Indiana was back, back from a deficit that had once been a dozen, back and in the lead for the first time. And then Maryland point guard Steve Blake penetrated and kicked the ball out to Juan Dixon on the left wing.
Classic matchups are rare on any occasion, and Monday night Dixon, who led Maryland to the national title with an 18-point game, found himself deep into one with the Hoosiers’ combative Dane Fife.
Dixon, who entered the title game averaging 25.4 points in the NCAA tournament, had owned the matchup with Fife in the beginning, going 4-of-4 and scoring 11 points in the first 10 minutes, but then Fife grabbed it back and simply shut down the Terps star.
He was on Dixon like an ant on picnic goodies. He was bumping Dixon and poking Dixon and erasing Dixon from the offense, and more than 20 minutes had passed with Dixon scoring not another point.
But the Terrapin is renowned for his fearlessness, for his ability to deliver a dagger to an opponent’s heart and hopes. He did that by taking Blake’s pass and calmly delivering a three that broke Indiana’s momentum, and turned both this game and the national title over to Maryland.
“I knew they had just hit a big shot and their fans went wild,” Dixon said. “But basically, the whole game, I was telling guys we were going to win. Guys got tense at times. But I told them, `Calm down, calm down. We’ll make the plays at the right time.’
“Steve Blake made a great play there. He was able to break a trap and my man went to help. He was able to make a great pass and I hit a tough shot.”
“It just tells you he has no fear,” said Hoosiers coach Mike Davis.
“If you listen to the young man speak in his interviews, he says it all. That tells you what kind of player he is. If you are going to win a national championship, your best player has to step up and make plays.”
Dixon made them with patience, and always with Fife as an unwanted companion. That kept Dixon from dominating, and in fact he took only nine shots. But still he operated with cool efficiency and hit six of those shots.
“Fife played him well. For him to score 18 points on nine attempts tells you what kind of player he is,” said Davis, and Dixon showed that again by encoring his three with a floater just 90 seconds later. That pushed the Terrapins up three and then there he was with 2:43 remaining, finishing both his scoring and the Hoosiers with two free throws that lengthened the lead to nine.
Later, with the clock winding down, he simply dribbled the time away, and at the buzzer he flung the ball high. He had conquered the mean streets of Baltimore, had survived the death of both parents when he was only 16, and now he was a national champion.
“I means a lot,” he said, a net hanging around his neck. “A lot of people counted me out. But here I am. I led my team to the national championship.
“It’s a great feeling, man. I’m speechless. I’m going to talk forever.”
