Duke survives last second “miracle heave” to win National Championship!
Written by The Go-To-Man Mattie T. on April 6, 2010
As the 3.4 seconds ticked off the clock with Butler’s Gordon Heyward racing upcourt to take the final shot, more than 70,000 fans inside of Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium held their collective breaths.
Heyward’s potential game-winner was nearly banked in, as it clanged off the side rim to set off a joyous celebration among the Duke faithful, who held on for a 61-59 win for their 4th National Championship in school history.
This time, poor outside shooting truly did cost Butler as their threesome of Gordon Heyward, Matt Howard & Shelvin Mack combined to shoot just 10-of-34 (29.4%).
Kyle Singler led all scorers with 19 points, as the Duke junior forward displayed a great outside touch & also played some great defense, accounting for several blocks & altered shots in the paint.
Jon Scheyer put in a great all-around performance with 15 points, 6 rebounds & 5 assists as the former New Trier star is now a national champion.
Duke junior guard Nolan Smith was able to celebrate on the exact same floor as his late father Derek, who also won a National Championship in Indianapolis 30 years ago as a member of Louisville.
Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski truly appreciated the effort shown by both sides in one of college basketball’s most memorable title games ever:
“First of all, it was a great basketball game. I want to congratulate an amazing Butler team and their fans. Fabulous year. We played a great game, they played a great game. It’s hard for me to say it, to imagine that we’re the national champions. Both teams and all the kids on both teams played their hearts out. There was never more than a couple, a few points separating, so a lot of kids made big plays for both teams.”
Butler head coach Brad Stevens had a positive message to deliver to his team, who just came short of re-creating a scene to the classic movie “Hoosiers”:
“I said yesterday that when you coach these guys, you can be at peace with whatever result you achieve from a won-loss standpoint because of what they gave — they gave everything we had. There’s certainly nothing to hang your head about. I told them in there, what they’ve done, what they did together, will last longer than one night, regardless of the outcome.”
