COLLEGE BASKETBALL / NCAA MEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP GAME : Blue Devils Aren’t Downcast by Loss : Reaction: Pride is evident in the Duke locker room despite the team’s championship defeat.

Duke could not have asked for a better scenario.

With 17:01 to play in Monday night’s NCAA championship game, the Blue Devils had Arkansas’ Razorbacks right where they wanted them.

Fresh off a 13-0 run, Duke’s designated role players Antonio Lang, Chris Collins and Jeff Capel had helped the Blue Devils take a 48-38 lead, which brought a predominantly pro-Duke crowd of 23,674 to its feet.

“I thought that we had them then,” Duke’s Cherokee Parks said afterward. “We had a good chance of putting them away at that point because we had the momentum and the crowd behind us.”

Duke knew going into the game that Lang, Collins and Capel would have to have big games if Arkansas had any success in slowing All-American Grant Hill. So the Blue Devils had to like their chances after Collins made two three-point baskets sandwiched between a three-point play by Lang and a three-point basket by Capel to start the second half.

“Arkansas was doing such a great job on me in having a guy in my face every time I penetrated, all I could do was kick it back out to the open guy,” said Hill, who had attempted only five shots and scored seven points at that point. “And everyone was stepping up and hitting their shots.”

Duke’s problem, however, was that a lot of time was left to play and Arkansas’ relentless pressure had yet to take effect.

The Blue Devils slowly learned that as their turnover count increased, while the Hogs increased their pressure on Hill and his supporting cast.

Before long, Duke’s lead had disappeared and the score was tied, 52-52, with 12:36 to play. “Maybe we did get a little tired in the second half after we made our run,” said Collins, who made four of 11 shots and scored 12 points. “That, along with Arkansas’ great defense, made us start turning the ball away.”

The Razorbacks, who had 11 steals, forced Duke into 23 turnovers, thanks to the pressure defense applied by their perimeter players, Corey Beck, Scotty Thurman, Clint McDaniel and Al Dillard.

Once Arkansas had rallied, however, Duke’s role players did not just fall down. Instead, they battled the Hogs rebound for rebound and basket for basket down the stretch.

A key point for the Blue Devils came when they stayed within three points during a four-minute stretch, while Hill struggled to even touch the ball when Duke was on offense.

Hill rewarded his teammates’ efforts with 1:26 remaining, making a three-pointer to tie the score at 70-70. All Duke needed from there was a defensive stop on Arkansas’ next possession.

“We were in straight man-to-man defense and we got just what we wanted; he just made an incredible shot,” Collins said of a three-point basket by Thurman that barely beat the shot clock and put the Razorbacks ahead, 73-70, with 51 seconds remaining.

In the Duke locker room, the Blue Devils’ heads were held high despite the loss. They knew they had given it their best shot.

“We have no excuses . . . we played our hearts out and lost,” said Hill, who finished with 12 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. “This was all I could ask for. To play for the national championship. I’m not really disappointed, because we sure were in position to win the game there at the end.”