Maryland guard Juan Dixon accepted the pass deep in the left corner and buried a three-pointer as Dane Fife flew at him. On the next possession, the Indiana guard flew at Dixon, but again the Terrapin delivered, this time from the left wing.
Classic matchups are rare on any occasion, but that is how one began on the bright stage of the national championship game Maryland won 64-52 Monday night. It pitted Dixon, the Terrapins’ elegant and willowy star, against Fife, the combative Hoosier who regards no bounds as he goes about filling his role of defensive stopper.
Theirs was a clash of styles–a slick sleight-of-hand artist vs. a rugged, back-alley brawler. Yet both shared a willfulness that made their meeting a centerpiece of this game and they each had helped carry their teams to this moment.
Dixon had done that with sizzle, averaging 25.4 points in the NCAA tournament and coolly stepping up whenever a big basket was needed. He did that against Connecticut in the East Regional final, dropping an NBA-length three that swung momentum back to his team, and he did that again Saturday against Kansas, floating home a baseline jumper that blunted the Jayhawks’ late rally.
“He throws daggers. His shots seem to hurt more,” Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun said after his Huskies fell to the Terps.
Fife, in stark contrast, had done it with brains and brawn, smartly funneling his quarry toward the middle and the help provided by the Hoosiers’ long and active forwards.
That was how he succeeded on Saturday against Oklahoma’s Hollis Price, whom he limited to six points–10 below his average–on 1-of-11 shooting. And that was how he succeeded a week earlier against Kent State’s Trevor Huffman, whom he limited to eight points–eight below his average–on 2-of-7 shooting.
Now Fife was being asked to do another great job and he was attempting that in his characteristic style. Up his hand went to the chest of Dixon, who was working the baseline, and as the Terp looked for a way to bust free, there was Fife poking, poking, poking him on the chest.
An official barked at the Hoosier, cautioning him about his tactics, yet Fife would not be deterred and continued to engage Dixon in this hand-to-hand combat. It didn’t matter here. The Terp once again was sizzling, and now he added a pair a free throws, a fast-break layup and a baseline jumper in this game’s first 10 minutes.
That made him 4-of-4, gave him 11 points and put his team up 11. But now, in a confounding display, Maryland simply ignored its star. He not only went scoreless through the rest of the first half, he didn’t even get any touches or shots.
Fife was now on him like an ant on a picnic and another 10 minutes passed with Dixon stuck on 11. But then, after Indiana took its first and only lead of the night, he dropped a three from the left wing that turned this one back to his team, and resurrected both him and it.
He was on his way to an 18-point night and the Terps were on their way to the national title.
