ATLANTA — Maryland was tumbling. Juan Dixon had disappeared.
Then, swish and swish — Dixon ripped the nets with two sweet outside shots. Minutes later, he found himself cutting down that very same nylon.
Invisible for much of the game, but front-and-center when it counted most, Dixon was the key to Maryland's 64-52 victory over Indiana in the NCAA title game Monday.
He finished with 18 points and five steals and was selected the game's most outstanding player.
"I feel like I'm dreaming right now, because I'm part of a national championship team," Dixon said. "A lot of people back home counted me out, didn't give me a chance."
Dixon endured so much heartache in his life, losing both parents to AIDS when he was a teen-ager. He heard so many people say this skinny kid couldn't make it at a big school like Maryland.
Maybe that's why a little slump in a basketball game didn't seem like much of a jam. Certainly, he had been through worse in his life.
After a basket by Indiana gave the Hoosiers their first and only lead with 9:52 remaining, Dixon responded by hitting a wide-open 3-pointer to regain the lead.
Teammate Lonny Baxter followed with two free throws. Indiana cut it to one. Then it was Dixon at his best — a 16-foot leaning jumper to push the lead to three with 8:11 left. Five minutes later, he got a big rebound and made two free throws, for a 58-49 lead that kept growing as the seconds ticked down.
"It means a lot," Dixon said. "I grew up a lot in college. I've developed as a person, as a basketball player. It's a great feeling."
When the final buzzer sounded, Dixon hurled the ball in the air, then got caught in a sandwich between celebrating teammates Baxter and Tahj Holden.
Meanwhile, a white-haired little boy skittered around the court, oblivious to the whole celebration. Gary Williams scooped up his grandson, looked into his eyes — and smiled.
The coach could relax. Finally.
The Maryland Terrapins had their national championship. Finally.
"I've never done this before, so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be like," Williams said. "I'm very happy. It's a thrill, there's no doubt about it. But I'm really tired."
No wonder. He kept coaching right to the end, long after Maryland secured a 64-52 victory over Indiana in the title game Monday night.
The tie was askew. The arms were flailing. The voice never wavered. After 24 years of coaching — and Maryland's history of scandal and disappointment — who could blame him for taking no chances?
"If you're going to be a good basketball team, you have to play every play," Williams said. "We don't want to waste any plays."
This team, led by seniors Juan Dixon, Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton, had no intention of letting that happen. Not after the disappointment from 366 days earlier, when the Terrapins squandered a 22-point lead in the Final Four against eventual champion Duke.
"People asked me if the Duke game was on my mind," said Baxter, who scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. "I was like, 'No, it won't be until I win a national championship.' "
In other words, the Terrapins (32-4) never really forgot. Their game plan was simple: Get back to the Final Four, win two games, cut down the nets — put that bitter defeat behind them.
"They had the courage after last year's game in the Final Four to set a goal that a lot of people kind of laughed at," Williams said. "They weren't afraid to tell people what their goal was."
This was Maryland's first appearance in a national championship game and the senior-laden lineup came through over the final 9:42, ending the Hoosiers' magical run through the NCAA tournament.
"The victory was won," said Indiana's second-year coach, Mike Davis, who succeeded Bob Knight and took a No. 5 seed to the final game of the season. "We had a chance tonight, but Maryland is a much better team than we are."
During the celebration, Dixon was on the ladder, snipping the last cord from the rim, and twirling the net in triumph. He lost his grip, sending the twine spinning toward his teammates — a forgivable misstep considering the way he played in this tournament.
He scored 27 points or more in four of Maryland's six tournament games, including 33 against Kansas in the semifinals. In the first half against the Hoosiers, he shot 4-for-4 to keep the Terps in the lead when the rest of his teammates were struggling.
"What hasn't he done throughout his career?" teammate Drew Nicholas said. "You can't expect anything less. He came up with big baskets against Kansas, and you knew it was going to happen again."
Not bad for a 6-foot-3, 165-pound kid who wasn't given a chance when he went from Calvert Hall High School in Baltimore to the University of Maryland in College Park. Too slight to play in the Atlantic Coast Conference, the critics said.
Yet simply by earning a scholarship at Maryland, he had proved so many people wrong.
His mother, Juanita, was a heroin user. His father, Phil, also did drugs, and spent part of his life in jail.
Both died when Dixon was in high school, but the teen-ager shunned the streets and used basketball as his refuge.
He has his parents' names tattooed on his left biceps. He taps a tattoo of his mother on his chest each time he steps to the free-throw line. He thought of them when the game was over, the championship secured.
"Yeah, it got a little emotional," he said.
His teammates all looked at him as the leader of this great Maryland moment — a giant heart, a big-time player, all in a pint-sized package.
"It's not the size of the body," point guard Steve Blake said. "It's the will to want to get open, to want to score. He has that."