Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, March 25, 1990 TAG: 9003252050
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. LENGTH: Long
This time, it was Duke's Christian Laettner, whose 16-footer as time expired Saturday propelled the Blue Devils to a 79-78 overtime victory over Connecticut.
In this year's astonishing college basketball spectacle, such finishes have become the norm.
Laettner's shot, coming after Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski changed the play upon noticing the Connecticut defense, put Duke into the Final Four again.
This is the third straight year the Blue Devils have won the NCAA East Regional, defeating the No. 1 seed each time. No team has made it to the Final Four three times in succession since Houston in 1982-84.
For the record, Duke also went in 1986. Winning four regional titles in five seasons is rivaled only by two other achievements. UCLA went to the Final Four 10 straight years from 1967-76, while Cincinnati went to five in a row from '59-63.
Duke will play Midwest Regional champion Arkansas on Saturday in Denver.
Laettner's jump shot came on a play that was used last year for departed All-American Danny Ferry.
The 6-foot-11 sophomore, who was voted most outstanding player in the regional after sinking 15 of 20 shots and scoring 47 points in the two games, got the call from Krzyzewski.
"It was like an audible," said the coach.
Duke had called a timeout with 2.6 seconds left, right in front of its bench, with Connecticut ahead 78-77.
"There were three options, one to Phil [Henderson], one to Bobby [Hurley], and one to Alaa [Abdelnaby]," Krzyzewski said.
But the coach immediately noticed the Huskies' big men were in a zone, dropping back, and he yelled, "Special."
That meant that Laettner, the inbounds passer, was to throw the ball to Brian Davis, then get it back again.
Davis, playing for injured captain Robert Brickey, alertly picked up the call from the bench.
He took the pass and gave it back to Laettner. Calmly, despite the urgency of the moment, Laettner took a dribble, pump-faked defender Lyman DePriest and shot from the left wing.
The ball went through the basket as the horn sounded, and Laettner was buried underneath a pile of celebrating teammates.
"I was ready to lob it inside to Alaa," Laettner said. "Then coach told me the play. I took one dribble and I shot. It went in. I couldn't believe it. It was incredible."
Until that moment, it appeared third-ranked Connecticut would make its first Final Four after a unique call that almost rivaled the one-second, full-court pass and shot that beat Clemson on Thursday.
Laettner had given Duke (28-8) a 77-76 lead on a layup with 2:26 left in the overtime period, after which things really got hairy.
The Blue Devils were nursing that edge with the ball when Henderson was called for a pushing foul against Nadev Henefeld, with 1:28 left.
Henefeld missed his free throw, but Abdelnaby, anxious for the rebound, was called for goaltending. Henefeld then swished the second free throw to give the Huskies a 78-77 lead.
Even former NBA coach Hubie Brown, now a CBS analyst, said he'd never seen goaltending on a free throw. Neither had any of the Duke coaches or players.
"But it was the right call," Abdelnaby said. "Thinking back, the ball definitely was on the rim."
Each team turned the ball over once, then Tate George, hero of Connecticut's semifinal victory, shot an air ball from the corner as the clock was running down.
Duke had nine seconds left, rushed the ball upcourt, and George almost made a steal before the ball went out of bounds in front of the bench at 0:02.6.
Then came Krzyzewski's change of plans - "He's always looking," said assistant coach Tommy Amaker - and Laettner's heroics.
One year ago, as Laettner made nine of 10 field-goal attempts and scored 24 points, Duke had upset Georgetown in the Brendan Byrne Arena. All of the regional victories have come here, where the Devils now are 8-0 in NCAA play.
Both teams had chances to win in regulation.
Behind the shooting of reserve guard John Gwynn, who scored 13 of his 15 points after halftime, Connecticut wiped out a 37-30 halftime deficit and took a 46-42 lead.
The Huskies, normally a 44-percent shooting team, made 10 of 12 starting the last half.
"We knew they were going to make a run," Krzyzewski said. "I didn't think they'd ever miss."
Connecticut (31-6) led 69-64 when Duke started an 8-0 run on two free throws by Henderson with 3:41 left.
Davis, who played 23 minutes after Brickey reinjured a pulled hamstring, made a rebound goal, then Henderson hit a three-pointer to regain the lead at 71-69 with 53 seconds left.
After a miss by George, Hurley was fouled with 16.8 seconds left.
The guy from nearby Jersey City was 0-for-9 from the field but handled the Huskies' press with just two turnovers, neither against pressure.
Hurley made the first shot to make it 72-69, but missed the second.
Chris Smith then made a 3-pointer for the Huskies with 10 seconds left to force a tie, and Duke got a timeout with 8.3 seconds left.
Hurley dribbled the length of the floor and his underhanded scoop was swatted out of bounds by Rod Sellers with three-tenths of a second to play.
Krzyzewski set up another perfect play. Hurley's lob pass to Abdelnaby, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds, was on the mark, and the senior center's 6-footer just rolled off the rim.
"I knew I had to shoot right away," Abdelnaby said. "I shot it kinda off my chest. It was dumb. I should have made it."
When Laettner made his shot, that miss didn't matter.
Davis, who made the big pass, was asked if he thought Laettner was taking too long to shoot. "Who's counting?" he asked.
The way the tournament has gone, with one impossible finish after another, that was an appropriate response.
\ DUKE MPFGFTRAFPT Brickey 141-40-01122Laettner 387-89-1152323Abdelnaby 379-169-12140227Henderson 427-203-331221Hurley 430-93-42833McCaffrey 50-21-21101Koubek 60-10-02000Davis 231-20-03142Hill 170-20-03100Totals 22525-6425-3238151679\ CONNECTICUT MPFGFTRAFPT Burrell 226-100-051512Henefeld 445-104-464315Sellers 240-11-25031Smith 424-162-245111George 274-80-02449Gwynn 286-153-341315Williams 10-00-00000DePriest 111-10-03042Walker 214-51-15139Cyrulik 52-20-01004Totals 22532-6811-1245162678 Rebounds include team rebounds Score by periods: Duke 37-35-7-79 Connecticut 30-42-6-78
Three-point goals - Duke: Henderson 4-10, Koubek 0-1, Hurley 0-2, Totals 4-13. Connecticut: George 1-2, Smith 1-4, Henefeld 1-4, Gwynn 0-4, Totals 3-14.
Attendance - 19,546.\
by CNB