ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Connecticut stars Khalid El-Amin and Richard Hamilton mugged for CBS, admiring each other as they donned championship T-shirts and hats. Not more than 30 feet away, Duke assistant coach Quin Snyder hugged senior Trajan Langdon, and coach Mike Krzyzewski embraced William Avery, consoling his shattered point guard in silence.
You wanted raw emotion, you wanted a thrilling upset, you wanted a classic NCAA final, you got it.
"We beat Duke! We beat Duke!" the Connecticut fans chanted last night after the Huskies' 77-74 victory over the Blue Devils.
UConn coach Jim Calhoun lifted Hamilton off the court, then found former Huskies star Ray Allen, a symbol of all those Connecticut teams that never reached the Final Four.
Calhoun finally made it in his 27th season. And the perception of him will forever change now that he has won a national championship, just as it did for Arizona's Lute Olson two years ago.
"We're happy as heck, but we're not shocked," Calhoun said. "We're 34-2. And the only times we've lost is when we haven't been whole."
Let him crow. Let them all crow.
"Everybody said we were going to lose by 10," Hamilton said. "We said it's not going to happen."
For all the great NCAA finals, there have been just as many clunkers, especially after draining semifinals that left the winners exhausted.
Last night's game could have been anticlimactic.
It proved unforgettable.
The game featured 14 ties and eight lead changes, and the three-point margin was the closest of any NCAA final in the '90s.
Hamilton, the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four, led all scorers with 27 points. Langdon, clutch until the final seconds, finished with 25.
"This was a terrific game," Krzyzewski said. "I'm proud of being involved in this game. I'm not going to be down because it would take away from my experience with this group."
The pace was frenetic from the opening tap. By the end, the play was gloriously ragged, like a heavyweight slugfest in its final rounds.
It ended with the gallant Langdon losing control as he tried to work free, on the same court where Avery missed a desperation three-pointer in last year's South Regional final loss to Kentucky.
"I ended up getting it toward the baseline," Langdon said. "I got tripped a little bit, and tried to get a shot off, but it was stripped."
Duke had taken possession after El-Amin hit two free throws with 5.2 seconds left.
Why didn't Krzyzewski call time out?
"We have a play to get it in quickly and advance the ball. Five seconds is plenty of time. We practice that play," Krzyzewski said.
Well, it didn't work, and a security guard grabbed El-Amin during the wild post-game celebration. With his cap and T-shirt and chunky physique, El-Amin looked just like a fan.
"The other security guys told him that I was a player," El-Amin said, laughing. "I just told him to buy me a hot dog after the game."
Duke's only other loss had been to Cincinnati in the final of the Great Alaska Shootout last November. It entered the game with a 32-game winning streak.
Still, let's get one thing straight -- this wasn't North Carolina State in '83, Villanova in '85, Arizona in '97. Connecticut finished with as many losses as Duke. It should never have been a 9 1/2-point underdog.
Twice before, Duke had lost the championship game after draining semifinal victories. It happened in '86 against Louisville. It happened in '94 against Arkansas. And it happened again last night.
For all of Krzyzewski's brilliance, he is now 2-4 in NCAA title games. Duke's depth, overrated all season, finally became a liability in this frantic, exhausting final.
The Connecticut bench outscored Duke's, 17-8. Corey Maggette was the only Duke reserve who scored.
All the questions about the Blue Devils -- their fatigue, their inexperience in close games, their ability to survive relentless double-teaming on Brand -- became legitimate over 40 glorious minutes.
Duke shot a season-low 41.1 percent, made only two three-pointers after halftime and got out-rebounded, 41-31. Avery particularly struggled, going 0-for-7 in the second half.
Connecticut was deeper. And Connecticut was better. Ricky Moore, a defensive specialist averaging 6.6 points per game, scored 13 first-half points, screaming at one point, "They can't guard me! They can't guard me!"
"No one could stop him," Connecticut forward Kevin Freeman said.
Moore, though, didn't score after halftime. Hamilton and El-Amin combined for 26 of the Huskies' 40 second-half points, including the final 11.
And still, they weren't the only heroes.
Jake Voskuhl and Souleymane Wane pounded on Brand, holding him to five first-half points. Albert Mouring contributed six points off the bench. And don't forget Moore's tough defense on Langdon, which led to a traveling violation with Connecticut leading by one and 5.4 seconds left.
Duke had trailed for only 24 minutes after halftime all season. But Connecticut took a six-point lead with less than nine minutes left, then withstood a frenzied comeback, with Duke twice tying the score.
"We knew it was a 40-minute game that wouldn't be decided until the final minutes," Voskuhl said.
Make that the final seconds.
You wanted a classic final, you got it.
"If you hear loud yelling tonight, it will be me," Calhoun said.
Pub Date: 3/30/99