Just call him Teddy Ballgame.
Brett Nelson shot top-ranked Duke in the heart Friday night, scoring a team-high 15 points and sinking three of his five three-point attempts as Florida sent another No. 1 seed packing with an 87-78 victory in the NCAA East Regional at the Carrier Dome.
But it was the three-point play Teddy Dupay made with 4 minutes 59 seconds remaining that stopped the favored Blue Devils (28-5) short of moving on to the Final Four for the sixth time in the last 11 years.
“All game the one thing coach [Billy Donovan] kept saying was `don’t fight the denial,'” Dupay said. “Brent Wright hit me with a back-door play and it was like the Red Sea parting in there.”
Up went Dupay for the layup and out went Duke center Carlos Boozer with his fifth foul. When Dupay made the free throw to tie the score 74-74, Donovan made the defensive change that would turn the tide.
A zone. Florida dumped Duke with a zone. The Gators held the Blue Devils, who were averaging a whopping 88.3 points per game, without a field goal for the last 4 minutes 45 seconds and without a point for the last 4:01. Shane Battier’s two free throws were Duke’s last hurrah. Florida (27-7) closed it out with a 13-2 run to move within one victory of its first trip to the Final Four since 1994.
“Before Boozer fouled out, Battier went right around [6-foot-7-inch center] Udonis Hasslem (13 points) for a layup,” said Donovan. “But we had to keep Udonis on the floor because [Duke] didn’t have anyone to answer when Boozer fouled out. I felt all along we’d have to play some zone, but that’s tough to do against a team that shoots as well as Duke. Maybe they were a little tired.”
The Blue Devils put five players in double figures, led by Battier with 20 and Chris Carrawell with 16, but turned the ball over 22 times against the Gators’ press and were a dismal 3 of 19 from three-point range. Duke couldn’t answer a Florida lineup that put five in double figures, led by Nelson and Haslem.
Duke point guard Jason Williams helped the Devils surge in front 74-69. But Florida knotted it again–at 74-74–on Dupay’s three-point play.
Battier’s two free throws put Duke up 78-74 but the Blue Devils never scored again. A three-pointer by Dupay, a layup by Wright and eight straight free throws forced Duke to become the third No. 1 seed of the tournament to fall.
“I thought we played really well the second half,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “We put ourselves in position to win, but they hit their shots and we didn’t hit ours. This is still as gratifying a year as I’ve ever had and the loss to Florida doesn’t change that.”
Florida’s upset of Duke, though, changes things for Florida. The Gators started three sophomores, a junior and a freshman. They looked No. 1 Duke in the eye and never flinched.
“It’s bigger news when Duke loses than when they win,” said Donovan. “But sometimes you play great for 20 minutes against a team like that and then you start playing to hang on. Against a Duke guys can’t be afraid. I’d rather a guy step up and try to make a play than hide. Tonight we weren’t afraid to make the plays. This is obviously a great win.”
