Invisible Man Helps With the Bruins’ Vanishing Act : Duke: It takes the Blue Devils a long time to realize that Hurley is on the court, but UCLA finds out too late.

It seems the teammates are always the last to know.

How else would you explain the first-half freeze-out performed by Duke’s players on point guard Bobby Hurley--the man the Blue Devils forgot?

Hurley started Sunday’s game against UCLA. Played 14 minutes in the first half, too, and another 16 minutes in the second half. Of course, you wouldn’t have known it by watching the Blue Devils, who spent much of the first half pretending Hurley didn’t exist.

And in a way, they were right.

The Hurley who led Duke to a national championship last season, who guided the Blue Devils to 17 consecutive victories this year, is no longer. Instead, there is the 75% Hurley, the guy who is still recovering from a broken bone in his right foot suffered during a Feb. 5 loss to North Carolina, the Blue Devils’ first defeat of the season.

“I can’t go full throttle right now,” he said.

Tell it to UCLA, which watched Hurley score eight points in three of the most crucial minutes of Sunday’s 75-65 loss to the No. 1-ranked Blue Devils.

Believing, much like his Duke teammates, that Hurley wasn’t a scoring threat, the Bruins gradually paid the point guard less and less attention. Considering that Hurley attempted and missed his only shot of the first half, it wasn’t necessarily a bad plan.

Problem was, Hurley noticed.

With 8:36 to play and Duke trailing, 54-52, Hurley found a tiny seam in the Bruin defense and drove in for a layup. Minutes earlier, he had passed up the same opportunity.

About two minutes later, Hurley found himself unattended at the three-point line. His shot found nothing but net and gave Duke a one-point lead.

And it was Hurley who sank another three-pointer with 5:12 left to play. This one provided the Blue Devils with something more than a three-point lead. It seemed to energize them.

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski didn’t needed such help. He had spent much of the game yelling to his players to give Hurley the ball. Reluctantly, they did.

“Our guys are accustomed to playing with him, but they were passing to everybody but him,” Krzyzewski said. “I’m going, ‘Hey, fellas . . . he’s back.’ ”

It wasn’t as though the Blue Devils weren’t glad to see Hurley back in the lineup. Fresh from a 26-minute effort against Virginia last Wednesday in which Hurley helped Duke clinch the Atlantic Coast Conference championship. It wasn’t the finest game of his career--four points, nine assists, one turnover--but then, again, Hurley wasn’t even supposed to be in the lineup that night.

That all changed when Grant Hill, who had been filling in for Hurley, injured his ankle during a Blue Devil practice. Suddenly the Blue Devils had to get used to Hurley again.

“I think we’re still kind of shaky, hesitant to pass Bobby the ball,” said Duke’s Thomas Hill. “It’s like we forgot Bobby was back.”

Hurley still can’t jump like he used to. He won’t contest a breakaway basket or dash downcourt unless there is a compelling reason. In short, Hurley picks his moments.

Sunday, he picked the right ones. Figuring that Hurley wouldn’t drive the lane, the Bruins paid him little attention until it was too late. Hurley paid for the basket--he was knocked down--but it was worth it. His three-pointers also came when UCLA least expected them. More concerned with finding a way to stop center Christian Laettner (29 points), the Bruin defense sagged toward the middle, leaving Hurley free to shoot.

“And those were the only times I was open on the perimeter,” Hurley said.

Hurley said he probably wouldn’t have made those shots against Virginia. Too far. But now . . .

“When I made the drive, that gave me the confidence to take those other shots,” he said.

Hurley finished with 11 points, four assists, one steal and four turnovers. Under the circumstances, it was enough to earn raves from Krzyzewski, who struggled to find the right description of his point guard.

“He’s just such . . . such . . . he’s a winner,” Krzyzewski finally decided.

In fact, Krzyzewski couldn’t quit praising Hurley, who now wears a special insole to cushion the shock on his right foot.

“The little guy is a courageous player,” Krzyzewski said. “His body’s not in basketball shape. It’s like playing basketball for three hours at a family picnic. Then Monday morning saying, ‘Whoa.’ ”

UCLA players said more than that Sunday. After viewing Hurley’s exploits, they said, “Wow.”

“The two biggest shots of the game were Hurley and Laettner’s three-pointers,” Bruin guard Gerald Madkins said.

“They stepped up and hit some big-time shots,” UCLA Coach Jim Harrick said.

So Hurley is back, whether his teammates realize it or not.

“That’s just something we have to get back to being used to,” Laettner said.

There are worse dilemmas.