Daniel Ewing made the declaration, but it was unnecessary.
Anyone who watched Duke freshman Luol Deng in the final minutes of the Blue Devils’ 66-63 victory over Xavier on Sunday could have said it for him.
“Luol’s not a freshman anymore,” Ewing said.
Deng, less than three weeks shy of his 19th birthday, let his emotions fly in the locker room at intermission and carried that spirit into the second half in front of 24,711 fans at the Georgia Dome.
He was named the Atlanta regional’s most outstanding player after scoring 19 points and collecting seven rebounds to lead the Blue Devils to a Final Four date with Connecticut on Saturday in San Antonio.
Top-seeded Duke (31-5), which won its third NCAA championship in 2001, will make its 14th Final Four appearance and 10th under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
“One of the great things that happened in this game happened at halftime,” Krzyzewski said. “Luol got very emotional. He was crying. He expressed his feelings to the team–that we needed to play outside of ourselves.
“For a kid, a freshman, to do that, for any kid to do that, I think it had a tremendous impact on our team. In my time as a coach, whenever I’ve seen a kid do that … they usually end up doing something exceptional.”
Krzyzewski has seen other players–Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Shane Battier, to name a few–rally his teams that way.
“His leadership qualities came out,” Krzyzewski said of Deng, a native of Sudan. “As a result, he made those plays.”
With Duke trailing 56-53, Deng launched a three-pointer from the right wing and tied the game with 5 minutes 11 seconds left. About two minutes later, he rebounded a missed layup by Chris Duhon and sent the ball sharply to J.J. Redick, waiting at the top of the key. Redick hit a three-pointer, putting Duke ahead for good.
“We needed something extraordinary from our kids, and Luey gave us that,” Krzyzewski said.
His Blue Devils needed some inspiration after Xavier reserve Dedrick Finn buried a three-pointer as time ran out in the first half. Finn put Xavier ahead 30-28.
But seventh-seeded Xavier (26-11) never could put away the game, in part because of Duhon’s defense. Duhon effectively guarded Xavier’s Romain Sato in the first half and Lionel Chalmers in the second. Chalmers scored 17 points but shot 6-for-16, and Sato had just 10 points.
Xavier was up by three with 12:33 left when it began to collapse. Anthony Myles picked up his fourth foul, and Xavier coach Thad Matta hesitated before sending reserve Brandon Cole to the scorer’s table to sub for Myles.
Six seconds later, with Cole waiting to enter the game, Myles fouled out, leaving with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Xavier could not compensate for the absence of the 6-foot-9-inch forward.
“We should have gotten him out of there sooner,” Matta said.
Only reserve Shavlik Randolph fouled out for Duke, and the Blue Devils didn’t blink.
After all, they still had Deng, a lanky 6-8 forward who can play almost any position. He played the final minutes with four fouls, as did Redick and Shelden Williams. Redick and Ewing each scored 13. Williams had 12.
Ewing said Deng “has stepped up for us numerous times this season, and tonight was one of those times.”
Deng had just one basket and four points at the half, before his fiery words gave the team a jolt.
“I wasn’t happy with the way I was playing, and I felt like I was letting everybody down,” Deng said. “At times I just get so emotional. It was time to let it out.”
