Florida’s Win Is a Slam Duke

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — The NCAA tournament is down to one No. 1.

Duke, the top-seeded team in the East Region, followed fellow No. 1 seeds Arizona and Stanford out of the tournament Friday night with an 87-78 loss to Florida.

Fifth-seeded Florida scored the final 13 points to stun the Blue Devils in the Carrier Dome.

It’s the first time since 1980 that three No. 1 seeds have lost before the regional finals.

That leaves Michigan State as the only No. 1 seed remaining, and a whole group of upstarts within a victory of the Final Four.

The latter stages of the tournament are supposed to be the time when tradition and talent take over. A team seeded lower than fourth reached the Final Four only twice since 1990, and none since fifth-seeded Mississippi State played in the Meadowlands in 1996.

But Florida gave plenty of reason to believe it can add to the madness.

The Gators (27-7) exploited their depth to beat Duke.

Florida’s bench players outscored Duke’s bench, 35-6. Reserve Brett Nelson had 15 points to lead a balanced Gator attack, enabling Florida to win despite only 10 points from Mike Miller, the Gators’ leading scorer.

Florida Coach Billy Donovan used 10 players in the first eight minutes. When Kenyan Weaks made a short jump shot with 1:41 remaining in the first half, all 10 had scored.

“We’ve got a deep team, and a team that you don’t lose a lot when you sub in,” Miller said.

Florida seemed to have a bit more left in the end, when it mattered most.

“The whole season we’ve been relying on playing 40 minutes,” Miller said. “If we can maintain 40 minutes of play every night, we’re a pretty good basketball team.”

Duke led, 78-74, after Shane Battier made two free throws with 4:01 remaining. They proved to be Duke’s final points.

Florida’s Ted Dupay made a three-point basket that started Florida’s run.

The Blue Devils’ shots were coming up short, down to their final attempt: an airball by Chris Carrawell.

Duke, which averaged 14 turnovers a game, committed 12 in the first half and 22 for the game. That helped nullify Duke’s 44-36 rebounding advantage.

Donovan liked the situation at halftime. The teams were racing up and down the court, the tempo he prefers, and the Gators took a seven-point lead into the locker room.

“We haven’t played that pace in a while,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Their style was a significant factor in us losing the basketball game. We’ve been tired at the end of a lot of games because we’ve played six people.

“They made big plays; if they don’t make them we win even if we are tired. They played better than we did, but we didn’t play poorly. We played our hearts out.”

No one showed more heart than Battier. He brought Duke back with his rebounding and tough inside baskets in addition to his defensive help. He even helped to bring the ball upcourt against Florida’s press during his 39 minutes on the floor. Battier finished with 20 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots.

Duke point guard Jason Williams, played almost the entire game, but rather than wearing out he seemed to get better as the game progressed. He kept attacking the basket, driving for four baskets and an assist to push Duke to a six-point lead with 6 1/2 minutes remaining, but they scored only six more points.

Duke center Carlos Boozer fouled out with five minutes left after scoring 11 points.

Even though it was an unprecedented off-season for Duke, with three underclassmen from last season’s national finalists giving up their eligibility to turn pro, by the end of this season things had returned to normal. The Blue Devils had the best record in the Atlantic Coast Conference and won the conference tournament.

Duke is a fixture in the latter stages of the tournament, having reached the regional finals or beyond nine times since 1986.

As Donovan said, “I think it’s bigger news when Duke loses than wins.”

At this point, in this tournament, it’s simply another loss by a No. 1 seed. Nothing new there.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

MARCH MADNESS

EAST

OKLAHOMA STATE 68

SETON HALL 66

*

SOUTH

NORTH CAROLINA 74

TENNESSEE 69

TULSA 80

MIAMI (FLA.) 71

*

TODAY’S WEST FINAL

WISCONSIN (21-13)

vs. PURDUE (24-9)

1:30 p.m., Channel 2

*

TODAY’S MIDWEST FINAL

MICHIGAN STATE (29-7)

vs. IOWA STATE (32-4)

4 p.m., Channel 2