INDIANAPOLIS, IN THE FINAL FOUR


APRIL 5 Monday


NATIONAL FINAL 9:21 PM - Lucas Oil Stadium - CBS


DUKE (35-5) #1 South


BUTLER (33-5) #5 West


61 59


DUKE WINS EPIC NATIONAL TITLE GAME


RECAP One of the great all-time NCAA championship games featured 15 lead changes and seven ties, with Duke’s six-point first-half edge the largest lead for either team. Nolan Smith gave the Blue Devils a 60-55 lead with 3:16 left after hitting a pair of clutch free throws, but Butler responded with a pair of buckets inside by Matt Howard. The Bulldogs then had possession trailing by one, but Duke locked in on defense and Brian Zoubek jumped out to contest Gordon Hayward’s fadeaway jumper with seven


seconds left. Zoubs also rebounded the miss and hit a free throw, setting up one last shot for Butler. The sports world watched as Hayward’s last-second shot caromed off the rim, igniting a joyous Blue Devil celebration.


TURNING POINT This one wasn’t decided until Butler’s last-second, half-court shot bounced off the rim. Kyle Singler scored a game-high 19 points and played solid defense often guarding Butler’s best player Hayward, helping Duke earn the epic win.


COACH K “I’ve been fortunate enough to be in eight national championship games, and this was a classic. This was the toughest and the best one. My congratulations and empathy are with the Butler team, who played winning basketball. To me, it was a game that we won, but they didn’t lose. We were able to win, I think, because of our defense and rebounding in the second half. We were being outrebounded by seven in the first half. In the second half, we just played better defense and rebounded better. We brought our defense back a little bit more to bring our guys closer to the bucket to try to stop penetration after about five minutes in the second half, and also made our rebounders closer. I thought that was key. All these guys made big plays. I thought Zoubs on his out-of-bounds defense -- he adjusts, altered the shot, then got the rebound -- was so fitting for Brian because he really elevated our team over these last seven weeks, to where we would have a chance to play and win a national championship. still hard for me. It hasn’t sunk in that we’re national champs. I love these guys.”


It’s


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