Most teams will tell you that they don't pay any attention to streaks. Hopefully that's true for the men's basketball team, since it is breaking more streaks than it is making this year. After losing to Illinois last Saturday to end their 95-game non-conference, home winning streak, the Blue Devils fell to another Big Ten foe as they lost to Michigan 88-84, marking the first time in seven tries that Duke has lost to the Wolverines. That streak included the 1992 NCAA Championship game and five different games against some or all of the Fab Five.
"It's about time," Michigan head coach Steve Fisher said. "It's going to be a whole lot easier explaining why we won than why we lost."
The Wolverines didn't win the game with fancy moves or by trying to talk their way to the win as they have in years past. Instead they let their playing do the talking as they used some ferocious inside play to outlast the Blue Devils.
The main question of the game was whether or not Michigan could get enough points in the paint from Maurice Taylor and Maceo Baston against Duke's smaller frontcourt. The answer was an overwhelming yes as both Michigan players went 6-for-6 in the first half and never looked back. Baston had a team-high 26 points on 11-for-13 shooting, while Taylor gave the Blue Devils an equal number of problems, scoring 23 on 9-for-17 shooting.
"What do they have Baston listed as--6-9?" Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He's two inches taller than Newton, Newton's now about 6-6 I guess. He's the tallest 6-9 [I've ever seen].
"I love Maurice Taylor--I think he's a great player. He really competed hard today."
Despite the great inside play of the Wolverines, Duke's interior players were not completely outshined. Newton was a perfect five-for-five from the floor, and Moore hit all four of his shots. Taymon Domzalski also sank both of his attempts, keeping the Blue Devils in the game during certain important stretches. Duke's biggest problem was not in scoring, but in rebounding, as Michigan had 38 to Duke's 30. This included several second and third chances which the Wolverines always managed to turn into points.
But even with the Duke frontcourt hitting 11-for-11 for the game, the story of Duke's offense was senior guard Chris Collins. Collins hit his first shot and was off to the races, finishing with 27.
"I'm always a little bit nervous to come out and play Michigan," Collins said. "To get an open look and knock it down on the first play of the game gave me a lot of confidence. The whole game I felt real comfortable that I could lose their guards off the dribble."
It appeared as if Duke was going to fade out of the game in the closing minutes as Michigan took a six-point lead with 1:26 left in the game. But after a Newton basket plus a foul and a Collins three-pointer, Duke was back in the thick of things. Michigan's Bullock put the Wolverines back on top by hitting two free throws after a foul, so as Collins brought the ball back up the floor with under 30 seconds left on the clock, there was little doubt that he was looking for the shot.
"We kind of alternated one of our sets, we wanted Chris to get a shot," Krzyzewski said. "If I was someplace and I was a betting man, I'd bet on his number at that point. They just made a terrific defensive play and my feeling is if they don't block it, he'll hit it."
The odds probably would have been with Duke as Collins had made four of his eight three-point attempts at that point. However, Michigan's Baston had different plans for the shot.
"We set it up where we were going to run a counter-reverse pick and roll," Collins said. "I came back off of Tony, he set a good screen, and I saw Baston hanging back. I went for the shot, I was very confident and he came out of nowhere and got a piece of it. It just shows you how long Baston is."
Collins got another shot to bring Duke back seconds later after Michigan point guard Conlan made 1-of-2 free throws, but this also fell short, giving Michigan the win.
The ending was fitting for a game that never lost its excitement. In a game that featured 16 lead changes and 11 different ties, Michigan's lead was its highest of the game at seven points, and Duke never managed to go up by more than four in any point of the game. Like two fencers thrusting back and forth, the final result was not obvious until Baston knocked down a final free throw with 7.3 seconds left in the game. It was a rare type of game, one that actually lived up to its pregame hype as many commentators and writers talked about this being the best interconference rivalry in the nation.
"I thought it was a great game," Krzyzewski said. "Our kids played hard and their kids played hard. The crowd was terrific, and I enjoyed being here this afternoon. I wish we would have won, but I'll take that kind of game all the time."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.