There have been times in this Duke basketball season when coach Mike Krzyzewski has looked at his freshmen and seen their gifts, their resourcefulness and their creativity. There have been times when he has observed their lapses and reminded himself of their youth. But he had not seen anything quite like what happened Friday night.
At a point in the NCAA tournament when inexperience can become a liability, Duke’s freshmen took over a game. The Blue Devils turned a tie score against the Syracuse Orangemen into a runaway 80-67 victory in the South Regional semifinal. Duke (32-3) will play Kentucky on Sunday afternoon for a spot in an eighth Final Four.
“We’re growing up,” said William Avery, the reserve point guard who directed the decisive surge. “We’ve played at Carolina. We’ve played for the ACC championship. We beat Arizona. No more surprises. We expect things to be tough.”
The second half met those expectations when the Devils had to overcome Syracuse’s aggressive and baffling zone defense and withstand a 14-4 run that tied the score at 49-49 with 12 minutes 28 seconds to play. Syracuse senior Todd Burgan, who was held to three points in the first 22:26, scored 12 within a span of 3:45. Burgan’s dunk off a lob from Jason Hart made it 49-45 with 13:48 to play and energized the crowd of 40,589 at Tropicana Field, the largest to see a regional semifinal game.
When Elvir Ovcina tipped home an offensive rebound to tie the game at 49-49, the crowd began to sense that the top-seeded Blue Devils were in trouble. But there is a reason that Duke has won 14 of its last 15 regional semifinal games, with its only loss 11 years ago to an Indiana team that eventually became champion.
Duke’s ability to respond was not a surprise, but the sudden collective dominance of the freshmen was remarkable.
Syracuse’s zone, which was partly responsible for the elimination of fourth-seeded New Mexico, was the approach that led the current seniors to the championship game as sophomores. More experienced teams had been made uncomfortable by an increasingly rare defensive approach. Avery used his ability to penetrate to dissect it.
“His play was the most critical of anybody on our team,” Krzyzewski said.
“We were nonchalantly passing the ball,” Avery said. “When you’re doing that, you’re making the zone work. There were gaps in the zone all night. I just decided to attack it.”
Just when Duke began to appear vulnerable, its freshmen became more assertive. They manufactured Duke’s 11-0 run and scored 17 of the next 23 Duke points.
Elton Brand, the 6-foot-8-inch, 260-pound forward who was once feared lost for the season with a broken foot, finished with 20 points and 14 rebounds. Shane Battier, a 6-8 forward, scored 14–on 6-of-7 shooting– with seven rebounds, three blocks and two steals in 20 minutes. Avery had 11 points with six assists, three steals and just one turnover.
Battier scored inside after the fifth straight unsuccessful Syracuse possession for a 60-49 lead with 7:23 to play to complete the run and Syracuse (26-9) was never closer than nine after that.
“This type of experience is helping us,” Brand said. “For the future, and for the tournament.”
