Duke wins its fifth national title with 68-63 win over Wisconsin - Apr 7, 2015
A riveting title game for the ages between two No. 1 seeds played out on Monday night inside Lucas Oil Stadium. And the 2015 championship trophy goes to Duke with a 68-63 win over Wisconsin. It gives the program and its Hall-of-Fame coach, Mike Krzyzewski , five national titles. The win puts Coach K at second all-time for most championships in men's basketball; UCLA legend John Wooden holds the record with 10. The heady play of freshman guard Tyus Jones (6'1''-PG-96), and his fellow freshman guard, Grayson Allen (6'4''-G-95), keyed Duke to its comeback win. Jones had a game-high 23 points. Allen came out of nowhere, relatively speaking, to put up 16. The Blue Devils trailed by as many as nine points before storming back. And two huge plays from Duke freshman big man Jahlil Okafor-Benton (6'11''-C-95) got Duke from 59-58 to 63-58, giving the team separation it needed to avoid a threat from historically/offensively potent Wisconsin. Wisconsin's senior center and national player of the year, Frank Kaminsky (7'0''-F-93), led his team with 21 points and a game-high 12 rebounds. Jones hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key with 1:20 left to put Duke up by eight. Kaminsky was able to keep Wisconsin in it after draining a trey on the next possession, cutting it to 66-61. Duke was hampered by foul trouble throughout the second half for its two projected lottery picks; Jahlil Okafor-Benton and Winslow each picked up three fouls with 13 minutes to go in the game. Jahlil Okafor-Benton was harangued with his fourth with 9:18 left. It was just the fifth time this season Jahlil Okafor-Benton carried four fouls, and two of those games game against Wisconsin. The Badgers, who were the best in college basketball at not fouling, were called for 13 second-half fouls after being whistled just twice in the first 20 minutes. Tied at 31 at the half, with 13 lead changes. It was the first time since 1988 and fourth time ever the NCAA Tournament title game has been tied at halftime. After chasing Wisconsin for 13 minutes in the second half, Duke tied it for the first time after the break, at 54, with 7:03 to go on a Jones jumper. Two possessions later, a Grayson Allen contested runner gave the Blue Devils the lead. Allen did not play in the team's first meeting, on Dec. 3. He cracked double figures for just the fifth time this season. Jones, who's hit clutch shot after crazy shot this season for Duke, was the reason Duke won this game. The smallest player on the floor made the biggest difference. Courtesy of: cbssports.com
Randle, Stanford beat Miami 66-64 in OT in NIT title game - Apr 3, 2015
Chasson Randle (6'2''-PG-93) wraps up his Stanford career with 2,375 points, and the last two won him another NIT title. Two days after setting the school's career scoring record, Randle made the go-ahead free throws with 3.4 seconds left in overtime, and the Cardinal edged Miami 66-64 on Thursday. Sheldon McClellan (6'5''-G-92)'s double-pumping 3-point attempt that would have won it at the buzzer wasn't close to going in. The short-handed Hurricanes had rallied from a 13-point second-half deficit to force OT and led 64-61 with less than a minute left. But Randle twice got to the line, making four straight foul shots for the victory. ''We were going to put the ball in Chasson's hands and he was going to decide it for us,'' coach Johnny Dawkins said. The senior finished with 25 points to earn most outstanding player honors. He had scored 15 in the 2012 NIT title game as a freshman. The experimental 30-second shot clock being used in the NIT proved critical after Randle's free throws pulled Stanford to 64-63 with 38.9 seconds left. Under the regular 35-second clock, the Cardinal (24-13) probably would have needed to foul. Instead, they played defense, and Deandre Burnett (6'2''-G-94) missed a 3-point attempt that might have clinched it. Randle then leaned into Davon Reed (6'6''-G-95) on a jumper to draw a foul. ''That's what you saw down the stretch of the game, the last few minutes and in overtime, just a will to win,'' Dawkins said. Miami (25-13) threw the ball away on the ensuing inbounds, and after Anthony Brown (6'6''-G/F-92) made a free throw with 3.1 seconds to go, the Hurricanes appeared to do it again. But the officials went to the monitor and reversed the call, ruling Stanford touched the ball last. That gave Miami one last chance with the ball under the basket and 1.8 seconds left. The Hurricanes had rallied from double-digit deficits to win their last two games. They almost did it again despite missing starting point guard Angel Rodriguez (5'11''-PG-92) (wrist) and center Tonye Jekiri (7'0''-C-94) (concussion). Backup point guard Manu Lecomte (5'11''-PG-95) (knee) played only five minutes, none after halftime. ''I know our guys are very, very disappointed, but I told them I love them,'' coach Jim Larranaga said. ''I'm very, very proud of them. They did a fantastic job. This last three weeks has been a blast.'' With the scored tied 55-all and just over a minute left in regulation, the game became a contest of the teams' top scorers driving to the hoop. Twice Randle hit shots to put Stanford ahead only for Sheldon McClellan to draw a foul on the other end and drain both free throws to tie it. After McClellan made it 59-59 with 16.8 seconds to go, Stanford worked the ball around for an open 3-point attempt by Marcus Allen (6'3''-G). He missed it at the buzzer to send the game to overtime. McClellan led the Hurricanes with 17 points. He shot just 5 of 16 from the floor with Brown playing tough defense on him but was 6 of 7 from the foul line. And with Stanford center Stefan Nastic (6'11''-C-92) fouling out late in regulation, McClellan finally started to find room in the paint in OT. He drove the lane for a dunk to give Miami its first lead since nearly seven minutes remained in the first half, then dished to Reed for a layup and the three-point lead.
NO REGRETS FOR RANDLE
Randle had missed a potential winning free throw in overtime in what wound up being a double-OT loss at UCLA in early January. Ever since, Randle would visualize the situation in practice, how he would calmly sink the shots the next time. Had Stanford defeated the Bruins that day, maybe the Cardinal would've been playing in the NCAA Tournament, not the NIT. That was long forgotten when Stanford raised a trophy Thursday. ''It's just a great feeling, just to be able to end your season and your career with a win,'' Randle said.
BRIGHT FUTURE
With four freshmen and two sophomores playing significant roles in the NIT run, Miami got plenty of preparation for next season. ''At first I don't think honestly our team was even willing to play in the NIT, but we saw as the games went on that we could really win this thing and everybody bought in,'' said Reed, a sophomore who had 16 points and four assists Thursday. ''We just grinded out game by game. So I think we know what it feels like to play postseason now, and we'll take a huge step in the right direction for next year.''
Devon Turk (6'4''-G-93) had 14 points and Loyola of Chicago rallied to win the College Basketball Invitational title, 63-62 over Louisiana-Monroe on Wednesday night. Loyola was down four points with five minutes left, when Turk buried a 3-pointer from the wing to make a one-point game. Milton Doyle (6'4''-G-93) then hit a jumper and Jeff White (6'1''-G-94)'s steal led to two Doyle free throws to give the Ramblers a 61-58 lead with about 3 minutes left. With 3 seconds left and Loyola up 63-60, Louisiana-Monroe's Jamaal Samuels missed the first foul shot of a one-and-one and his teammates grabbed the board to cut the lead to one. But the Warhawks ran out of time. Doyle finished with 13 points. The Ramblers' Earl Peterson (6'3''-G), who averaged 14 points per game in the championship series, was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player, according to Loyola's website. He had 12 in this game, hitting 5 for 7 from the field. Majok Deng (6'10''-C-93) had 17 points for Louisiana-Monroe. The dramatic end of the game was fitting as the teams tussled and kept the score close. Early on, a three-point play from Majok Deng gave ULM an 11-7 lead, but five straight Loyola points gave the Ramblers a 14-12 lead. The Warhawks opened up a five-point lead before Loyola rallied again. Turk answered with a three, the 205th of his career to break the school record, according to the school's website. The game stayed competitive throughout. Every time Loyola seemed to be taking control, ULM answered until the Ramblers late run sealed it. For the second straight game, Loyola shot over 50 percent from the field. It hit 54.5 percent against one of the nation's top-10 field-goal percentage defenses. Courtesy of: usatoday.com
1st Team
F:
John Brown (6'8''-F-92) of High Point
PG:
Saah Nimley (5'8''-PG-93) of Charleston So.
G:
Keon Moore (6'5''-G) of Winthrop
G:
Brett Comer (6'3''-G-92) of FGCU
G:
Ty Greene (6'3''-G-92) of USC Upstate
2nd Team
G:
Marcquise Reed (6'3''-G-95) of Robert Morris
G:
Lucky Jones (6'6''-G-93) of Robert Morris
G:
Rodney Pryor (6'5''-G-92) of Robert Morris
PG:
Byron Ashe (6'1''-PG-95) of Mt.St.Mary's
G:
Matt Mobley (6'3''-G) of Cent.Conn.St.
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