Duke Gets Krzyzewski 800th In Tough Game at State

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Duke Gets Krzyzewski 800th In Tough Game at State

By Jake Lloyd

Mar 3, 2008

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Raleigh, N.C. — It was an appropriate milestone win for Mike Krzyzewski.

He and his players had to work to the very finish to get it.

Duke trailed for most of the game, but the Devils hit enough 3-pointers and survived a last-second Ben McCauley heave for a thrilling 87-86 victory over N.C. State to give Krzyzewski his 800th win.

"It definitely wasn't one of his easiest wins that he's had in his career," Jon Scheyer said. "Probably one of the more frustrating ones.

"I wish we hadn't done that to him, but it's one of those things (where) I think ultimately, it's about winning — and we got the win."

When Krzyzewski returned to the locker room afterward, players faked him out by pretending to dump cups of water on him. They were empty. Afterward, Krzyzewski gave credit to his coaching mentor Bobby Knight and many others.

"When a coach wins, a bunch of people have to do things well, and I've known that from the very start," Krzyzewski said.

Bobby Knight, Krzyzewski's former coach at Army, is the all-time leader in wins with 902. Former UNC coach Dean Smith is second with 879, and Adolph Rupp of Kentucky third at 876.

From the start of Saturday's game, it appeared the Devils might have to wait until Wednesday's game at Virginia to help their coach become the sixth to 800.

The Wolfpack (15-14, 4-11 ACC) trailed at just one first-half juncture, and it had a response for every run the Devils attempted to make. Freshman point guard Javier Gonzalez was the catalyst, scoring a career-high 18 points on 6-of-7 shooting and turning the ball over only once.

When Duke took a 25-23 lead more than midway through the first half, Gonzalez responded with a 3-pointer. After four Duke points, Gonzalez swished another 3 and then drove right by a Duke defender for a left-handed layup and a 31-29 State lead.

The Wolfpack led 47-44 at halftime, and it extended the advantage to 70-57 with less than 12 minutes remaining.

After Scheyer (19 points) hit a 3 to cut the Devils' deficit to 55-53 less than 4 minutes into the second half, Gonzalez and Trevor Ferguson combined for three 3s and a Ferguson put-back for a 66-55 lead.

Then State's other main offensive weapon took over. McCauley (19 points) made a running scoop shot in the lane and followed it up with a midrange jumper for the 13-point advantage.

Gonzalez made all four of his 3-pointers.

"Jav played a good game tonight," teammate Tracy Smith (14 points) said. "In practice, Jav shoots his shots off-balance.

"(We told him), 'Jav, shoot your shots straight up,' and he came out and did that. (He) had a couple big shots for us that we needed."

But Duke got back into the game thanks to the 3-point shot. The Devils made 13 of 28 shots from beyond the arc, including Greg Paulus' triple off a pass from Scheyer that tied the game at 85-85 with a minute and a half remaining.

For most of the game, Duke's senior captain DeMarcus Nelson was quiet. He, along with the rest of the Devils, struggled to finish at the rim. But when it mattered most, Nelson answered the call.

Krzyzewski said that in one huddle, Nelson demanded, "I want the ball," and Nelson scored 10 of Duke's final 17 points, including the game-winning free throws with 1:01 remaining.

"Everyone's going to struggle at some point during a game, but he's our captain, he's our leader, and he knows it's really his responsibility to play well," Gerald Henderson said of Nelson. "That's kind of harsh to say, but him being our leader, he has to go out there and make plays — as does everyone.

"But especially him, because he's really been our best guy all year."

Nelson also overcame his weakness, making eight of nine free-throw attempts, including all four attempts in the final 3 minutes. He entered the game shooting 59.7 percent from the stripe.

"I just wanted to make plays for our team," Nelson said. "Starting out the game and throughout the course of the game, I didn't think I played well.

"So the last few minutes of the game, it was just a combination of wanting to assert myself, be aggressive, and my teammates gave me great opportunities just to get open looks."

For most of the game, the Wolfpack stayed back in a 2-3 zone, daring the Devils to beat them from the outside. It worked pretty well until the final 7-plus minutes, when the Devils did a good job of being patient and finding the open man. Duke made five 3s during that span.

"Of course, it was frustrating for us," Scheyer said. "We obviously wanted to get stops from the beginning, and they were hot — so it was one of those things. We tried to weather the storm, tried to stay poised and get a good shot on offense.

"Just take it possession by possession and try to get stops on defense, and we did that."

Scheyer said Krzyzewski helped to keep the Devils composed, even when it seemed as if every Duke basket was followed by a Wolfpack basket on the other end.

"Obviously, he played a big role. He was talking to us the whole game, and he was very poised. You always looked at him and felt like you could win the game."

State, meanwhile, was left to wonder about what could have been. The Wolfpack shot 54 percent from the field, including a 7-for-13 performance from behind the arc. It also made 25 of 29 free throws, but three of the misses came in the final 3 minutes and were costly.

"I think when it came down to crunch time, people would go to the (free-throw) line like, 'Ah, I'm not gonna make this. The pressure's on,'" Smith said. "(They were) scared up there, and (they) missed it."

On Duke's final possession, Scheyer chucked up a 3-pointer with the shot clock near zero that rimmed out into the arms of State's Courtney Fells with just a few seconds remaining. Wolfpack coach Sidney Lowe tried to use one of State's two remaining timeouts, but didn't get it.

"I think coach was trying to call a timeout at the end, but I guess the refs didn't see him," Gonzalez said.

Fells passed to McCauley, who was able to get off about a 30-foot desperation shot, which banged off the backboard after the buzzer. McCauley took off his jersey in exasperation and crumpled to the court for several seconds.

"It's tough because, I mean everyone played well," McCauley said. "We played a great game. Things didn't go our way, but you have to have some confidence about this.

"It's late in the season. Obviously, we played well. And this is the way we have to play in the ACC tournament. If we want to make any run in the postseason, we have to play well there. And I think this game was a good setup for us."

On the other side, the Devils (25-3, 12-2) remained atop the ACC standings despite shooting just 38.6 percent and being out-rebounded 37-27.

Nothing came easy for the Devils on a day they'll likely never forget.

"I think it definitely was a good way to get (Krzyzewski's) 800th win by making it as memorable as possible," Scheyer said. "So, we made it ugly at times, we made it pretty at times, but overall it was good."

Most Recent Comments

Cookie, show some sportmanship. ;-)

No way I'm showing up with VOR and CKIG there!

Cookie, you too may come, but be sure to bring Grover with you!

snizzake
March 3, 2008 5:31 p.m.
GOOD FOR YOU, lol, that you were able to get in and espically that you never got caught, GO DUKE

two of the best Duke games I have ever had the privilege to actually attend: Feb. 28, 1998 - Duke (77) vs. UNC (75) - Win #500 for Coach K, then this game against NC State for Win #800. Both were absolute edge-of-your-seat thrillers to the end! A coworker took me to this game against State, but back in 1998 I was originally denied entrance to Cameron (along with about 1,000 other students) after camping out in K-ville for 6 weeks in the freezing cold, just because the AD Joe Alleva gave away 400 of our student seats to alumni without asking! I eventually was able to sneak in with about 100 others through a side door and almost got booted out by police several times! Any other Dukies remember that craziness?!?! Then we had some of the biggest bonfires ever seen on that campus, with cops in riot gear and everything... wild times!

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