CHARLOTTE -- Arkansas went Hog wild in Charlotte Monday night.
In a tightly-contested game that went down to the final frenzied minute, the Razorbacks edged Duke 76-72 in the Charlotte Coliseum to win the 1994 men's basketball National Championship.
In winning its first-ever NCAA basketball title, Arkansas denied Duke and seniors Grant Hill, Marty Clark and Antonio Lang their third championship in four years. Duke finished the season at 28-6, while Arkansas ended at 31-3 overall.
"I'm so proud of my team," Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They played with fabulous heart against a fabulous Arkansas team.
"This group of young men has given me everything."
Hill, who scored 25 points in the semifinal win over Florida Saturday, was held in check offensively by the Razorbacks. Arkansas used a variety of players to hold the Duke star to 12 points on 4-of-11 shooting.
"They went after me," Hill said. "Every time I looked up there was a different guy on me."
Lang led the Blue Devils with 15 points, and four others added double figures, including 14 each by Cherokee Parks and Jeff Capel and 12 from Chris Collins.
Arkansas entered the game as heavy favorites because its depth and size were expected to wear the Blue Devils down. But with 1:15 to go, Duke tied the game on a three-pointer by Hill, setting up the kind of thrilling finish that wasn't supposed to happen.
After Hill knotted the game at 70-70, ending a critical five-point run by Duke, Arkansas called a timeout to plan strategy for the rest of the game.
And indeed, what transpired on the court on the Razorbacks' subsequent possession turned the game in their favor, but head coach Nolan Richardson surely didn't plan it the way it occurred.
The Blue Devils matched up with the Hogs and denied them a shot early in the possession. As the shot clock wound down, Arkansas frantically looked for an open player. Forward Dwight Stewart ended up with the ball at the top of the key, but he kicked it to Scotty Thurman on the right wing. With Lang in his face and one second left on the 35-second clock, Thurman faded away for a three-pointer that swished as he landed in press row.
"I couldn't believe he made that shot," Capel said. "We had a good defensive exchange. We had a man in his face. We couldn't have asked for better defense. We would want him to take that shot."
"I really had no choice but to put it up," said Thurman, who ended the game with 15 points.
Thurman's shot, which gave the Razorbacks a 73-70 lead with 50 seconds left, sent the Arkansas crowd into hysterics, but the game was by no means over. The Blue Devils had fought back from five-point deficits in the second half on two occasions by using the three-pointer, and that is where they went on their ensuing possession.
Collins, who had nailed three treys in the second half to keep Duke in the game, got the ball several feet beyond the arc and launched it. But the iron was unkind as the ball went in-and-out, and with it so did Duke's national title hopes.
Arkansas hit just 3-of-6 free throws in the final 30 seconds, but Duke could muster only a putback layup by Parks to respond to its deficit. When Parks lost control of the ball with three ticks left, Arkansas recovered and raced it upcourt, knowing it had won the NCAA title.
"I don't think the game was won or lost on one shot," Kryzyzewski said, referring Thurman's make and Collins' miss. "They just had a little more firepower."
"Arkansas deserved what they got," Lang said.
That the Razorbacks would win the game was expected, but the manner in which it was done was not. Arkansas did lead 34-33 at halftime, but the Blue Devils haaadd led most of the first 20 minutes and took a commanding 10-point lead just three minutes into the second half.
The Blue Devils went on an 11-0 run just after halftime that was keyed by three consecutive three-point plays. Collins nailed a trey, Lang did one the old-fashioned way when he was fouled after making a layup in transition, and Capel added another trifecta to put Duke ahead 48-38 with 17:01 remaining.
Arkansas called a timeout, and the Duke players were as excited as they would get all night. As the Blue Devils came to the sideline huddle, Krzyzewski asked for calm despite the commanding lead.
"A 10-point lead with 17 minutes left is not a big lead, expecially since we used a lot of emotion to get that lead," Krzyzewski.
Coach K knew what he was talking about. Following that timeout, Arkansas slowly but surely chipped into the Duke lead.
Thurman, point guard Corey Beck and tournament Most Valuable Player Corliss Williamson led the way for the Hogs, as they eventually tied the Blue Devils at 52-52.
During this stretch the versatile Arkansas offense began to show what it could do.
Williamson was unstoppable inside, Thurman was dangerous on the perimeter and Beck was penetrating past his defenders for easy baskets. Duke was hard-pressed to stop such a balance attack.
Meanwhile, the Blue Devil offense began to sputter as well. Duke scored just four points in nearly eight minutes of action after it went up 52-45 on a Parks dunk.
Arkansas eventually took a 61-56 lead, but the three-point shots finally started falling for the Blue Devils. Collins hit two straight to put Duke ahead 63-62.
But Arkansas got six-straight points from Williamson to go up 70-65 before two Lang free throws and Hill's only three-pointer of the game tied the score 70-70.
The thrilling finish was in place. Then the Razorbacks got the big three from Thurman, and they took the Charlotte Coliseum nets back to Fayetteville, Ark.
"I thought this was one of the best games we've been in in the NCAA Tournament," Krzyzewski said. "And we've been in about 50 of them.
"I thought we played well all game. Sometimes you play well, and you lose."
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