INDIANAPOLIS-Four months ago, it seemed that one of the men's basketball team's greatest strengths in the 1995-96 season would be its deep and talented backcourt.
For most of the season, this was the case, as Duke's perimeter players led the Blue Devils to an 18-13 record. Junior co-captain Jeff Capel was the team's leading scorer, and senior co-captain Chris Collins improved virtually every aspect of his game to become Duke's leader and most valuable player. Sophomores Steve Wojciechowski and Ricky Price developed into formidable defensive players, and Price often demonstrated his flashy scoring prowess.
And in the first half of the Blue Devils' 75-60 loss to Eastern Michigan in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, Price, Collins and Capel combined for 21 points and five assists. The Duke perimeter players were not playing a perfect game, but they were able to handle the Eagles' talented guard duo of Earl Boykins and Brian Tolbert, and the game was tied at 26-26 at intermission.
But after halftime, the fortunes of the Duke guards suddenly changed. Tolbert, Boykins and Eagle swingman Derrick Dial caught fire, leading Eastern Michigan on a 21-12 run to open the second half. During that stretch, which spanned the opening 10:24 of the half, Collins, Capel and Price were held scoreless.
According to Tolbert, the Eagles entered the game slightly intimidated by the Duke mystique, which has been bolstered by Duke's success in the NCAA Tournament over the past decade.
"In the first half, and sort of in the second, I wouldn't say we were in awe of them, but we were looking at the 'Duke' on their shirts," Tolbert said. "And then [in the second half], I think we started playing the guys who were in the shirts."
In the second half, the Eagles' guards realized that the people in the Duke jerseys were not vintage Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill. In fact, they weren't even vintage Collins, Capel and Wojciechowski. Wojciechowski only played three painful minutes, since he was hobbled by a sprained ankle which he suffered in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Collins was also not at full strength, as he sprained his foot in Duke's home finale against North Carolina and then caught the flu in the week prior to the Eastern Michigan game.
"My foot wasn't a factor in the game," Collins said. "The only thing that was a factor, a little bit, was my conditioning. I have chest congestion, and any time I would start running around I would start coughing and feeling a little winded. But never was that a factor where I felt it really truly hampered my game."
Collins would have needed to be in perfect condition to have a fair chance against the feisty Boykins. As it was, the Eagles' point guard, who finished with 23 points, used his quickness to drive to the basket and find some open jump shots. In the game's closing minutes, Boykins continuously fought his way to the free throw line, where he hit seven of his nine attempts.
"It was very difficult [guarding Earl Boykins]," Collins said. "He's a very mature player, and he doesn't let his size become a disadvantage. He's very quick, and he runs their team quite well. I was just trying to stay in front of him and make him shoot over me and hit some jump shots. For the most part he did that, and he was able to get to the hole really well in the second half."
Boykins also harassed the weakened Collins on defense. Even though he is nearly 10 inches shorter than Collins, Boykins did not allow the Duke senior to get open looks at the basket after he nailed two three-point shots in the opening minutes. Boykins also pressured the ball, forcing Collins into a career-high seven turnovers with his aggressive defense.
"From a defensive standpoint, he really works hard," Eastern Michigan head coach Ben Braun said. "He spearheads our defense.
"Coaches talk about respecting players, and they have a lot of respect for Earl, regardless of what size he is. He's a tough competitor, and he makes you work in getting the ball up the floor. He puts pressure on the ball offensively by taking the ball at a team, and he puts pressure on the ball defensively. He's quite a dominating force on the floor."
Normally Wojciechowski would have helped Collins guard a small, quick player like Boykins. But without Wojciechowski's services, Collins was forced to contend with Boykins for 39 minutes-a formidable task for a healthy player, let alone for someone coming off the flu and an injured foot.
"I'm not making excuses for Chris, but Chris has been sick and has been hurt," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "He just couldn't be who he is, nor who he has been, and there's no way he could play Boykins today."
As well as Boykins played, he did not single-handedly win the game for Eastern Michigan. Tolbert and Dial also played tough defense, not letting Capel and Price get involved in the Duke offense in the second half until the Eagles already had a commanding lead. Price and Capel both forced many shots and had difficulty finding the room or time to square themselves to the basket and get high-percentage shots. They combined to hit just 12 of their 31 field goal attempts, including two of 11 from behind the three-point arc.
Price's tight defense made for an unproductive first half for Tolbert, who is normally an excellent outside shooter. But after intermission, the Eagles' senior was able to use his teammates' screens to find holes in the Duke defense and drive to the basket.
Like his Eastern Michigan counterpart, Capel struggled from the field early in the game. Capel, who entered the NCAA Tournament in a prolonged shooting slump, also was forced to handle the ball more than he has most of the season. Although Capel finally ended his shooting slump in the game's final minutes, it was a case of having the proverbial too little, too late.
"When you come into a ballgame doing things that you don't normally do, it's tougher than when you do what you've done all year," Krzyzewski said.
Unfortunately for the Blue Devils, whose guards led them to a five-game winning streak at the end of February, the combination of the quick, athletic play of Boykins and Tolbert and the injuries to Collins and Wojciechowski was simply too much to overcome. As successful as the Blue Devils' backcourt was for most of the season, even a gutsy performance by Collins in his final game in a Duke uniform was simply not enough, and the Blue Devils' biggest strength ultimately became their undoing.
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