Duke rallies to win ACC crown

Posted 3:49PM on Sunday 16th March 2003 ( 22 years ago )

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Duke added a fantastic comeback to its record-setting run in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. The 12th-ranked Blue Devils, who appeared down and out midway through the second half, rallied from a 15-point deficit behind freshman J.J. Redick to beat North Carolina State 84-77 and win their fifth straight ACC title in stunning fashion Sunday. The victory was Duke's 15th straight in the ACC postseason and gave Mike Krzyzewski his eighth title in 12 tries as his club improved to 24-6 heading into the NCAAs. Redick scored 23 of his 30 points over the final 10:05, including four key 3-pointers. The ACC's top free-throw shooter also nailed a pair from the line with 12.7 seconds left and his team clinging to a three-point lead to help seal it. With 5.1 seconds left, Duke captain Chris Duhon walked to mid-court and held up five fingers to signal Duke's consecutive titles and the bench soon joined in. After making two more free throws, Redick then left and got a big bear-hug from Krzyzewski. The fourth-seeded Wolfpack (18-12) was hurt by foul trouble to center Josh Powell and star Julius Hodge. Each picked up their fourth fouls within a minute of each other as N.C. State built a 55-40 lead with 11:44 left. It was mostly downhill from there for the Wolfpack, which was trying to win its first ACC crown since 1987 and avenge a 91-61 loss to the Blue Devils in last year's championship game. Powell led the Wolfpack with 26 points, while Hodge added 17 and 12 rebounds. N.C. State got its working margin early in the second half with a 15-2 run that was fueled by the inside play of Powell, who scored the first eight points of the spurt. After a Clifford Crawford fastbreak bucket gave the Wolfpack a double-digit lead, N.C. State's players gathered on the court in a huddle as Krzyzewski signaled for a time out. But the four-time defending champions gathered themselves for the stretch run, slowly chipping away at N.C. State's lead. Duke took the lead for good on a pair of Redick free throws with 2:51 left as the Wolfpack managed just two buckets over the final 4:13. Duke shot 50 percent or better in tourney wins over Virginia and North Carolina, but missed 13 of its first 20 and couldn't crack's N.C. State's tough man-to-man early, falling behind by seven. Duhon, Dahntay Jones and Redick then sank consecutive 3-pointers in a two-minute span to pull the Blue Devils within two. But Scooter Sherrill capped off his 11-point half with a 3-pointer and shot in the lane in the final 4:42 as the Wolfpack went up 36-31 at the break. N.C. State trailed by 14 at halftime last season en route to an embarrassing 30-point loss to Duke, which had won its last four ACC title games by 30, 26, 13 and 23.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2003/3/182155