Swamped in Syracuse

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The early exit was disappointing, the season was not.

Poor outside shooting doomed the Blue Devils in an 87-78 upset loss to fifth-seed Florida Friday night in the Carrier Dome. But minutes afterwards, coach Mike Krzyzewski was all smiles.

Moments after embracing Chris Carrawell, Duke's lone senior who walked off the court with 8.1 seconds left sobbing hysterically, Krzyzewski could sing nothing but praises for his team. The group exceeded all expectations by claiming the nation's top ranking one year after losing four players to the first round of the NBA Draft.

"Look, if you expect me to feel bad tonight, you're crazy," the coach said. "I feel great. I feel bad about the end of the journey, but what a journey my kids have given me. It's been spectacular."

But Krzyzewski's words were not enough to change the mood in Duke's locker room. Some cried. Others just stared at the floor. Mike Dunleavy sat inside of his locker. The Blue Devils (29-5) were not expecting to leave the dance this early.

Duke's season came to an abrupt end at the hands of the Gators (27-7), who closed the game on a 13-0 run spanning the game's final three minutes. Late in the contest, Florida coach Billy Donovan threw a changeup, switching to a zone defense, and the move worked.

The Blue Devils failed to score a single point over the final four minutes, and their final seven shots were missed three-pointers. All total, Duke finished just 3-of-19 behind the arc.

"We felt we had to play the zone," Donovan said. "We wanted to wait as long as we could to throw it at them. They're such a great three-point shooting team, I just hoped we fatigued them enough that they wouldn't shoot particularly well."

Williams missed another three and Florida took a 79-78 lead on a layup by Brent Wright. The Gators then assured themselves an appearance in the regional final by making their last seven free throws.

And while most of the year the Blue Devils always found a way to eke out wins down the stretch, Duke had no answers Friday night, as Williams, Nate James and Battier all missed crucial three-pointers late in the game.

"Those are shots we usually take," Carrawell said. "We've got great shooters. We went out firing all our bullets, and that's all you can ask."

Before the game, Donovan asked his players to play fearless. They did, and 10 different Gators scored in the first half. The Florida bench outscored its Duke counterpart 35-6.

The better depth, combined with the Gators' frenetic pace, got the better of Duke, and the Blue Devils committed 22 turnovers and managed just 12 assists.

"I think it's bigger news when Duke loses than wins," Donovan said. "You play not to lose when you play against a team like Duke. I have been preaching that in the NCAA tournament, you have to step up."

And while Donovan's team rose to the occasion, Duke buried itself in a hole, falling behind 40-33 at halftime. The 33 points were its second-lowest total of the year, as the Blue Devils shot a dismal 36 percent from the floor.

But the Blue Devils came out firing in the second half, led by Battier, who scored 15 to finish with a game-high 20 points. James got things started with a second-chance layup, and Battier scored Duke's next eight points as the Blue Devils trimmed the gap.

Then Williams, who made just one of his first 11 shots, started to heat up. The freshman hit five of his next six. His pull-up jumper just inside the three-point line gave Duke a 72-66 advantage, its largest lead of the game.

But in a half with eight ties, the lead was short-lived. Former Duke recruit Brett Nelson hit a 23-footer with five seconds left on the shot clock to cut the lead in half. The bucket was Nelson's last of the night, but the freshman was huge, scoring a team-high 15 points on 3-of-5 shooting from behind the arc.

One minute after that bucket, however, it was Dupay who made arguably the most critical play of the game. The guard drove right, leapt and hung in the air long enough to drain the jumper and draw a foul.

Most importantly, the foul was Boozer's fifth, and the freshman was forced to leave the game with 11 points and nine boards, leaving Duke with very little inside presence.

"I got in the lane and it was kind of like the parting of the Red Sea," Dupay said. "I came in, Boozer came in for the block, and that was his fifth foul. That was a huge play for us. Not only did it tie it up, but it was his fifth foul, and he really anchors them."

With Boozer out and Dunleavy struggling, scoring four points and making four turnovers, the Blue Devil tank ran out of gas.

And as the final buzzer sounded, a season that was seemingly lost from the beginning came to an official end, earlier than Duke would have picked in March, but much later than it would have thought back in November.

"This was a heck of a year for us," James said. "I think this was just one of those situations where two good teams meet up and unfortunately one of them has to lose. I think the most disappointing thing is that the journey is over.

"This team has done a lot of special things together.... We had a year a lot of people didn't think we would have."

Notes: It was Duke's first regional semifinal loss since 1987.... Duke is now 26-1 in East Region games.