Two of the most feared four-letter words in college basketball history clashed Sunday afternoon in Cameron Indoor Stadium, where Duke, the two-time defending national champion, met UCLA, winners of 10 NCAA titles from 1964-75.
Proving true the adage that you can't teach old dogs new tricks, the ninth-ranked Blue Devils dispatched the faded Bruin juggernaut, 78-67, on a day when the sellout crowd at Cameron caught a glimpse of Duke basketball past, present and future.
Along with witnessing the retirement of current Duke star Bobby Hurley's number in a brief pregame ceremony, the 9,314 on hand were treated to an appearance by the 1963 Duke team, the first squad -- but certainly not the last -- in royal blue to reach the NCAA Final Four.
And what could possibly be a vision of Blue Devil hoops to come, Baltimore prep star Keith Booth could be seen behind the Duke bench as he took his official recruiting visit to the University this weekend. Booth, a highly-touted swingman from powerful Dunbar High, is choosing between Duke, Maryland and Kentucky.
But the only action that really mattered this day took place between the lines of the Cameron hardwood, where Hurley's 15 assists and 19 points, senior Thomas Hill's 22 points and the combined ferocity of the inside tandem of Cherokee Parks and Antonio Lang (14 rebounds and 31 points between them) led Duke to its 80th consecutive home victory and 36th-straight overall against non-conference opponents.
Despite holding 11-point leads in both halves, the Blue Devils (22-5) were unable to effectively put UCLA (18-9) away until the final minutes when a stalwart defensive effort thwarted the Bruins' upset bid.
Trailing just 71-67 and in possession of the ball with under two minutes to play, UCLA had its eye on avenging last season's Blue Devil victory in fabled Pauley Pavilion.
But Lang made the game's key play when he stripped a UCLA player of the ball near midcourt, and Hurley, who was subsequently fouled, hit both ends of a one-and-one to stretch Duke's lead to six points.
"I was just trying to contest the pass on that play," Lang said of his steal. "I was praying I could steal it, and I thank God for answering my prayers."
Kenny Blakeney added a free throw and T. Hill nailed four of six consecutive freebies, four of which were rewarded after Bruin coach Jim Harrick was hit with a double-technical foul and ejected from the game by referee Dick Paparo, to account for the deceiving margin of victory.
Harrick, who's job is under fire in Los Angeles because of a perceived incompetency on the part of the fifth-year head coach, was arguing a no-call on UCLA's Tyus Edney's three-point attempt from the corner with the Bruins trailng 73-67.
"[The technicals] didn't have anything to do with the game," Harrick said afterward.
But UCLA's inspired play had much to do with the closely contested contest. The Bruins played fast-paced basketball when transition opportunities existed and rode the steady performances of junior Shon Tarver (19 points) and sophomore Ed O'Bannon (17 points) to push the favored Blue Devils to the game's final minutes.
"[UCLA] ran the court as well as anybody we've played this year," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Our halfcourt defese was good when we could set it up."
The Bruins' first basket -- a Mitchell Butler layin off the break -- set the tone for the UCLA offense. The 5-10 Edney (seven assists) was poised in pushing UCLA's pace when the break was there and slowing it down when the Blue Devils got back on defense.
UCLA closed an 11-point deficit to just four points at halftime, and even took the lead at 45-44 with 17:26 to play. But a strong nine-point, five-rebound effort by L.A.-area native Parks in the second half and the sustained excellence of Hurley and Hill again widened the margin to 11 points with 9:20 remaining.
UCLA pulled to within four, only to be beaten down the stretch by the experienced, home-standing Blue Devils.
Parks seemed to play with a particularly bright fire in his eye against the school he almost attended. UCLA was one of his final five schools before he shunned southern California for the Heart of Carolina, a decison that set off a battery of L.A. criticism directed at Harrick and Parks.
"Now that we're on the East Coast, our rivals are schools like Carolina," said fellow Californian Erik Meek. "We don't have any grudge against UCLA."
Parks also deflected questions concerning any personal vendetta against UCLA, and instead chose to talk about his tough afternoon of battling Richard Petruska (eight points), a hard-playing Loyola Marymount-transfer from Czechoslovakia.
"[UCLA] was tough inside," Parks said. "Petruska has that European style where they like to bang inside."
Parks' teammates were more impressed with his play than Petruska's. The 6-11 sophomore had two put-back dunks on the afternoon and continued to display a deft outside shooting touch and an unmatched tenacity on the boards.
"It really makes us competitve to have a big man do what he does," Lang said. "It's really hard for teams to match up with his versatility."
NOTES: Krzyzewski said that injured junior Grant Hill's status for play this week against Maryland and North Carolina is still "up in the air." According to Krzyzewski, Hill's sprained toe has made progress over the last three days and he may run some this week. . . . Hurley's 15 assists gave him 46 over his last three games and leave him five shy of the all-time NCAA record. . . .
Co-captains Hurley and T. Hill will be honored before the Maryland game Wednesday, their final game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. . . .
Hurley's No. 11 is Duke's seventh retired jersey . It will join Dick Groat's No. 10, Art Heyman's No. 25, Mike Gminski's No. 43, Johnny Dawkins' No. 24, Danny Ferry's No. 35 and Christian Laettner's No. 32 in the Cameron rafters at the team's post-season awards banquet.
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