LAHAINA, Maui - So much for the hype-this team is for real.
The men's basketball team made a statement of mammoth proportions Wednesday afternoon in Lahaina, Maui as the No. 3 Blue Devils ran away from No. 1 Arizona, 95-87, in the championship game of the Maui Invitational.
Duke (5-0) dominated from the opening tip, building a lead that stood at 17 at the half, swelled to as many as 24 midway through the third period and withstood a late Wildcat (3-1) rally to hold on for the upset win. In surprising the defending national champions, the Blue Devils laid a claim to the nation's top spot long ahead of schedule.
"I'm just really proud of our team," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We just beat the team I think is the best in the country. Surely we don't think we're the best team just because we won, but we know it was a big win for us.
"Did I expect our team this good this early? I didn't expect anything. I'm not sure we're that good this early.... This tournament was about challenges and how we respond to those challenges. Now we can see how we respond to a big win. To beat Arizona is a big accomplishment but it's November. What does it do to us? I don't know. We'll see when we get back."
Freshman Will Avery spearheaded a strong showing by the Duke bench (41 points, 15 rebounds), leading all Blue Devil scorers with 21 points and hitting five key free throws down the stretch. Avery filled a long-range shooting void left by Trajan Langdon's sub-par 1-for-10 night from downtown as the freshman hit four of six three-point attempts, including a clutch pull-up three in the third quarter as the shot clock expired.
Roshown McLeod provided another spark off the bench for the Blue Devils as the senior scored 18 points and added eight boards and three blocked shots.
Fourteen of McLeod's 18 came in the first half as Duke inflicted its will on the Wildcats with a balanced inside-outside offensive attack and swarming halfcourt defense.
"I thought Duke played an outstanding game
The Blue Devils dominated the offensive boards in the first half as they racked up 11 offensive rebounds-compared to just 11 defensive rebounds for the 'Cats. Freshmen Shane Battier and Elton Brand led the way with three apiece will Avery snuck in for two of his own.
Arizona's lone bright spot was senior guard Miles Simon who hit on 6-of-7 first-half field goals as he scored 15 of his game-high 25 in the first two quarters.
"He's terrific," Krzyzewski said. "I was his biggest supporter when I was doing that work for CBS last March. He's got a real love for the game and a warrior's spirit that runs throughout that team."
That spirit came roaring back to life late in the fourth quarter as the Wildcats nearly clawed their way back into the game with a furious rally that was sparked by their full court press. Arizona had pressed the Blue Devils for most of the game but turned on the intensity as the clock wound down.
Having committed just nine turnovers in the first 37 minutes of the game, Duke was forced into five giveaways in the next 1:30. In that time, the Wildcats shrank the Blue Devil lead from 13 at 84-71, down to six at 84-78.
"Arizona did a great job of coming back and really showed the champions that they are," said Steve Wojciechowski, who was voted the tournament's MVP. "They really came at us hard and I think at that point we really did lose our composure a little bit. Thankfully we were able to regain it in time to win the ballgame."
Langdon stopped the bleeding with 1:30 remaining as he slashed his way to the lane and hit a 14-foot jumper off the glass. Arizona continued to fight back as freshman Quynn Tebbs came into the game and hit a trio of three pointers from the exact same spot in the corner. Meanwhile, Wojciechowski's struggles at the line kept the 'Cats' hopes alive, but the Blue Devils managed to get the ball into the hot hands of Avery who was able to convert all but one of his six free-throw attempts in the final 40 seconds.
Duke's struggles actually began early on in the fourth quarter as the Arizona defense held the Blue Devils without a field goal for a three-minute stretch. Langdon hit a 16-foot jumper with 4:40 remaining to get Duke rolling again but the Wildcats' Jason Terry responded immediately with a long three from the top of the key that pulled Arizona to within 80-69.
On the Blue Devils' next trip down the floor, the Wildcats almost came up with a steal but Battier managed to bat the ball forward to Brand for a dunk that swung the momentum back into Duke's corner.
"I think that dunk definitely deflated them, but it also sparked us," said Brand, who finished with 13 points, eight rebounds and a game-high four steals. "We were tired, but getting that dunk, it energized our team."
Brand did have some trouble on defense handling Arizona's A.J. Bramlett who scored 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting and also added a game-high 10 rebounds. Forward Michael Dickerson also had a strong night for the 'Cats, scoring 15 points.
Brand joined McLeod and Wojciechowski on the all-tournament team along with Simon and Boston College's Antonio Granger.
The tournament title also held special significance for Krzyzewski. The coach's last trip to the islands marked the beginning of Krzyzewski's disastrous 1994-95 season as the Blue Devils not only lost to Iowa in the opening round of the Rainbow Classic in Honolulu, but the back pain that sidelined Krzyzewski for the rest of the season was inflamed by the long plane ride to Hawaii.
"This win is ironic because my back has been killing me since we've been here," Krzyzewski said. "It started feeling a lot better today and it felt great when Elton dunked the ball."
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