Michigan beats Duke in heartbreaker, 62-61

For the first 30 minutes on Sunday, the men's basketball team fired on all cylinders and appeared poised to easily dispatch the No. 7 Michigan Wolverines. For the last 10... well, the Blue Devils just forgot how to put the ball in the basket, as No. 10 Duke fell to Michigan 62-61.

"I thought we played very hard this afternoon and then I thought we gave the game away," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "For us not to be able to execute... I know their defense is good, but we've got to get better shots and not give the ball away."

The Blue Devil offense went without a field goal for the final 10:32, but with just 19 seconds remaining, they were clinging to a 61-60 lead. Michigan inbounded the ball at half court and worked the ball into the hands of guard Travis Conlan on the right wing. Conlan spotted an open Robert Traylor just inside the top of the key and slyly slipped him the ball. Traylor took advantage of an open path to the hoop and emphatically slammed home the victory for the Wolverines with 6.2 seconds to go.

"[Traylor] got the ball up by the foul line, and we weren't really worried about him up there," senior Carmen Wallace said. "Then all of the sudden, he made a quick break to the basket and the game was over."

Traylor ended up unguarded as the Blue Devils double-teamed forward Maceo Baston, who had scored the previous time down the floor to pull Michigan to within one.

"I just got open," Traylor said. "The play was designed for Maceo. The trip down before, Maceo got the ball and he got a dunk off the play, so we were going to run it again and see what would happen. When they saw the play, they both went to double Maceo and the left the middle of the paint where I was wide open."

The massive Traylor (6-foot-8, 300-lb.) overcame a slow first half to lead Michigan with 15 points and scored seven of the Wolverines' last nine points while earning three trips to the free throw line in the last 5:22.

Also instrumental for Michigan was Conlan, who ran the Wolverine offense for most of the day and finished with 11 points to go along with five boards and four assists, including setting up Michigan's last two baskets.

"[Taylor] maybe typified us," Fischer said. "He never lost contact with the flow of the game, he never felt sorry for himself. He always made certain that Robert Traylor and Maceo Baston stayed in the game. I think that even though he didn't play, he contributed greatly in those last 10 minutes."

Those last 10 minutes were disastrous for the Blue Devils as the offense failed to produce even very few good shot attempts.

"We didn't run our sets... we didn't run motion," junior guard Steve Wojciechowski said. "And when you do that against a team like Michigan, give them so many breaks, they are going to capitalize."

What preserved Duke's 12-point lead until the end was its trademark tough defense.

"Really, our defense throughout the game was close to being outstanding," Krzyzewski said. "We gave up a lot of points from our offense."

The Blue Devils in fact had 10 turnovers in the second half, leading directly to 16 Wolverine points, while they generated only one point off of seven Michigan turnovers.

The first ten minutes of the second half could not have gone any better for Duke as it extended a 33-29 halftime advantage into a 12-point margin. Everyone contribute for the Blue Devils as they combined transition baskets with excellent three-point shooting to extend the lead. Wallace, Wojciechowski, junior guard Ricky Price and junior forward Roshown McLeod all hit threes in the run.

McLeod had a particularly strong day for Duke off the bench, finishing with six rebounds and a team-high 15 points to go along with three steals and three blocked shots. He started the day off perfect, hitting his first four field goal attempts along with all four free throw tries on the day.

McLeod hit the majority of his shots inside the paint and pulled down four offensive boards, making his presence felt inside for the first time in four games. In the first half he earned trips to the line by working hard under the boards and set up his fluid 12-foot jumper by twice scoring on Traylor inside, utilizing his speed advantage to wheel inside and get a better look.

Senior center Greg Newton had a solid game also, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds, but did not see the ball much late in the second half as the Wolverines continued to double team him each time the ball came to the wing on his side of the floor.

The first half was somewhat of a see-saw battle until senior Jeff Capel hit a three-pointer in transition to give Duke 22-20 lead, and raised the roof off in the process. The three was the first clutch shot for Capel in several games and drew thunderous praise from the Cameron faithful.

The crowd roared again in the second half throughout a 16-6 Duke run that saw the Blue Devils take their biggest lead of the game. The largest ovations came following a corner three by Wallace, who finished with nine points in just 10 minutes, and a transition layup by freshman Mike Chappell that left at least two Michigan defenders frozen in their Nikes.

Even throughout the offensive collapse, the fans remained a strong advantage for the fading Blue Devils.

"The crowd was great," Krzyzewski said. "I want to thank the kids who camped out, especially. And I'm sorry that we didn't close the deal."