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Okay, just enjoy the next few weeks without any hesitation. I know everyone's down in the dumps so just read this game recap from the Duke UConn Final Four Game in '04.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- With a stunning end to a game that looked lost, Connecticut added another twist to an already impressive season. The Huskies proved they can win the close ones, too.
Led by All-American Emeka Okafor's darts, ducks and spins, UConn scored 12 straight points down the stretch Saturday night to rally for a 79-78 win over Duke and moved one game away from the national title.
Okafor, who spent almost all of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and shut down Duke's offense during the last four minutes, after Duke had taken a 75-67 lead."Nobody was really nervous," UConn guard Taliek Brown insisted. "We just kind of kept our heads up and kept going hard. It was a real ugly game for us, but we just went to `Mek' a lot and just rode him down the stretch."The 6-foot-10 center, who can do a little of everything, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Saddled with two fouls in the first four minutes that sent UConn coach Jim Calhoun into a tizzy against the refs, Okafor languished on the bench for the rest of the half. He wound up with no points and one rebound before halftime.
"It was eating me up inside," Okafor said. "I knew I just couldn't stay sour-faced for the whole half."
Calhoun tried keeping his star's head in the game by telling him he might go back in. "I lied to him," Calhoun conceded. Duke took advantage, running the ball and pushing its lead to double figures early in the second half.
In the end, though, it was the Blue Devils' foul trouble that did them in. All three of their centers -- Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph and Nick Horvath -- fouled out. Krzyzewski was beside himself, and after one late foul, he yelled at referee Ted Hillary: "You cheated us."
Cheated or not, there was nobody to contain Okafor at game's end. He gave UConn a 76-75 lead with 26 seconds left on a typically relentless sequence, missing a shot that bounced around the rim for a couple seconds, but grabbing the rebound out of Luol Deng's hands for an easy stick back."I just saw this orange object floating in the air, and it said `Grab me," Okafor said. "I grabbed it, spun, saw the rim, thought it would be a good idea to put it in, and that's what I did."
Duke came down and guard J.J. Redick drove the lane, but guess who was there? Okafor, and he stuck a hand in to help break up that scoring chance.UConn's Rashad Anderson hit two free throws to push the lead to three, and after Redick barely grazed the rim with a 3-point attempt that would have tied it, Okafor got the rebound and made a free throw to ice the game.
In interviews after the game, Krzyzewski got mad when someone suggested his team collapsed."Obviously, you didn't see the game tonight," he said.
SAN ANTONIO (AP) -- With a stunning end to a game that looked lost, Connecticut added another twist to an already impressive season. The Huskies proved they can win the close ones, too.
Led by All-American Emeka Okafor's darts, ducks and spins, UConn scored 12 straight points down the stretch Saturday night to rally for a 79-78 win over Duke and moved one game away from the national title.
Okafor, who spent almost all of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and shut down Duke's offense during the last four minutes, after Duke had taken a 75-67 lead."Nobody was really nervous," UConn guard Taliek Brown insisted. "We just kind of kept our heads up and kept going hard. It was a real ugly game for us, but we just went to `Mek' a lot and just rode him down the stretch."The 6-foot-10 center, who can do a little of everything, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Saddled with two fouls in the first four minutes that sent UConn coach Jim Calhoun into a tizzy against the refs, Okafor languished on the bench for the rest of the half. He wound up with no points and one rebound before halftime.
"It was eating me up inside," Okafor said. "I knew I just couldn't stay sour-faced for the whole half."
Calhoun tried keeping his star's head in the game by telling him he might go back in. "I lied to him," Calhoun conceded. Duke took advantage, running the ball and pushing its lead to double figures early in the second half.
In the end, though, it was the Blue Devils' foul trouble that did them in. All three of their centers -- Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph and Nick Horvath -- fouled out. Krzyzewski was beside himself, and after one late foul, he yelled at referee Ted Hillary: "You cheated us."
Cheated or not, there was nobody to contain Okafor at game's end. He gave UConn a 76-75 lead with 26 seconds left on a typically relentless sequence, missing a shot that bounced around the rim for a couple seconds, but grabbing the rebound out of Luol Deng's hands for an easy stick back."I just saw this orange object floating in the air, and it said `Grab me," Okafor said. "I grabbed it, spun, saw the rim, thought it would be a good idea to put it in, and that's what I did."
Duke came down and guard J.J. Redick drove the lane, but guess who was there? Okafor, and he stuck a hand in to help break up that scoring chance.UConn's Rashad Anderson hit two free throws to push the lead to three, and after Redick barely grazed the rim with a 3-point attempt that would have tied it, Okafor got the rebound and made a free throw to ice the game.
In interviews after the game, Krzyzewski got mad when someone suggested his team collapsed."Obviously, you didn't see the game tonight," he said.