Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, March 23, 1991 TAG: 9103230293
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PONTIAC, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
Christian Laettner's teammates did to Connecticut what Shaquille O'Neal's couldn't, and Duke did to the Huskies what it couldn't do last year - beat them easily.
Laettner scored 19 points and Greg Koubek added 18 Friday night as second-seeded Duke moved within one victory of its fourth straight Final Four appearance with an 81-67 Midwest Regional semifinal basketball victory over the 11th-seeded Huskies.
Koubek, one of only two Duke seniors, is looking for a personal 4-for-4 Final Four streak.
A victory over St. John's (23-8) Sunday would send No. 6 Duke (29-7) to the NCAA Tournament semifinals for the fifth time in six years and for the ninth time overall. Duke beat the Redmen 76-72 in last year's second round, the teams' only NCAA Tournament meeting.
Connecticut (20-11), hoping to avenge last year's 79-78 overtime loss to Duke in the East Regional final, had been the tournament's lowest remaining seed. Chris Smith and John Gwynn had 16 points each for Connecticut.
The Huskies got to the round of 16 by daring opponents to shoot from the outside. In their 79-62 first-round victory over Louisiana State, they denied O'Neal the ball and the 7-footer's teammates shot only 24.5 percent. Connecticut used a similar formula to whip Xavier in the second round.
But while Laettner finished second to O'Neal in the All-America voting, his supporting cast is far superior.
Duke proved right away that Connecticut's pack-it-in style wouldn't work. In the first 3:18, Thomas Hill made two 3-pointers and Koubek one for a quick 14-4 lead. Koubek added another 3-pointer and Bobby Hurley hit two in the first half, after which Duke led 44-27.
The Blue Devils shot 58.3 percent - including 6-of-8 from 3-point range - in the opening half against the Huskies, who had entered the tournament with the third-best field-goal defense (.389) and had allowed only one of its previous 11 opponents to shoot better than 40 percent.
Duke finished at 55.6 percent overall and made 7 of 12 from 3-point range.
Four consecutive points by Laettner gave the Blue Devils a 55-38 lead with 13:53 to play. Gwynn came off the bench to score eight straight, including two 3-pointers, as Connecticut closed to 55-46 with 11:23 remaining.
But Hill made an 18-footer and, after a free throw by Connecticut's Dan Cyrulik, Koubek converted a 3-point play and the Blue Devils enjoyed double-figure leads the rest of the way.
Laettner, who hit the winning jumper in last year's memorable East Regional final, didn't torment the Huskies this time but the 6-11 junior did hit seven of 13 shots.
see microfilm for box score
by CNB