Freshman classes contend for 'America's best'
(02/01/03 5:00am)
Saturday's battle of the titans features the nation's two most decorated freshman classes among the game's many battles for No. 1.
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Saturday's battle of the titans features the nation's two most decorated freshman classes among the game's many battles for No. 1.
RALEIGH - 32 minutes into Wednesday night's contest at Reynolds Coliseum, Duke led N.C. State 46-24. The fans were rather bored, to say the least. Duke's advantage came mostly from a wealth of lay-ups, particularly off the break. Both sides looked anemic from the perimeter.
Caution: This column includes one of my more radical statements ever put down to paper. I have attacked God, the South and our nation's drug war, but yet here I stand articulating a viewpoint perhaps shared by only the slimmest of minorities.
The 2001-2002 women's basketball team enjoyed playing Wake Forest. That Blue Devil team destroyed the Demon Deacons by 55 and 23 point margins of victory in their two meetings. With all its players back minus one graduated reserve and an injured starter-not to mention an influx of four McDonald's all-Americans-Duke was expected to once again toy with their Tobacco Road rival.
What was supposed to be a close, hard-fought matchup between the final two undefeated schools in Division I college basketball gradually evolved into a full-out rout Sunday night, as top-ranked Duke ran out to a 30-point lead in the second half on its way to a 74-55 victory over Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
So, I had a weird thing happen to me last Sunday.
When exams ended last December the Blue Devils stood 5-0 and ranked in the top-five in both the USA Today and AP national polls. While national contenders Arizona, Alabama and Pittsburgh fell one after another over the past month, Duke continued to roll. Four wins later--all by double-digit margins of victory, the Blue Devils find themselves alone at the top of the polls.
INDIANAPOLIS -- Facing an early 12-2 deficit just three and a half minutes into Saturday's contest against talented UCLA, Duke came back with with a barrage of three-pointers. Freshman J.J. Redick hit four, sophomore Daniel Ewing added two more and floor leader Chris Duhon drained one of his own, propelling the Blue Devils to a 40-33 halftime lead.
Some guy to the left of me is swearing. Loudly. He's calling some guy a shithead and a host of other epithets.
Despite the unusual advantage of hosting an NCAA Tournament game against a higher-seeded opponent, the Duke (11-8-1) men's soccer team fell 2-1 to first-round foe William & Mary (14-7-1) Friday night. The 25th-ranked Tribe scored the game's opening two goals, and although the Blue Devils threw their weight into an inspired second half comeback attempt, they could never manage an equalizing tally.
RALEIGH -- What was supposed to be a hard-fought contest between the nation's premier women's basketball teams gradually evolved into simply an extended celebration Sunday afternoon, as No. 1 Duke blew out second-ranked Tennessee 76-55 at the inaugural women's Jimmy V Classic. Leading 36-31 at halftime, the Blue Devils began the second stanza with a 20-5 run from which the Volunteers never recovered.
In 1989, the bowl-bound Duke football team annihilated arch-rival North Carolina 41-0. It was the final year of Steve Spurrier's triumphant three-year reign in Durham, and when Spurrier took off to the University of Florida, he took his undefeated record against the Tar Heels with him. The Blue Devils hope to exclude the prefix of baker in front of their wretched losing streak to North Carolina Saturday at noon at Wallace Wade Stadium.
They had their backs against the wall for the final month of the season and delivered a near flawless performance. Because of the NCAA's requirement that all tournament teams must have at least a .500 record, however, the Blue Devils faced elimination in each of its regular season contests after a 2-0 drubbing at the hands of Virginia Oct. 23, which had dropped their record to 6-8-1.
After a sensational freshman season in which she averaged 14.3 points per game and was named second team All-ACC, Monique Currie appeared poised to make an even bigger leap for the Blue Devils in 2002-2003. During the offseason she had noticeably improved her shooting range, her athleticism and her defensive abilities, improvements that suggested the 6-foot small forward would help lead the preseason No.1 women's basketball team to postseason glory.
As a sophomore, Alana Beard dominated like no other female basketball player ever had at Duke University. She led the ACC in scoring (19.3 points per game), field goal percentage (.572) and steals (3.3 per game). Included on practically every magazine and organization's first-team All-America squad, Beard stood out as one of the elite players in all of women's collegiate basketball.
For a school accustomed to winning at least 20 games a year, how difficult is it to stomach a season of 20 losses? Just how severe a shock is it to finish 8-20, particularly after challenging for a national title and posting a 26-7 record just one year previously?
As Duke was conducting its unprecedented 19-0 romp through the ACC regular season and conference tournament last year, the prevailing opinion was the leagues eight teams were simply too young to give the Blue Devils a proper challenge. Other than Duke, only one other ACC school, North Carolina, boasted an RPI within the nation's top-39.
Early in the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss Duke appeared destined for victory. Clinging to a 17-10 lead, the Blue Devils stuffed Clemson on a fourth-and-one deep inside Duke territory and then immediately counterattacked. Five plays later Adam Smith threw a perfect strike to Khary Sharpe. Already behind the Tiger secondary when he caught the deep ball, Sharpe sprinted into the end zone to complete the 54-yard touchdown pass.
One week ago the Duke women's soccer team appeared to be left for dead. Its record just 6-8-1, the Blue Devils needed at least two wins and a tie in its final three contests to be eligible for NCAA postseason play. Twice Duke would have to succeed on the road against top-quality conference opponents, including an ominous trip to 17-time national champion North Carolina. Vultures were circling.
Much has been said about my apparent loathing of all things Southern. After "Attacking the Beloved South" in a September column, I received personal e-mails from over 75 kind residents of the South, many of whom suggested I should add a variety of titles to my resume, including "Northern wannabe," "ignorant college boy" and "dumb bigot."