KNOXVILLE, Tenn. -- During a break in the action Thursday night against Marquette, Grant Hill told teammate Antonio Lang a secret.
"I'm feeling it," one Duke senior told the other.
It wasn't a secret for long.
"I got the message," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "It means the coach should get him the damn ball. It was his way of saying, `Hey, you dumb Pollack, get me the ball.'"
In the second half of Duke's 59-49 win over Marquette in the Southeast Regional semifinals, Coach K did just that.
Hill rebounded from a sluggish first half to post 16 second-half points in Duke's Sweet 16 win. Nine rebounds and six assists were also part of Hill's final line.
Hill's first half at Thompson-Boling Arena was a frustrating one, as the senior All-American was held to six points on 3-of-7 shooting from the floor. Included in Hill's opening 20 minutes against Marquette was an uncharacteristic air ball from three-point land that brought jeers from the Warrior fans in attendance.
"Marquette was being physical in the first half and I was letting that frustrate me a little bit," Hill said. "I had an air ball, and after that I started driving a lot."
Those drives gave Hill two layups, but he wasn't getting the good looks at the basket that he is accustomed to. With Duke trailing by two points at halftime, Krzyzewski made some minor adjustments that allowed for Hill's skills to take over the game.
Krzyzewski let freshman Jeff Capel bring the ball up the court to give Hill a chance to get involved in Duke's halfcourt offense. The result was an offensive explosion: 16 second-half points, including seven quick ones to start the half and establish a Blue Devil lead that would never vanish.
Among Hill's second-half highlights were a three-pointer to open the half, an alley-oop dunk from Capel and a spectacular drive and dunk over Marquette seven-footer Jim McIlvaine.
Perhaps the most important of Hill's points in the second half were the three he made just nine seconds into the half to give Duke a permanent lead, 28-26. Hill came around a screen, received a pass and nailed the crucial trey.
"That was a designed play out of halftime to get him started, to get him a good look at the basket," Capel said. "We kept going to him after that and he kept delivering. Positive things were happening when he had the ball."
Indeed, all of Hill's touches of the ball in the second half were positive for Duke, but none so memorable as the driving jam over McIlvaine to give the Blue Devils a 46-39 lead with under eight minutes remaining.
"I have to give coach a lot of credit for that dunk," Hill said. "He taught me how to attack the basket, like he used to do. I just wanted to go out there and be like coach."
Going into the game, Marquette coach Kevin O'Neill had no illusions of shutting down the versatile Hill, but the Warriors' first-half defensive effort rendered Hill mortal. As O'Neill predicted, though, it was only a matter of time.
"We talked it about it before the game, that you're not going to shut down Grant Hill," O'Neill said. "Your only hope is to contain him."
It was up to Marquette's defense to contain Hill, but nobody was up to the challenge. O'Neill had 6-6 swingman Roney Eford on Hill much of the game, but the Warriors often had to switch defensive assignments when Duke screened in its halfcourt set.
As a result, Hill often ended up being guarded by 5-11 Tony Miller, the bulky 6-8 Damon Key or 7-1 McIlvaine.
"When they saw me switch on him, they gave him the ball," Miller said. "You can't put a big guy on him to wear him down because he can handle the ball so well.
"You can't put a little guy on him because he'll post you up."
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