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Out of Bounds John Leroi |
DURHAM, N.C., - When Maurice Taylor fouled out with 10 minutes left in the game and the Wolverines trailing Duke by 12, just about everyone in the obnoxiously raucous Cameron Indoor Stadium thought the game was over.
The 9,314 in attendance were as acting as Crazy as their nickname indicated. After all, the Blue Devils were about to put away Michigan. The Wolverines looked rattled. Duke looked poised.
But with their best player on the bench and desperation as their only hope for survival in a game that looked as if it were about to be blown wide open, the Wolverines played with more heart than they have since ... your guess is as good as mine.
If any team showed that grit and determination could win a game, this team did. Michigan played with the kind of intensity and courage that demands respect and earns teams victories.
What they did was, in a word, remarkable.
Michigan overcame a double-digit deficit, with its star on the bench and only a six-man rotation in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Duke was 103-1 since 1983 against non-conference opponents in Cameron.
103-1. Winning a game there is a monumental task. Whoever says a crowd can't win a game has never set foot in this arena. But if any team could do it, if any team was so bold to ignore odds, so brash to disregard tradition, it was this cock-sure bunch of kids.
When nobody thought they had a prayer, the Wolverines proved they didn't need any sort of divine intervention to slay the Devils, only a passion to prove to everyone that they could win anywhere, anyhow and anytime they wanted to.
"This one was for all the disbelievers who said we couldn't get it done," Michigan center Robert Traylor yammered to those reporters, who will remain nameless, who thought Michigan didn't have a chance.
"We knew we could win all along. This team has one huge heart. We play together, no matter what. When we were down, we all picked each other up.
"This is a unique team."
When Taylor picked up his fourth foul less than three minutes into the second half, Duke stretched a three-point lead to nine. A few minutes later, it was 12.
But with their best hope for an comeback sitting helplessly on the sidelines, the Wolverines started to play the kind of suffocating defense that Duke frustrated them with all game.
The Blue Devils played tenacious defense as well. Michigan's was just a lot better down the stretch. After Taylor fouled out, the Wolverines didn't allow a field goal. For 10 1/2 minutes, Duke scored just three points on three Trajan Langdon free throws.
No field goals in 10 1/2 minutes. What kind of team can march into Cameron and do that?
Down by eight with about four minutes left, Michigan caused three straight turnovers. With a minute left and the Blue Devils clinging to a three point-lead, Michigan forced a shot-clock violation.
On Duke's next possession, Michigan played with enough tenacity to cause normally-solid guard Trajan Langdon to pass the ball right into Maceo Baston's waiting arms.
Traylor stuffed home the most important dunk of his career with 6.2 seconds left. The famed Cameron crowd was silent.
Duke's lockerroom was even worse.
"We totally gave them the game," Langdon said. "In our building, that's sad. I can't believe it. We played so badly down the stretch its unbelievable."
With finals forthcoming, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski may want to go on suicide watch.
"We kept pumping life into them," Krzyzewski said. "I want to say sorry we didn't close it out, I apologize to all of you. It was my fault."
Coach K wasn't in much better shape.
It was a game his Blue Devils should have won. It was a game that they had in their palms. It was a game that Michigan took over when everyone least expected it.
In the biggest game of the year, the Wolverines played with a fire that has been obviously absent in their first four games. As the clock ticked on, and Michigan kept slicing into Duke's lead, it became more and more apparent that, after nearly collapsing, this team has a heart large enough to win basketball games all on its own.
"From the guy who played the most minutes to the guy who didn't play any, we showed heart," an emotional Taylor said after the game. "We showed more heart than Duke did down the stretch."
Now that's an understatement.
- John Leroi can be reached over e-mail at jrleroi@umich.edu.