Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 26, 1990 TAG: 9003262024
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. LENGTH: Medium
Seven times since 1963, the Blue Devils have made it to the NCAA Tournament Final Four and seven times they have gone home without a national basketball championship. In 1963, '66, '88 and '89, they lost in the semifinals. They lost the title game in 1964, '78 and '86.
The Denver Broncos, meanwhile, have lost the four Super Bowls they've played, including three in the last four years, to tie Minnesota for futility in the NFL's championship game.
Duke (28-8) earned its third straight Final Four berth and fourth in five years on Saturday by defeating Connecticut 79-78 in overtime in the East Region final. Christian Laettner hit a 15-foot jumper at the buzzer to end the Huskies' best season ever.
Duke will play Midwest Region champion Arkansas (30-4) in a semifinal Saturday at McNichols Arena, across the street from Mile High Stadium where the Broncos play.
"It's great to be able to say I've been to the Final Four three of four years," Duke's Alaa Abdelnaby, who had 27 points and 14 rebounds against Connecticut. "But we've never won one. That's the next step. We want to win one."
The Duke players were quick to point out that this team is unlike the others. When the Blue Devils defeated Georgetown a year ago to win the NCAA East Region final, they made a symbolic statement by not cutting down the nets.
After beating Connecticut at the Meadowlands - where Duke has earned its last four trips to the Final Four - the nets came down.
"This is a different team," Abdelnaby said. "Sure we have guys like Phil [Henderson], Robert [Brickey] and Greg [Koubek] who have been there before, but we also have some younger guys and we have our own identity."
This team reminds some of the '86 Blue Devils that featured Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie and Tommy Amaker. Louisville beat them 82-79 in the title game.
"I don't want to start comparing teams, but this team is starting to remind me of our team in '86, " Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "That team knew each other so well, and to see this team react under pressure brought back those same feelings to me."
The most pressure was handled by Laettner. Standing on the sideline and holding the ball for an inbounds pass with 2.6 seconds to play, he heard Krzyzewski call "special," an audible to his number.
Laettner inbounded to Brian Davis, took a return pass and went up and hit his shot, giving Duke its 11th win in 12 games at the Brendan Byrne Arena. It also gave the Duke the distinction of becoming the first team since Houston in 1982, '83 and '84 to make it three straight trips to the Final Four.
"I got kind of an anxious feeling in my stomach," said Laettner, who scored 23 points and was voted the region's most valuable player. "However, once the referee blew the whistle it was gone. Once the play started, I was ready to go."
Ironically, the big shot came a little more than a year after Laettner missed a free throw to give Arizona a win over Duke, the only time the Blue Devils lost in this arena.
"I never thought about it until today, and then it was when I went to the foul line," Laettner said. "I'm a good foul shooter and I wanted to prove I could make my free throws here. Honestly, on the winning basket, I didn't have time to think about it."
Duke had to play about the final 30 minutes without Brickey, who pulled a hamstring muscle. He injured it Thursday night against UCLA. He also was injured in the national semifinal against Seton Hall last year, and the team collapsed after he left.
Brickey's status for this weekend was uncertain after the game.
by CNB