CHARTING THE LEAD: A look at Connecticut’s lead or deficit by the minute

FIRST HALF

CONNECTICUT: 37

DUKE: 39

* HIGHLIGHT REEL: Duke’s Trajan Langdon, closely guarded by Richard Hamilton along the left sideline in front of the Connecticut bench, created a shot for himself without dribbling and drilled a three-pointer despite being fouled by Hamilton. Langdon, who had also made a three-pointer on Duke’s previous possession, added a free throw for a four-point play, giving the Blue Devils a 39-36 lead with 25 seconds to play in the half. Earlier, Connecticut’s Khalid El--Amin retained possession of the ball despite being knocked to the floor after chasing down a long rebound, passing it ahead to Hamilton, whose baseline jumper at the other end was part of a 15-4 run that gave Connecticut a 17-13 lead.

* WHAT YOU WON’T FIND IN THE BOX SCORE: Connecticut’s defense collapsed on Duke center Elton Brand, not only limiting Brand’s effectiveness but also creating havoc with the Blue Devil offense because it had no inside presence. Duke made 44% of its shots in the first half en route to 41.1% shooting for the game, its worst performance of the season. “It wasn’t a matter of us being overconfident,” Duke’s Shane Battier said. “UConn was a hell of a team. They really came out focused.”

* WINNING NUMBER: 13. Ricky Moore of Connecticut scored all of his points in the first 20 minutes.

* WRONG NUMBER: 0. Brand, Duke’s leading scorer, did not make a shot in the game’s first 12 minutes.

* LEADING SCORERS: Ricky Moore, Connecticut, 13; Langdon, Duke, 12; Hamilton, Connecticut, 11; William Avery, Duke, 9.

* LEADING REBOUNDER: Brand, Duke, 8.

SECOND HALF

CONNECTICUT: 77

DUKE: 74

* HIGHLIGHT REEL: With the shot clock running out, El-Amin blew past Duke’s converging, rotating defense, driving toward the baseline before lofting a floating jumper from the left side that settled into the net with :04 showing on the shot clock and 1:05 showing on the game clock. The basket proved to be the winner, giving the Huskies a 75-74 lead. Earlier, Kevin Freeman of Connecticut made a great individual effort, pulling down an offensive rebound with his right hand--his left arm was pinned by Battier--and scoring on a follow, starting Connecticut on a 12-4 run that put the Huskies ahead, 57-53.

* WHAT YOU WON’T FIND IN THE BOX SCORE: Moore was a surprise offensive force for Connecticut in the first half, but he is best known as a defensive stopper, as he showed when the national championship was on the line in the closing minutes. The Huskies led, 75-74, when Langdon--who had kept Duke in the game with his three-point shooting--tried to drive into the lane against Moore. Moore, though, stayed right with him and Langdon got his feet tangled and was called for traveling with 5.4 seconds left after he stumbled trying to make a spin move. “It was crunch time,” Moore said. “It was me against him. They tried to clear it out, but I stayed solid, I stayed down.”

* WINNING NUMBERS: 2-2. Hamilton made both of his three-point shots.

* WRONG NUMBERS: 0-7. Other than Langdon, Duke failed to convert a three-point shot.

* LEADING SCORERS: Hamilton, Connecticut, 16; Langdon, Duke, 13; El-Amin, Connecticut, 10; Brand, Duke, 10.

* LEADING REBOUNDER: Brand, Duke, 5.