Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 28, 1994 TAG: 9403270127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Jack Bogaczyk
DATELINE: KNOXVILLE, TENN. LENGTH: Medium
Those who were stargazing at the NCAA Southeast Regional championship game missed the really big show. Duke reached another Final Four because the only freshman in Saturday night's game was the best player on the floor.
While Duke's defense was denying the ball to Purdue's Robinson, Hill was frustrated in foul trouble and the regional title was anyone's for the taking after a 32-32 first half, guard Jeff Capel wrote his name into the Blue Devils' storied hoops history.
"Jeff's second half was one of the best I've seen at Duke," said Mike Krzyzewski, whose 14th season as the Devils' coach will end with his seventh Final Four trip in nine years.
In Duke's 69-60 triumph over third-ranked Purdue, Capel got the first hoop of the second half, a 3-pointer from the top of the key. That gave the Devils a lead they never lost - and Capel was only getting started.
"He surely didn't play like a freshman," said senior teammate Antonio Lang.
Capel hit a jumper from the right side on Duke's next possessions. Three minutes later, a 3 with the shot clock at :03 gave the Boilermakers their biggest deficit of the tournament at 44-36.
With 9 minutes, 54 seconds remaining and the Devils leading 46-41, Hill was whistled for blocking Robinson, the fourth foul for the Duke star. That put most of the ball-handling responsibilities in the hands of Capel.
It was just the sort of situation Capel was discussing on the game's eve, when asked about his improved play in NCAA Tournament games.
"I'm trying to just go out and play and have a lot of confidence," Capel said then. "I'd hate for us to lose a game and me knowing I hadn't given everything I could."
Krzyzewski was nodding as Capel spoke.
"Jeff's had an outstanding year," Coach K said. "Not many freshmen start as many games as Jeff has. The tendency with young kids is that they tend to remember the negatives instead of the positives.
"Then, they take those thoughts, and that's who they think they are. In this tournament, Capel has remembered who he is."
That's the son of a coach, Jeff Sr., whose first year at North Carolina A&T ended in the same NCAA Tournament with a first-round loss to Arkansas. It isn't likely, however, that big Jeff taught his 6-foot-5 son some of the plays he produced in the second half.
During Hill's six minutes on the bench, Capel drove the lane and dished to Lang for a baseline basket. He spun down the paint again, scored and was fouled.
Then, 30 seconds after Hill returned to the floor, Capel made the move that told the Devils they were headed for the Charlotte Coliseum next weekend.
From the left baseline, Capel turned and sent a behind-the-back pass - on a bounce, to Lang for a lay-in and a 58-50 lead with 3:20 to play.
"I want to ask the first question," Krzyzewski said in the postgame media session. "Where did you come up with that pass?"
"Coach taught it to me," Capel said.
"That's a lie," Krzyzewski said, laughing. "Whatever he did, that was one of the great plays, one of the great plays."
Capel's 19 points and seven assists were his second-best numbers in each category during a 27-5 season that will continue Saturday against Boston College or Florida. He also committed only one turnover, and got plenty of help, too.
Lang had 19 points. Center Cherokee Parks produced 15 points and 10 rebounds, and his windshield-wiping defense when Robinson went inside should be considered a triple-double.
All three scored more than Robinson's 13 and Hill's 11. Capel's impressive effort was reflected in his 3-for-3 shooting from 3-point range.
"When Grant was out, what I saw the next five minutes was some of Duke's best basketball of the season," Krzyzewski said. "Jeff was sensational. Consider the role Grant has played for us, throughout the year in bringing our team along . . .
"Fate has a funny way of dealing with things. Finally, in this most important moment of the season, the people Grant brought along brought him along."
Keywords:
BASKETBALL
by CNB