Duke downs Wisconsin, 68-63, to win national championship

INDIANAPOLIS - What you hope for in the season's last game is one to match the moment, a memory of two evenly matched teams playing to the stakes and maybe even beyond, every shot important, drama from tip to finish. Last night's NCAA championship game at Lucas Oil Stadium wasn't necessarily perfect (nor it turned out was Kentucky), but it was close enough.

Duke had to come from nine down in the second half against Wisconsin, but come back it did, overcoming foul trouble to two of its star players and finishing the game with a flourish of offense and defense that carried the Blue Devils home, 68-63.

This was the fifth title for Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, more than anybody not named Wooden. Coach K won't catch John Wooden's 10, but it is unlikely anybody will catch his five or however many he ends with. It was K's 88th NCAA Tournament win against only 26 losses.

Duke's offense was among the nation's best all season. Its defense had been even better than its offense in the NCAAs, holding its first five opponents to .873 points per possession. If you extrapolated that over a season, only Virginia and Kentucky would have been better. Jahlil Okafor (66.7 percent from the field) was the best post-up player in the country and the Blue Devils were terrific from the arc, making them a very hard team to guard. Unlike some recent Duke teams that were more hype than performance, this group was tough, proven on the road and unafraid of the big moments.

They did all this with only eight scholarship players, four of them freshmen. It did not hurt that every one of them was a high school All-America. In the end, Coach K "one and did" what Coach Cal could not.

Freshmen scored every one of Duke's 37 second-half points. A Philly junior was right in the middle of the comeback and the victory. Amile Jefferson (Friends' Central) had 2 points, 7 rebounds, 3 blocks, 2 assists and 1 steal in 21 meaningful minutes.

"It's a beautiful feeling," said Jefferson as he was on his way to cut down some nets. "We have greatness on this team. We have guys with unwavering ability to make big plays, to be in that moment no matter what, up or down. I love my team. We had eight guys and eight was enough tonight and it has been. We love each other and I'm a national champion forever."

The only Duke losses after K's 1,000th win were twice to ACC champ Notre Dame. For 3 weeks in the tournament, Duke had been winning from in front. When the Blue Devils got down big in the last game, they showed the greatness Jefferson referenced.

Still down nine and in foul trouble?

"No one was scared," Jefferson said. "We believed and that belief led us through."

Coach K emphasized on Sunday that this was not about him, that his place in college basketball history is secure. It is, of course. That 1,000 has now become 1,018. This championship, Coach K said, would be about this team.

"It has nothing to do with Duke historically or me," he said.

It was a game between Wisconsin's season- and tournament's-best offense (1.28 points per possession pre NCAAs and in NCAAs) and Duke's tournament's-best defense. And it was terrific in every way.

Duke was shooting much better (50 percent in the first half), but Wisconsin (38.7 percent) was hanging because it did exactly what it did to Kentucky's massive front line — keep possessions alive with offensive rebounds, eight in the first half leading to 11 second-chance points.

Duke's initial defense was sensational, playing man or zone. The Blue Devils had five blocks by the break, but two of their star freshmen, Okafor and Justise Winslow, sat the last part of the half with two fouls. Wisconsin, which leads the country in fewest fouls, had just two as a team.

Wisconsin, as it has all tournament, opened the second half on fire, scoring 17 points in the first 7 minutes, getting 1.7 points per possession, and rolled out to a 48-39 lead. With Okafor and Winslow on the bench with three fouls, the Blue Devils looked as if they were in deep trouble until freshman Grayson Allen (16 points) came off the bench to hit everything, freshman point guard Tyus Jones (23 points, 19 in the second half) went crazy on the way to Most Outstanding Player and the Badgers got into very deep team foul trouble, Duke getting into the bonus only 8 minutes into the half.

Off balance after a spin move by Frank Kaminsky (21 points, 12 rebounds), Okafor got his fourth foul with 9:18 left and held his head in his hands. But the game continued and a basket seemed like a big lead. Okafor came back just in time to hit two late baskets after Wisconsin went 12 minutes with only 10 points, a testament to the Duke defense that really won this tournament.

Since Michigan State won the championship in 2000 at the old RCA Dome in this city, six different Big Ten teams (Indiana, Illinois, Ohio State, Michigan State, Michigan and now Wisconsin) have played for the title without winning.

"What a fantastic job these guys did all year," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "They just came together to do all the things that they accomplished. Highest offensive efficiency, a team that committed the least number of fouls during the year, a team that got to the free-throw line. So these guys played [39] games that way. It's just unfortunate that this one had to be played out that way."

The Blue Devils (35-4) shot 20 free throws to only 10 for Wisconsin (36-4), something that never happens in Badgers games.

Wisconsin made only four of its final 19 shots. The Badgers, so cool for so long, definitely had issues with Duke's ball pressure and really could not run their offense effectively down the stretch.

And Duke won again, just as it did 5 years ago in the same building with mostly seniors. This time, it was mostly freshmen. And the same old coach.