Stanford Rallies to Top No. 1 Duke

With one picture-perfect fallaway bank shot, Casey Jacobsen struck a blow for Stanford, West Coast basketball and his own reputation.

Jacobsen banked in a jumper with 3.6 seconds to play Thursday night as third-ranked Stanford roared back from an 11-point deficit in the final four minutes to defeat top-ranked Duke, 84-83, in the Pete Newell Challenge.

“Now there’ll be a new No. 1, and we’ll see who it will be,” Jacobsen said with a grin.

According to Jacobsen, who matched a career high with 26 points, Stanford’s first victory over a top-ranked team since 1988 was more than a thrilling comeback victory in front of a deafening crowd.

It was redemption for the Cardinal (9-0), which is still stinging from last season’s collapse against North Carolina in the NCAA tournament. Stanford often feels overlooked on the West Coast despite its perennially high national ranking.

After beating Duke, that respect shouldn’t take long to arrive.

“I took this game personal, because a lot of people on the East Coast hadn’t seen me play since the North Carolina game,” said Jacobsen, who missed 10 of 12 shots against the Tar Heels. “I just wanted to set the record straight about me. We don’t get a chance to play a lot of East Coast teams, and we wanted everyone out there to know what Stanford basketball was all about.”

It’s about heart, apparently. After being outrun and outplayed all night, the Cardinal put together a stunning rally that had everyone from Newell to Jerry West to Stanford alum Tiger Woods standing and cheering.

“There’s an aura Duke has because they play with such extreme confidence,” Stanford Coach Mike Montgomery said. “We need to develop that . . . and this was a big step.”

Trailing, 77-66, with four minutes to play, Stanford finally sensed fatigue catching up to the Blue Devils’ seven-man rotation. The Cardinal made an 11-1 run and tied the score at 79-79 on Julius Barnes’ layup with 1:09 to play, but Mike Dunleavy’s leaner with 51 seconds left reclaimed the lead for Duke (10-1).

“We didn’t convert our last few chances, and that put us in a position to lose,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “We came out ready to play, but we just missed at the end.”

The Blue Devils led, 83-82, when Dunleavy was fouled with 14 seconds left, but he missed two free throws to give Stanford one last shot. With calm and precision, Jacobsen came off a screen, drove the left side of the court and kissed a fallaway shot off the glass.

“We did everything we had to do until the last four minutes,” said Dunleavy, who scored 13 points.

Duke rushed back down the court, but Jason Williams missed a driving layup, and Nate James’ follow shot came after the buzzer. Woods and his friends hugged each other, and the Cardinal hugged each other to celebrate Stanford’s second victory over a No. 1 team in school history.

For most of the game, the Cardinal appeared to be on the verge of suffering a blowout loss. The game was expected to be a contest of wills between Stanford’s powerful inside game and Duke’s up-tempo style, but the Blue Devils jumped to a big early lead, then continually threatened to pull away in the second half.

“We were kind of timid to start the game, and we shouldn’t have been,” Montgomery said. “I thought as the game went on, we got accustomed to playing at that level.”

Jacobsen kept the Cardinal within striking distance by making 11 of 19 shots.

Shane Battier scored 26 points for Duke before fouling out with 35 seconds left. Carlos Boozer also fouled out, with five minutes left.

Williams had 26 points and played stifling defense, but the confident, balanced offensive club that dominated the first 35 minutes disappeared during Stanford’s comeback. Duke made only 29% of its shots in the second half.