ANN ARBOR, Mich. - Shane Battier had probably already planned on a full round of bragging calls after Duke's Saturday matchup with Michigan.
Now all he has to do is find time for a big thank you.
The Birmingham, Mich., native scored 22 points in his second visit to Crisler Arena, but it was Carlos Boozer's 25 points and 10 rebounds that made sure that Battier's second homecoming went according to plan as the No. 14 Blue Devils (6-2) claimed a wild 104-97 victory over the Wolverines (6-1).
"Carlos is a great player," Battier said. "Now people are starting to see that, and he's starting to believe that he is the beast that we all tell him he is."
The 6-foot-9, 265-pound freshman played a season-high 32 minutes in recording his first career double-double, showing no signs of the foot injury or conditioning problems which had slowed him this season.
"Today was the first game I've felt comfortable," Boozer said. "I felt in the groove posting up and getting position on the blocks, and that led to rebounds and points."
And it was a healthy Boozer that gave Duke enough gas in its tank to hold on for its second straight victory over Michigan and first in Crisler Arena since 1993.
For Battier, the Michigan prep star who spurned the Wolverines to play for the Blue Devils, the game was a lot more special
In his first game against the Wolverines, Battier suffered through one of his worst performances of his freshman year, scoring just two points in 29 minutes as the then-No. 1 Blue Devils waved goodbye to the nation's top ranking and an undefeated 9-0 mark.
But for the player Mike Krzyzewski called a "pillar of strength," 1999 was a completely different story.
"I'd be lying if I said that game didn't get me juiced up," said Battier, who on Saturday was greeted by a wave of boos and chants of "sellout" when he was introduced. "I remember freshman year and how bad that was."
Yet Michigan was never out of the game.
Despite trailing by as many as a dozen in the second half, the youthful Wolverines managed to keep the game within reach, three times launching second-half drives that cut the lead under three.
"We felt like we were one spurt away," said Michigan freshman Jamal Crawford, who led four Wolverines in double figures with a game high 27 points. "We felt like we needed a couple more shots."
After giving up a pair of layups to go down by eight to start the second half, Michigan stormed back to tie the game at 52 with 17:18 to play when Crawford soared in for a fastbreak layup off of a Kevin Gaines steal.
But an open three-pointer by Chris Carrawell that ended an 0-for-11 shooting slump on the ensuing possession put Duke back out on top and silenced the raucous sellout crowd of 13,562.
"We tried to hurry up and get the lead back too much," Crawford said. "We took bad shots and Duke would score. It was frustrating, but they're a good team. That's why they're ranked so high."
But it took all that Duke could muster to control the backcourt onslaught from Michigan's talented trio of freshmen Gaines and Crawford and sophomore Leon Jones. The group accounted for 61 points and 14 assists and nearly pulled off the upset for the Wolverines.
"Any shot from Crawford is a good shot," Krzyzewski said. "He can really create shots; he's tough to defend. They have a very talented backcourt."
Duke pushed the lead back out to 10 with just under four minutes to play, but a furious Michigan rally, offset only by three straight Boozer dunks, made the score 95-93 with 1:21 left to play.
But when Duke needed a bucket, it was, fittingly enough, localboy Battier who layed the ball in with 1:06 to play, sealing his first win in Crisler Arena.
And nobody, least of all Shane Battier, forgot that it was Boozer who made a touch pass to the streaking Battier that he had to thank for it.
"Carlos played great tonight," Battier said. "He was the difference in the game."
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