ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Jim Calhoun stood on the tips of his toes, a million prayers on his lips, his impassive face belying a soul roiling with all the old fears.
How many times had these wretched Dookies stolen his dream? Was that Christian Laettner in the stands, or was that his ghost, still haunting him since 1990? How about 1991, when Duke did it to Calhoun's Huskies a second time? And why did he have to look now at Trajan Langdon, the noble Duke senior, handling the ball with the Huskies up one point, scant seconds remaining, poised, as always, to plunge another dagger into his weary heart?Then it happened.
Langdon tried to break down his defender, UConn's Ricky Moore, at the top of the key. "A set," Mike Krzyzewski said later, "we've run many times, and it's usually worked."
He spun. He drew contact. He dragged his feet. A whistle. Traveling.
Funny thing. Langdon's father had named his son Trajan after the Roman emperor who ended the persecution of the Christians. On this night, the night of one of the most compelling national-title games played in a very long time, Langdon's two late-second turnovers ended Calhoun's persecution. After 533 victories, 13 NCAA tournaments, seven Sweet 16s, four Elite 8s and a decade of being asked why he couldn't win the big one, Calhoun was a champion.
"If you hear a loud yell tonight," Calhoun said after his men cut down the nets, "that will be me."
This game will go down, no doubt, as one of the great NCAA title-game upsets. You will hear about North Carolina State over Houston in 1983, Villanova over Georgetown in 1985, Duke over UNLV in 1991. But it was only an epic upset in the eyes of the oddsmakers, who, like many, fell sway to the Duke spell and made the Huskies an absurd 9 1/2-point underdog, the first title-game underdog with two losses or less. Nobody was dismissing UConn, who spent more weeks than Duke at No. 1 in the polls. Rather, the feeling was Duke had the look of one of those transcendent teams whose season-long dominance would continue into the final.
Those other Davids (N.C. State, Villanova and Duke) were ordinary teams, lower seeds, who were seen to have no chance to win, who had to play perfect games to win. UConn belonged on the same floor as Duke. If that wasn't obvious before the game, it was clear enough after the Huskies weathered the Devils' quick start. The Huskies didn't try to survive Duke or play it cute. The Huskies just attacked.
Richard Hamilton, the best college superstar you never heard of, was unstoppable.
Khalid El-Amin, the patron saint of pudgy guys, hit every big shot down the stretch.
Moore, billed as the best defensive player in the country, found his offensive game, especially in the first half, schooling his old neighborhood buddy, Duke's William Avery.
And the Connecticut defense found a way to double-down on Duke's Elton Brand without getting killed by Duke's perimeter bombers.
In the moments after Laettner's miracle shot at the East Regional in 1990, Krzyzewski found Calhoun in a hallway.
"This isn't fair," the Duke coach said, embracing Calhoun. "We should both be going (to the Final Four)."
In the moments after Monday's game, Krzyzewski and Calhoun met again as one was coming and the other going to the interview room.
"We've been privileged to be a part of two of the greatest tournament games ever," Calhoun told Krzyzewski. "First in 1990 and now tonight."
Twenty years ago, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson gave us college basketball's seminal moment, a national championship game that elevated the sport to a new and exalted place in the American sports consciousness. Monday night, Duke and UConn gave us a thrill ride that shows us why we have continued to care so passionately these past 20 years.
This was what you figured to see in the first national-title game between two No. 1 seeds since North Carolina beat Michigan's Fab Five in 1993, and just the third between No. 1 seeds in 17 years.
Like all the games that will be etched into memory, this one came down to that one possession. Reset: UConn by one . . . Duke ball . . . 20 seconds . . . 15 seconds . . . Langdon, the unalloyed Duke leader on one side, Moore, UConn's heart and soul, at the other.
"Absolutely, positively, absolutely, I want Trajan Langdon to take that shot," Krzyzewski said. "I'll win or lose with Trajan. The ball was in our best player's hands with a chance to win."
Calhoun had been saying all week -- shoot, he was saying it at the Denver subregional -- that he wouldn't be any better as a coach if he won the national title than he was after so many near misses. He offered those same sentiments again late Monday night. Forgive him if he lets out a little primal scream nonetheless.