Duncan Gets the Call--and Delivers

Tim Duncan is a superstar, a first-team All American selection and probably the first pick in this year’s NBA draft.

Who would you give the ball to with the game on the line?

Duncan’s controversial turn-around basket and free throw with 1:16 left Thursday night gave Wake Forest a 60-59 victory against Louisville in a Midwest Regional semifinal game at the Metrodome.

Wake Forest (25-5) faces Kentucky in Saturday’s regional final.

Duncan had a game-high 27 points, but none more important than his last three.

With Wake Forest trailing by two points, Duncan received a pass from teammate Rusty LaRue with his back to the basket. Duncan backed in on Louisville’s Damion Dantzler, spun to his right and banked in a short shot, while drawing a foul on Dantzler.

Louisville Coach Denny Crum thought Duncan got fouled before the shot.

“Other than that one NBA continuation play, I thought the game was well officiated,” Crum said afterward.

Even Duncan wasn’t sure the basket would count.

“But when they counted it, I didn’t disagree,” Duncan said.

Duncan calmly sank the go-ahead free throw and then sweated out the last minute.

Louisville (22-12) had plenty of chances, but shot only 33% from the field, missed its last six shots and did not score in the final 4:52.

After Duncan’s free throw, Louisville’s DeJuan Wheat missed a shot with 42 seconds left.

The Cardinals then got a big break, when Demon Deacon guard Jerry Braswell, playing for the injured Tony Rutland, was called for an offensive foul with 30 seconds left. It gave Louisville possession and a chance for the game-winning shot.

With the clock winding down, Wheat drove from the top of the key to his right and missed a bank shot from about 10 feet with about five seconds remaining. The clock expired before Louisville could foul.

The Cardinals played curiously down the stretch. Center Samaki Walker, who helped rally his team in the second half and forced a fourth foul on Duncan with 7:59 left, hardly touched the ball in the final minutes.

“I was kind of surprised they weren’t isolating him and throwing it in there every time,” Duncan said.

Wake Forest, which held a three-point halftime lead, threatened to pull away in the second, as LaRue and Ricky Peral made consecutive three-point baskets to give the Demon Deacons a 38-29 lead with 16:46 left.

But then Walker went to work on Duncan.

On successive possessions, Walker drew fouls on Duncan while scoring inside, making the free throws each time to cut the lead to 41-38.

The game was tied, 41-41, with 13:42 left, and neither team could pull away after that. Wake Forest took a 54-53 lead with 7:26 on Peral’s three-point shot, but Louisville answered with a six-point run to go up 59-54.

It looked bleak for Wake Forest with 4:52 left, when Peral fouled out, but LaRue made a clutch three-point basket with 4:28 remaining to cut the lead to 59-57 to set up Duncan’s game-winner.

Walker led Louisville with 16 points, and Tick Rogers had 13. Wheat, who scored 52 points in two previous tournament games, made only three of 15 shots and finished with seven points.