Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 2, 1991 TAG: 9104020277
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL EXECUTIVE SPORTS EDITOR
DATELINE: INDIANAPOLIS LENGTH: Medium
Monday night, Bobby Hurley showed everybody he's now a man, no matter that he's still 19.
In the Duke scheme of things, everything starts with the point guard. Offense and defense. And Hurley, a 6-foot sophomore who has matured in the past six weeks, was the key figure as the Blue Devils led all the way in beating Kansas 72-65 for the NCAA Tournament championship.
Hurley played every minute of the two games in the Hoosier Dome. He was relentless at both ends of the floor, and his decisions assured Duke of its first NCAA title in its ninth Final Four, including the past four.
"Bobby had such success in high school that I know he carried it [the UNLV loss] around with him. He was very good. He did the right things. I was proud of him, happy for him," Blue Devils coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
Hurley did it all. He scored 12 points and made nine assists, some of them spectacular, starting with an astonishing dunk by freshman Grant Hill off a lob by the little guy that gave Duke a 7-1 lead and the fast start it wanted.
"We established early what we love to do," Hurley said. "I made sure I was ready. We were going to jump on them early."
That they did. It started with five quick points by Greg Koubek, that future trivia question, the only man ever to play in four Final Fours.
Duke never lost the lead. The closest the Jayhawks (27-8) got in the first half was 26-25.
It was 39-34 with Kansas holding for the last shot of the first half, but the Jayhawks stepped out of bounds, Hurley penetrated and dished off to Thomas Hill, who sank a 3-pointer before the buzzer.
Seven of Duke's points had come from sophomore Billy McCaffrey, the sophomore with the sometimes-silky jumper.
McCaffrey, who looks younger even than Hurley, came off the bench to spark the attack against a swarming Kansas defense that kept the Blue Devils outside.
Coming off picks and screens, McCaffrey made six straight shots, two of them three-pointers, and finished with 16 points.
"McCaffrey picked a great time to raise his game again," said Krzyzewski, who said Notre Dame coach Digger Phelps predicted Sunday that would happen. "I don't know if he hadn't come through, if we could have scored."
McCaffrey's outside shooting - Hurley also had two 3-pointers - was vital because Kansas shut down Christian Laettner inside.
Collapsing on the 6-11 junior, the Jayhawks held him to eight shots. That came at the expense of numerous fouls, and Laettner made a tournament-record 12 of 12 free throws on his way to an 18-point, 10-rebound performance that netted him the tournament Most Valuable Player honor.
But Laettner had to be spelled often, seven times in all, by Crawford Palmer.
"I couldn't seem to catch my breath," Laettner said. "That came from chasing Mark Randall."
Randall, Laettner's teammate on the U.S. National Team coached by Krzyzewski last summer, matched his friend and opponent's numbers, 18 points and 10 rebounds.
Although seven Duke turnovers in the last six minutes allowed Kansas to trim a once-hefty deficit (65-51) to five points with 34 seconds left, the Blue Devils always were in charge.
"There wasn't any time when I didn't think we were in control," Laettner said. "It was mainly on defense. I spent a lot of time in the lane, watching my teammates play tough."
The offense wasn't bad, either, because Hurley made sure only good shots were taken. Duke shot 56.1 percent (23-of-41) for the game against a Kansas defense that had limited five NCAA opponents to 38 percent.
Duke shot better than 50 percent in all six NCAA games and was the only team to do that all year against UNLV.
Asked about winning individual honors, Laettner said: "There are other things I'm more happy about, like giving Coach a really big trophy he can carry home to Duke.
"The team, the fans, the people who follow us; that's what we're in it for."
As for Krzyzewski, who has been asked every year about not winning the NCAA, he was happy only for his team.
"I've never worried about that," he said. "Getting to the Final Four always is an accomplishment. I don't know how in the hell we did it last year.
"Getting here always means you've had a great year. I've tried to keep it in perspective. I've never had a monkey on my back."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB