LSU Takes Giant Leap Past Duke

This was the play that changed the game: J.J. Redick missed a three-pointer -- just barely, the ball rimming in and out -- that would have made a 10-0 Duke run a 13-0 run and maybe squelched Louisiana State’s hopes for good. LSU senior Darrel Mitchell followed up the miss with a three of his own.

Or, possibly, this was the play that changed the game: Exuberant redshirt freshman Tyrus Thomas, all arms and legs and high hops and no conscience, took a rebound, one of his 13, and started dribbling, never looking up, never slowing down, leaving a discombobulated Shelden Williams spinning in his wake before dunking loudly and spectacularly, pounding his chest.

Or it could have been when Glen “Big Baby” Davis twice bulldozed his way to rebounds off missed Tiger free throws in the final 25 seconds when the Blue Devils were desperate to make a last charge.

Maybe it was all of that during Louisiana State’s 62-54 upset of top-seeded Duke. It was all the LSU speed and leaping, all the defensive ferocity and mental fortitude to ignore its 11 missed free throws and the foul trouble and the constant, hammering thought: It’s Duke, Duke, Duke.

Louisiana State, seeded No. 4 and gaining little attention so far in the NCAA tournament, pulled off the first upset of a No. 1-seeded team with the win at the Georgia Dome.

It was the third time in four years Duke (32-4) fell out of the tournament in the regional semifinals after being seeded to go farther. Redick was held to a season-low 11 points on three-for-18 shooting. He and Williams (23 points, 13 rebounds) finished their college careers without a national title and with tears in their eyes.

“The past four years have been pretty amazing and I didn’t want it to end,” a red-eyed Redick said. “It’s been such a thrill and a blessing to play for Duke. I really consider myself one of the luckiest people. But that really doesn’t help the pain I’m feeling now.”

A freshman, Garrett Temple, throttled Redick by mirroring his every move. If Redick pump-faked, Temple just jumped up twice. If Redick moved behind five screens, Temple would somehow still be in his face.

And Thomas had a national coming-out party. Besides his 13 rebounds and his end-to-end scoring run, he blocked five shots.

“This is the first team we played all year that could really block shots like that,” Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Their ability to block shots made us change some shots inside. And I don’t know if we ever adjusted to that.”

Louisiana State (26-8) served notice early that it was not going to fade in the face of Duke’s pedigree or defensive pressure. The nerveless Temple hit a three-pointer with 9:40 left in the first half to give the Tigers a 13-10 lead, and they stayed ahead until midway through the second half.

They did it while Davis, the 6-foot-9, 310-pound Southeastern Conference player of the year, and Thomas, who blocked three shots in the first 10 minutes, spent the final eight minutes of the first half on the bench with three fouls.

“We did a nice job of handling the first five to seven minutes of the game,” LSU Coach John Brady said. “We told our guys Duke was going to come out in those first few minutes and try to get us on our heels and that if we could work through that we’d be in good shape. That’s what happened. A tone was set and I think they knew they were in for a contest all night.”

But after Louisiana State had taken a 40-35 lead with 11:44 to play, Duke seemed to grab control of the game. Freshman DeMarcus Nelson hit a long three-pointer, and on consecutive plays freshman Josh McRoberts slammed home an alley-oop pass from Nelson and another from Sean Dockery. With the Duke fans in full roar, Williams added a third dunk off a McRoberts lob and Nelson hit a free throw to put the Blue Devils up, 45-40.

Momentum was Duke’s, and when the struggling Redick spotted up for a wide-open three, the blue-clad fans stood before the ball left his hands, so sure it was in. Except it wasn’t.

“That was a big momentum swing,” Redick said of his miss and Mitchell’s make. “It could have gone our way, but it ended up going theirs.”

The biggest constant of the game, even during Duke’s one big run, was Louisiana State’s commitment to defense. The Blue Devils’ 54 points were their fewest since Jan. 10, 1996, when they lost to Wake Forest, 57-54. They shot only 27.7% from the field after shooting at least 40% in every other game this season.

“That may be the best defensive effort I’ve ever seen one of my teams have,” Brady said.

He heard no argument from the Blue Devils.