Blast from the past: Duke men's basketball defeats Arizona to claim third national championship

As Duke prepares to take on Arizona for the second time this season, the Blue Zone looks back at the most historic matchup between the two programs in the latest version of Blast from the past: 

This week, the Duke men’s basketball team will meet the Arizona Wildcats in the Sweet 16 for a rematch of the 2001 National Championship game. 

Nearly 24 years ago, the Blue Devils earned national title number three under Mike Krzyzewski, their third in just 11 years. It came on the back of scrappy 82-72 defeat of the Wildcats, who had entered the year as the favorites to win it all. Enduring off-nights from All-Americans Jason Williams and Shane Battier, Duke turned to forward Mike Dunleavy, who scored 18 points for Krzyzewski’s squad in the second half.

Early in the game, Williams found himself in foul trouble. After picking up his second of the first half five minutes in, he was pulled from the game momentarily. Just five minutes later, Krzyzewski took a risk and reinserted his star into the contest with Duke trailing Arizona. With Williams back in the game, the Blue Devils surged, retaking the lead and never looking back. 

At the start of the second half, Dunleavy cashed three straight from beyond the arc, giving Duke some breathing room. Although the Wildcats fought back, they never managed to close the gap. The closest they came was within two points on several occasions, but the Blue Devils held strong.

As the final moments ticked off the clock, the players basked in the emotion of the moment. Duke was the king of the dance yet again, bringing home its first title of the 21st century and cementing itself as a legendary program led by a legendary coach.

In the aftermath of this historic season, the sensational Shane Battier was drafted sixth overall by the Vancouver Grizzlies. A third banner went up in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium, and students celebrated their first national title in nearly a decade.

Flash forward 24 years, and the Blue Devils have added two more banners. A new coach is at the helm, and it has been a decade since Duke last won a national championship. In order to make good on the Cameron Crazies’ wishes for a sixth national title, Jon Scheyer and company must face an old foe, and hoping to emerge with a similar result to the one the Blue Devils earned all the way back in 2001.