kentucky scored again to make it 93-91 with 43 seconds left.  Williams missed a three that would have put the game away, but Hawkins missed again and Duke rebounded.  Once again, Duke ran down the clock and fired it to Dunleavy for another knockout three attempt.  It missed, but Jones was again in the right place at the right time and softly put the ball back after he grabbed it.  Up 95-91, Kentucky had only 8 seconds. Duke played great defense and the Cats had to heave it, but Jones fouled a Kentucky player with .8 seconds left.  But the Cats simply didn't have enough time, and when the first foul shot was missed anyway, the game was over.

  As a fan, this game was a pleasure to watch because both coaches were working so hard to outfox each other.  And nowhere did they work harder than in motivating their players.  K's gamble on using his bench was less a gamble than an important statement.  Whether or not Duke lost was not important.  What mattered is that they players competing for Duke had to play at a certain level of intensity, and the starters simply weren't  at that level.  And he knew that the bench would bring that level of passion to the court, and his hope is that it would spread back to the starters.  A bold move, and one that worked perfectly for one of the greatest motivators in the game.  Tubby Smith's concept of using speed  over size was a great move that Duke had trouble neutralizing.  In the end, it might have backfired because Kentucky's guards had taken over to the extent that their post players were no longer getting touches and the degree of difficulty on their shots became greater and greater. But like most good coaches, he knew the secret to beating Duke was to attack them directly off the dribble and jam their shooters.  That leaves open the drive, and Duke ultimately made them pay for it.    

  This win was important for a number of reasons.  Duke beat a top-10 team that was playing their best.  Duke had shut down Iowa, of course, but that team hadn't righted itself til recently.  The Devils were taught a lesson in intensity but corrected their flaws during the course of the game.  The game was the most-watched on ESPN since Duke and Kentucky last clashed back in 1998.  Can you imagine the ratings for a home-and-home series with Duke and Kentucky?  This really needs to happen, perhaps as a replacement for the Michigan series. 

  ** Negatives:  1. Blocking out.  (You saw this one coming, right?)  Giving up 22 offensive rebounds is simply insane.  Camara and Fitch had 6 apiece!  Boozer and Dunleavy both could have done better, but they were also abandoned somewhat by the perimeter players.  2. Inconsistent ball pressure.  Duke started off knocking the Cats back with their pressure, and then started to take too many risks.  Duhon went after several balls and lunged out of position, allowing the Cats to penetrate at will.  Duke got back in the game when the started forcing turnovers again in the second half.   

  ** Positives:  1. Floor game.  With the exception of a stretch in the first half and in the beginning of the second half, Duke limited its turnovers.  Duhon did a nice job overall of getting everyone involved.  2. Bouncing back.  This is The Team That Would Not Die, Part II.  Duke has had trouble at times with their intensity level, which I think is a function of the team's young leadership.  You'll notice that the coaching staff is having to pump up the team much more than last year.  But once they got the message, their will to win just took over.   

Player-by-Player:  

  ** Boozer: Carlos started off the game rather nicely, scoring 5 points in a row early on.  Then he picked up 2 quick fouls, and started to play soft.  He stopped being aggressive at both ends of the floor and worse yet, stopped moving his feet.  Coach Johnny Dawkins implored him to "play like a man" after the starters were yanked in the second half, and to Carlos' great credit, he did.  He wasn't scoring a lot, but he was getting the tough rebounds and playing much better defense.  At that point, Duke didn't need him to score, just to play defense and set screens, and that's what he did.  He proved that he's an unselfish player by getting the ball back out to Dunleavy for a crucial three in OT.  Carlos at times doesn't play as aggressively as he needs to when he's in foul trouble.  That doesn't mean that he should knock people over, but that he needs to maintain an aggressive mindset and stance on the court.  As Duke's most important  rebounder and only consistent post scorer, he has to believe that he can score on anyone and control the backboards.  When he does this, he's unstoppable, because his hands, feet and positioning are all excellent at this point.  As long as he can remain patient but also get in good position and demand the ball, he will be Duke's second-most important offensive weapon.      

  ** Dunleavy: Other than his 5 turnovers, this was a tremendous game for Mike.  His gimpy ankle made it difficult for him to go after rebounds the way he had earlier in the year--he had exploded to the ball in Duke's prior games, and looked a bit flatfooted here.  Despite that, he held Prince to 6-16 shooting from the floor and grabbed 8 rebounds.  Moreover, he made a number of critical plays in overtime, scoring 7 of Duke's 17 points.  Mike's defense is starting to become more consistent on a play-by- play basis--witness his forcing a five-second call.  The one thing he didn't do well, other than hold onto the ball, is shoot from three.  3-9 was good enough to get the job done, especially with a big three in OT, but he had a chance to really put the game away with some of his shots and they just didn't fall.  Mike's a streaky shooter and there will be some cold games, but he can do so much more on offense than just take jumpers.  Speaking of shooting, Mike has quietly raised his free throw average to around 75%, a career high.    

  ** Jones: Dahntay's performance is a clear example of what happens when you stick it out after a bad start.  Early on, he tried to do too much by himself, and simply didn't have the handle to take Kentucky off the dribble.  But he kept hanging in there, getting the occasional rebound and hitting his foul shots.  In the overtime, he was in the right place at the right time, hustling to get an early garbage basket and then getting another offensive rebound bucket at the game's most critical point.  He made Keith Bogans disappear and helped deny the basket from getting inside.  'tay showed off his athleticism by going high to pin a Prince jumper against the backboard.  What he didn't show was much patience on offense, which was disappointing after two excellent games in a row.  Duke as a team was struggling, and Jones started rushing things to try to make a quick comeback.  Instead, he took rushed shots and turned the ball over. But he bounced back to concentrate on the aspects of the game in which he excels: defense and penetration.  He used that ability to go to the hole to draw several fouls, and he sank all of them.  Dahntay will see his share of ups and downs, but he's slowly adjusting to Duke's style and intensity level.  

  ** Williams: One runs out of things to say about Jason after a while.  But something I've said before about him still holds quite true: he's the best "next play" player ever at Duke.  Missing a shot or a free throw is simply irrelevant, because he knows he can come back and hit another one. And while he occasionally has a lapse of focus and intensity, when he realizes that the game is on the line he becomes a different player.  His  ability to shoot off the dribble is remarkable when he's on and smartly using his screens, because he has a quick release.  His ability to get to the basket when guarded closely is impossible to stop because of his remarkable acceleration and amazing upper-body strength.  UK was throwing everyone they had at him and nothing worked.  And just when you thought that he was nothing but a scoring machine, he snaps off two brilliant, highlight-reel assists in overtime.  One of the things I liked best about his performance is that he had only 2 turnovers, not bad considering how much he handled the ball.  About the only negatives here were missing a couple of big free throws down the stretch and playing soft on defense at times.  Stat of the game: Jason outscored Kentucky's three starting guards 38-34, and did it with 8 fewer attempts.     

  ** Duhon: A very odd game indeed for Chris, one that was not unlike  his performance against NC A&T.  He only took two shots in the first half, and one of those was his steal and layup.  He had several chances late in the second half to put the game away but missed 3 open threes.  But considering his overall floor game, these shooting problems are easily excused.  The bigger difficulty was his problem on defense.  One senses that he was focused on some of the problems the Kentucky guards had with turnovers, and aggressively went after the ball every time.  The result was him missing more often than not and Kentucky getting a virtual 5-on-4 advantage.  The occasional gamble keeps other teams on their toes, but doing it for much of the game hurt Duke.  The other issue was just the sheer number of good players Kentucky threw at him--his own fatigue and the freshness of his opponents was a factor.  Chris will need to learn how to deal with the latter in conditioning drills and correct the  former by using better judgment.    

  ** Sanders: Two things were clear about Casey in this game: #1, he doesn't have the hands to deal with the kind of passes that Duhon throws his way; #2, he can do some amazing things on defense.  He did a fine job on Prince, having a similar build and strength level.  More importantly, he was setting some nice high picks for Jason to go around to get open.  Most important stat of the night: zero fouls.  One reason why we didn't see more of Casey and the bench big men in general was Kentucky's decision to go small and quick to combat Duke's quickness.  Boozer's ability to avoid picking up his fourth foul was another factor.  

  ** Ewing: Dan was a bit quiet out there until he was out with the Blue Team. When he was the only real offensive threat, he stepped up and took the ball to the hole.  He missed three other shots, and I thought he looked a bit tentative when playing with the starters.  One thing that should be noted about the Blue Team that came in: they really are a team.  This is the unit that competes against the starters in practice, and they're used to each other as teammates and know their tendencies.  And so Dan is used to being the main scorer on that squad, which is why his play picked up  so much when he was part of that group.  I'd like to see a breakout game from him away from Cameron in a big-time environment.    

  ** Love: Some players can make an impact on their team by fulfilling certain roles.  Reggie has willingly accepted the enforcer/banger role on this team, aka "the badass."  When he comes in, he adds a level of physicality that is sometimes missing from Duke.  This often means that he will commit a foul, but it's rarely because he's out of position--he's just going after players near the basket.  This aggression is especially useful on the offensive boards, since Duke doesn't have a tip-in specialist like in years past--Reggie happened to get one in this game.  Getting 3 rebounds in five minutes of play is what I call efficiency.  Seeing him get five or six important minutes a game could really help the team down the stretch. He's proven that he can guard bigger players and won't back down to anyone.  

  ** Christensen: Uncle Matty is not quick, can't run and doesn't have great hands.  But he is simply ferocious out there and doesn't mind contact. He and Reggie took Kentucky aback with the level of their physical play. Suddenly, Kentucky couldn't wander into the lane without fear.  Matt had an enormous block that gave Kentucky some pause, and of course his three point play was a huge boost.  His status as a senior really showed here, because he's made a point of talking a lot and firing up his teammates, trying to figure out ways to make them better.     

  ** Buckner: You've got to love this guy.  In his career, he's gotten maybe five minutes of meaningful action (a couple of games at Clemson come to mind).  His main job is to guard Williams and Duhon every day in practice. He came into the game under enormous pressure and not only doesn't commit a single turnover, he finds Christensen for a huge basket.  Andre is a hero to bench players everywhere--you never know when your number is going to be called.   

  ** Next Game: December 29th vs San Diego State in Cameron.  They're coached by Steve Fisher, formerly of Michigan fame, and have several good players.   

Reported by Rob Clough, tmc@duke.edu

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