Battier helps Duke beat Arizona, 82-72, for NCAA title

By Mike Lopresti
Gannett News Service

MINNEAPOLIS — Shane Battier went out a national champion. But who knows how many more times Mike Krzyzewski will be back?

Arizona's Loren Woods drives for the basket as Blue Devil Shane Battier tries to block the shot. Associated Press

In an often frenetic battle where easy shots were hard to find, play after play had to be made and no lead seemed safe. Point guard Jason Williams shot 5-for-15, yet Duke somehow managed. Dunleavy's 21 points were the decisive weapon, and Battier's three late baskets were the final life raft.

"Words can't describe this," said Final Four MVP Battier, who leaves with his No. 31 already retired. "It's complete. All that's left for me is to ride off into the sunset on a white horse."

And so the music plays on at Duke.

For Krzyzewski, 54, his third title (all since 1991) ties him with Bob Knight, behind only Adolph Rupp's four and John Wooden's 10.

"They've given me their hearts, their minds and not only that, they've given it to each other," Krzyzewski said of these Blue Devils. "I'm lucky, so very lucky."

"To give him a third championship and separate him from the pack of those who have won two is the best way to go out," Battier said. "It's my going away present to him."

For Battier, a celebrated senior season had a final curtain of 18 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. He never rested a second on this special night, most of the time trying to defend 7-foot-1 Loren Woods, five inches taller, who had 22 points.

"Battier did what an All-American is supposed to do," Woods said. "When there was pressure, when the game was on the line, he provided his team whatever they needed."

For Williams, it was a bad night — he had 16 points but missed 9-of-11 3-point attempts, had six turnovers and was in foul trouble nearly from the beginning. But his 3-pointer with 1:37 remaining was a dagger, running the lead to 80-72.

For Arizona, a bittersweet season ended one victory short. Three months after coach Lute Olson lost his wife of 47 years, he came within one night of winning a national championship. Arizona's 39.4 percent shooting — 4-for-22 from the 3-point line including Jason Gardner's 0-for-8, and Gilbert Arenas' 4-for-17 overall with a bad shoulder — would be a hurdle that best wishes could not get past.

"They played hard under difficult circumstances," Olson said of his players this year. "The effort was there, the togetherness was there. Everything I think they could do has been done.

"You get to a final game and it's always tough. Somebody's got to lose. We gave it a good run. In the end, we couldn't get it done."

Added Krzyzewski, "I didn't realize how good they were until we started playing the game . . . winning against them makes it even a better national championship."

With all the big names, it was Dunleavy who took over the night.

The sophomore son of Portland Trail Blazers coach Mike Dunleavy, who was here to watch, scored 18 points in the first 10 minutes of the second half — one fewer than the entire Arizona team. Nine came in 46 seconds on three 3-pointers.

It all turned a Blue Devils' 35-33 halftime lead into a 64-52 gap.

"Once I hit the second, I knew the rest would go in," Dunleavy said. "I was really feeling it. Good timing, too."

Arizona was trying to plug every hole that a Duke 3-point shot might slip through, especially from Williams and Battier. Left unattended for an instant by Richard Jefferson, Dunleavy made Arizona pay.

"The thing with Duke," Olson said, "you pick your poison."

And yet there was no comfort in the margin. Not with Arizona's resolve.

By the 5:24 mark, the lead was sliced to 68-65 on an Arenas basket.

When freshman Chris Duhon's three-point play put Duke ahead by six, Jefferson's 3-pointer brought Arizona back to 71-68.

"It was back and forth," said Duhon. "No one really had control."

So someone had to take control.

Battier.

He grabbed a rebound and scored one basket. Tipped in a second with the back of his hand. Took a great pass from Williams and slammed home a third.

The lead was now 77-72, preserved by Battier's hands, both front and back. Duke had taken Arizona's best, and final, shot.

"It was one of the great plays I've seen in a championship game," Krzyzewski said of the tip-in. "I don't see how he could explain how he did it. I think it's his will to win."

Fate might have squeezed a little more drama out of the night with a happy ending for Olson.

But Duke was in the way. Almost always, it seems, Duke.