ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski wanted the ball in Trajan Langdon's hands. So did his teammates. He was their captain, their leader, the player who had kept the Blue Devils in last night's NCAA tournament final with Connecticut.
In the end, the shooter didn't get off a shot.
First he traveled.
Then he lost the ball.
"I want Trajan Langdon to take that shot," Krzyzewski said after Duke lost, 77-74, at Tropicana Field. "I will walk down any road with Trajan Langdon. It's a set we've run a number of times. And most times, it's successful. Tonight it wasn't."
Said sophomore forward Shane Battier: "If we're in that situation 100 times, we want Trajan to take the shot 100 times."
Langdon had made seven of the 15 shots he took, including five of 10 on threes, for a team-high 25 points. It was his 22-footer with 1: 42 left that had kept Duke alive, cutting the deficit to 73-72.
It turned out to be Langdon's only basket in the last 13 1/2 minutes and the final one of his college career.
"I've been in that situation a ton of times," said Langdon, a fifth-year senior. "I wasn't thinking about the clock. I made a move. I may have traveled, I might not have. That's the call, that's the way the game goes."
Keeping watch
Connecticut's defensive focus on Elton Brand worked to perfection, as coach Jim Calhoun rotated junior Jake Voskuhl and others on the national Player of the Year. Brand was limited to four shots, none in the final eight minutes, and he took out some of his frustration at the defensive end.
Brand was credited with only two blocks, but he disrupted four straight Connecticut possessions after the Huskies had taken a 65-59 lead. He blocked Richard Hamilton, stripped Edmund Saunders, blocked Khalid El- Amin and then got a hand on another drive by the sophomore point guard.
El-Amin scored most of his points when he was guarded by the center.
"Anytime one of their bigs [inside] played us," Calhoun said, "that was an automatic rule, to drive to the basket."
So long to Tropicana
Don't look for the Blue Devils to be coming back here anytime soon. This marks the second straight year Duke lost at Tropicana Field, following last season's one-point defeat to Kentucky in the South Regional finals.
"It's ironic," said Battier. "I don't know where the NCAA tournament is scheduled next year, but I hope it's not here."
Note to Duke: The NCAA doesn't plan on returning here in the near -- and probably far -- future. There were too many complaints about long bus rides, traffic and generally not the festive atmosphere surrounding the Final Four.
There were no complaints about the weather.
Mouring makes contribution
Connecticut reserve Albert Mouring, a sophomore from Preston, Md., finished with six points on 3-for-4 shooting in 17 minutes. He also grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot.
"It feels great to win a national championship, and to contribute to the win," said Mouring.
Mouring made a big basket, beating Duke's Chris Carrawell with a crossover move to score on a short jumper that brought the Huskies back within three, 48-45, with a little over 16 minutes left.
Netting a memory
After Calhoun cut down the net after the game, he left one strand up in honor of the late Joe McGinn, a former manager who had died of kidney failure prior to the start of the NCAA tournament.
Life after NCAA
It was a battle of the NBA stars in the respective dressing rooms after the game. Former Duke star Grant Hill was busy consoling the Blue Devils, while former Connecticut star Ray Allen was congratulating the Huskies.
Christian Laettner, whose epic shot beat Connecticut in 1990, also was in attendance.
Perkins enjoys moment
Connecticut athletic director Lew Perkins looked as if he played, or at least coached, last night's game instead of watched it.
That was no surprise to those who remember Perkins from his years as the athletic director at Maryland, where his most memorable moment was bear-hugging Bob Wade after an upset of Duke in Durham.
Perkins didn't bear-hug Calhoun, but he shared in the moment with his former boyhood basketball rival from Boston. Perkins had several of his own high school teammates at the game.
"I know it's a cliche to say that it hasn't sunk in yet, but it hasn't sunk in yet," said Perkins.
Underdogs' day
Largest underdogs to win the NCAA championship since 1961:
Spread Year Score
9 1/2 1999 Connecticut 77, Duke 74
9 1/2 1985 Villanova 66, Georgetown 64
8 1/2 1983 N.C. State 54, Houston 52
8 1/2 1988 Kansas 83, Oklahoma 73
8 1961 Cincinnati 70, Ohio State 65*
7 1997 Arizona 84, Kentucky 79*
*-Overtime
Pub Date: 3/30/99