GREENSBORO - Talk about a tough week.
Illinois' men's basketball team faced two No. 1 teams in the space of six days and lost both games by a total of four points.
Six days ago, the opponent was Arizona, and last night the top-ranked foe was Duke. For Illinois (4-2), the result of both games was nearly identical.
In a physical battle at Greensboro Coliseum, the Blue Devils (6-0) gutted out a 78-77 win over the ninth-ranked Illini behind timely defense and clutch play down the stretch.
"It's very frustrating to take two knocks to the head like that with Arizona and now Duke," Illini forward Sergio McClain said. "It all comes down to taking care of the ball and getting shots when we needed it."
Much like the Arizona-Illinois game, the outcome of last night's game went down to the wire. The game was still in doubt with 3.5 seconds left when Blue Devil point guard Jason Williams fouled Illinois sophomore Frank Williams as he was shooting a three-pointer with Duke leading 78-74.
Williams' shot fell short, but he earned a trip to the free-throw line for three shots that could pull the Illini to within one. After making the first two shots and cutting the Blue Devil lead to two, Williams threw up what looked to be an intentional brick.
To nearly everyone's surprise, the shot banked in, and all of a sudden, Duke's Shane Battier was running the baseline in an attempt to get the ball in bounds and run out the clock. Battier found Mike Dunleavy who then found Nate James. James was fouled with 0.8 seconds left, which sent him to the free-throw line. After missing the first free throw, James intentionally missed the second one, and Illinois'
After the game, there was much talk about the two critical free throws-James missed one and Williams' banked one that wasn't supposed to go in.
"We're just glad that Nate knows how to miss a free throw," coach Mike Krzyzewski quipped.
Illini coach Bill Self was less-than-jovial about the turn of events and seemed frustrated by the unusual ending.
"It was just one of those nights," Self said. "[Williams] throws a brick up there and it goes in. We were trying to miss it. We thought that would be our best chance to tie the game or to win it."
The loss was particularly frustrating for the Illini because they outplayed Duke in many facets of the game Tuesday night. Despite being outshot 46.3 percent to 41.9 percent on the night, the Blue Devils were able to shut down Illinois when it mattered most. During a key stretch in the second half, Duke outscored the Illini 14-2 over a five-minute span.
Turning up the defensive pressure at just the right time, the spurt gave the Blue Devils a 77-68 lead with less than three minutes to go. Though Illinois would fight back with a run of its own, Krzyzewski was pleased with his team's defensive effort in the second half.
"I thought the difference in the game was that we played better in the second half," Krzyzewski said. " I thought our defense was really good."
The Blue Devils' defensive effort seemed to take its toll on the team's offense. Senior co-captain Battier, in particular, struggled offensively all night long, scoring just 11 points.
To his credit, however, Battier managed to make up for his lack of offense with outstanding play on defense. Battier seemed to be in just the right spot to make a big defensive stop when it mattered most. He tallied two blocks and three steals on the night, but they often came at crucial junctures of the game.
Picking up the scoring slack for Battier were sophomores Jason Williams and Mike Dunleavy. Williams led the team in scoring, pouring in 23 points despite having to play 39 minutes in the very physical game.
Dunleavy chipped in 21 points of his own and hit some crucial jumpers down the stretch to help Duke maintain its precarious lead.
"Dunleavy and Williams had really good games today," sophomore Carlos Boozer said. "We were trying to go to them down the stretch because they were on today."
Krzyzewski was quick to praise Dunleavy and the rest of his team for stepping up and showing that the team can win even when Battier has a tough night offensively.
"I thought for us, Dunleavy had his best performance," Krzyzewski said. "A lot of our kids made big plays tonight. Nothing really came easy for us in this ballgame."
The physical early-season matchup showed that both teams have a lot of areas in which they can improve.
"Both teams will be better because of this game," Self said. "Both teams' weakness will be magnified, and as a result, both teams will get better."
Krzyzewski agreed that his team still has a long way to go before reaching its potential.
"Right now, we are not the team I thought we would be," he said. "I think our kids have done a really good job, but we are not the team that I had envisioned at the start of the season."
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