ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Now everyone knows what Jim Calhoun knew all along. Connecticut had nothing to fear.
It was apparent in the UConn coach's eyes as he walked on the court for his first national championship game. It was proved beyond all doubt when Ricky Moore did what most great players need the ball to do."I wanted to shock the world," said Moore, whose defensive stop on Trajan Langdon in the final seconds gave Calhoun and the Huskies the national title with a stunning 77-74 victory over Duke.
It was the moment Calhoun and his former and current players have been thirsting for all these years. It was the upset that almost no one believed could happen.
Everyone except Calhoun and his supremely confident players seemed to believe the game was a mere prelude to the Blue Devils' coronation as one of the best college teams ever. Instead, it was UConn (34-2), a team touched by tragedy and chased by memories of shots and games that went against them too many times late in March.
No more.
"The kids knew better," said Calhoun, who finally got the prize he's chased for 27 years. "They knew they were going to win. They were going to beat the best, and they did beat the best. As of this moment, we're the best team in the country."
Calhoun can finally say that because he had a pudgy little point guard with no shame in his game, the most tenacious defender in America and the perfect game plan to beat the team everyone thought was invincible.
"I'm no better a coach than I was three weeks ago and no worse," Calhoun said. "Everybody thought I had to do something. I didn't have to do anything. All I had to do was be true to my kids and coach the best I could, and that's what I've done."
UConn could finally celebrate when Khalid El-Amin dribbled past Elton Brand for a daring jump shot in the final minute and Moore forced Langdon to travel with 5.4 seconds left.
Richard Hamilton, the most outstanding player of the Final Four, capped a tremendous tournament with 27 points, and Moore added 13 points. UConn's tireless defense double-teamed Brand, the player of the year, every time he touched the ball. Brand had 15 points and 13 rebounds but never got a chance to take over the game.
"They were just fighting every possession every time I touched it," Brand said.
For Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, all the talk about their place in history -- on Tobacco Road and across the land -- must be put on hold. The Blue Devils (37-2) saw their 32-game winning streak stopped, their dominance shaken, their chance for a third national championship this decade crushed.
"I have a hard time being sad. I'm sorry," Coach K said on the interview podium, moments after congratulating Calhoun down the hall. "I don't coach for winning. I coach for relationships. I've got the best."
Calhoun has some, too. Tucked in his breast pocket was a photo of his first grandchild, born four days before former team manager Joe McGinn died of kidney disease at 26. The Huskies left a single strand of net hanging from the basket in McGinn's honor.
Many of the key figures from Calhoun's past tournament nightmares were right there in the stands to see this victory, including the biggest nemesis of all, Christian Laettner.
And some of Calhoun's best friends in the world, players like Ray Allen and Scott Burrell who toiled without the ultimate satisfaction of a Final Four, were on hand, too.
Everyone saw the ghost of Laettner chased right out of UConn history.
"I've been privileged to play two of the greatest basketball games," Calhoun said. "In the other one, in 1990, Christian Laettner made that shot."
Laettner beat UConn with a buzzer-beater on an inbounds play in the 1990 regional final. Duke also knocked UConn out of the tournament in the Sweet 16 in 1991.
This time, Moore made certain that Langdon didn't even get to attempt the game-winning shot.
Langdon, who had 25 points, got the ball after El-Amin missed a turnaround jumper with less than a minute left and Connecticut leading 75-74. Duke didn't call a timeout.
Dribbling between his legs before spinning and driving on Moore, Langdon got his feet tangled and traveled. It was the ultimate showdown to culminate a great decade of basketball for two of the country's top programs.
El-Amin was fouled and hit two free throws, and UConn did what few thought was possible.
"I heard Coach K tell Trajan to go get the ball," said Moore, who won the championship duel with his boyhood friend from Augusta, Ga., Duke point guard William Avery. "I felt if he got it, he wasn't going to do anything with it. It was crunch time. It was me against him. They tried to clear it out, but I stayed solid, I stayed down. I didn't go for any pump-fakes.
"Fortunately, he traveled."
Krzyzewski said he wouldn't want the game to end with the ball in anyone else's hands. The only regret was, unlike Laettner, Langdon never got to take the game-winning shot.
"Absolutely, I want Trajan Langdon to take that shot, win or lose with Trajan Langdon," Krzyzewski said. "I will walk down any road with Trajan Langdon."
In a touching moment in the hallway at Tropicana Field, Krzyzewski congratulated Calhoun on his first title.
"Jim, you have a great team, and it was a great game," Krzyzewski said. "I'm so proud, and I know you are. I'm so proud of the way you played us."
Finally, Calhoun got to hear those words from another coach and not the other way around.