Duke/Arkansas 1994

[EarlJam]

Man, we really should have won that game.

What a lucky shot by Thurman? And Collins' shot dang near went in. That would have given us three championships in four years.

I hate Arkansas.

-EarlJam

[Lord Ash]

What brought this about?

I must say, if I could change a single thing about my four years at Duke, it would be the outcome of that game. That was a damn heartbreaker. Watched it sitting (standing) right under the two championship banners, sure we would hang another!

[hurleyfor3]

If Thurman's shot doesn't go in, the game is still only tied with ~50 seconds left. No guarantee Duke would score again in regulation, and plenty of time for something else weird to happen.

Duke overachieved just to get to that game, much less play Arkie dead even for 39 minutes.

We are the last fanbase on earth that should be waving off others' late-game baskets as "lucky".

Oh well, people think the Red Sox lost the '78 playoff game just because of Bucky Dent, so I realize this is a lost cause.

[jimsumner]

Where did this come from? On the Duke-shoulda-won-but-didn't scale, this game ranks well behind '80 Purdue, '86 Louisville, '98 Kentucky, '02 Indiana, and '04 UConn on my personal list.

[SharkD]

The worst part of the game (other than Jeff Capel's behind-the-back pass to the third row seats): having to remain inside the Coliseum for 15 heart-rending minutes after the game, due to the Secret Service clearing the exits.

[EarlJam]

If Thurman's shot doesn't go in, the game is still only tied with ~50 seconds left. No guarantee Duke would score again in regulation, and plenty of time for something else weird to happen.

Duke overachieved just to get to that game, much less play Arkie dead even for 39 minutes.

We are the last fanbase on earth that should be waving off others' late-game baskets as "lucky".

Oh well, people think the Red Sox lost the '78 playoff game just because of Bucky Dent, so I realize this is a lost cause.

Okay, true. Maybe "lucky" isn't the right word. But here are a few thoughts that happened in my mind - all in milli-seconds - about that particular last shot:

"That's not a good look!"

"Great defense Lang!"

"Did Lang get a finger on it?"

"The shot looks like it's headed for the back of the rim!"

"The shot just hit the back of the rim and went in anyway."

"How'd that happen?"

Honestly, it just looked like a poor shot to me. First I thought Lang got a piece of it then I was certain it was going to bounce of the back of the rim.

I distinctly remember the drive back to Burlington (from T.J. Hoops), thinking "Damn."

-EarlJam

[EarlJam]

Where did this come from? On the Duke-shoulda-won-but-didn't scale, this game ranks well behind '80 Purdue, '86 Louisville, '98 Kentucky, '02 Indiana, and '04 UConn on my personal list.

Oh God. '04 UConn. You are so right. I just got a headache.

Weren't we up by eight or so with two minutes left?

[ugadevil]

Weren't we up by eight or so with two minutes left?

No no..you're mistaken. Eight is the amount of fouls that were called on Horvath and Shavlik over the span of two minutes.

[juise]

No no..you're mistaken. Eight is the amount of fouls that were called on Horvath and Shavlik over the span of two minutes.

Or the number of fouls not called on Okafor down the stretch.
Or the number of consecutive shots that JJ missed down the stretch (the game wasn't hit fault, but I had to bring someone else into the mix).
I was at that game. It was sickening.

[Richard Berg]

Agreed with Jim, except '06 WBB vs Maryland is at the top of my list.

[BlueDevilBaby]

You all stop right now. I am sure there are other thoughts that bring :) :) to your faces and mojo to our guys. Don't ruin your day dwelling in agony. Watch something more blissful, like GH's dunk on Kansas, the good UNLV game or the miracle at MD or 2001 or . . . .;)

[sagegrouse]

1994 was very painful -- and largely self-inflicted, since Duke had a ten point lead with seven minutes left. Then, with about a minute left, Arkansas got a lucky break when a perfectly-defended jumper fell short into Corliss Williamson's hands for an easy put back (think Lorenzo Charles). Then Duke had totally locked down Arkansas on the last play until a ball was tipped causing Antonio Lang to move briefly away from Thurman, who then hit the open shot.

2004 was a travesty. Neutral parties have admitted it was the worst-officiated Final Four game in memory. (The top crew worked the GT-Ok State game). (It affected UConn as well, in that Okafor had to sit out much of the 1st half). The foul that DQed Shel was ludicrous! Still, Duke had a seven point lead with 2-3 minutes left and should have won. But then the worst play was when JJ drove the lane and got hammered by Okafor and one other Huskie with Duke down by two (?) in the last minute. ALL THREE OFFICIALS SWALLOWED THEIR WHISTLES!!

1986 was a tragedy. Duke should beaten Lullville by 15 points but couldn't finish the job. You know, that one is now ancient history.

sagegrouse

[dukeisawesome]

Some good choices, but '99 UConn is the one that I got most upset about.

[robed deity]

For me, it's the '99 final by a long shot.

'94 was a tough loss, but we probably shouldn't have even been there.

[Troublemaker]

'94 was probably Duke's overachievingest team ever (in hindsight, since at the time, it felt like par for the course) and it hurt like heck to lose to Arkansas. Grant had a ridiculously great season and it wasn't until the following season, '95, when we realized how much of a difference he made to that team.

[CameronBlue]

but I'm still annoyed that he took the shot, it should have gone to Grant.

I sure didn't need this memory dredged up. Game in Charlotte, with Prez Clinton in attendance...arrrrgggggggg.....and I voted for the guy.

Thanks for nothing.

[jimsumner]

Collins was 4-8 on 3s that night and made 76 on the season.

Grant was 1-4 on 3s that night and made 39 on the season.

Collins had a good look, it went into the cylinder and spun out.

It was the right decision and a gutty shot by Collins.

[Highlander]

No no..you're mistaken. Eight is the amount of fouls that were called on Horvath and Shavlik over the span of two minutes.

UConn '04 is the most upset I've ever been at the officials after a game. I thought we got hosed by all the foul calls in the last 8 minutes, but the refs made some equally bad calls against UConn in the first half that helped us build our lead. My biggest complaint (once I cooled down) was that the game we saw was UConn's 2nd string center vs. Shelden/Shav and Horvath vs. Okafor for much of the game. No one wanted to see those matchups. I don't know if we would have beaten UConn if Okafor and Shel/Shav had played the entire game, but I would have loved to find out.

On a related note, Shav's 5th foul was quite possibly the worst and most unfortunate call I've ever seen.

As for Uconn '99 and Louisville '86, it's tough for me to get too bent out of shape on teams that won over 35 games in a season, and had so much success outside of that one game. IMO, if I'm disappointed in a team solely because they lost their last game, I think my standards are too high. Both those years were great rides, even if they didn't end well.

[CameronBlue]

and had the shot gone in I probably would be applauding the wisdom in Collins taking the shot. The counter argument is that those moments are made for seniors. Grant had just made a clutch shot (not sure if it was his one three or not) moments before. Collins shot the ball moving toward the basket--the extra nudge of momentum propelled the shot slightly long, sometimes it's called "rushing the shot" and in big moments it's what underclassmen tend to do. Sorry but I think Duke's fortunes would've been better served by deferring to Grant.

[jimsumner]

Would it be churlish of me to point out that Scotty Thurman was a sophomore in 1994?

[CameronBlue]

Yes and feel free to add annoying to the list
:)

[uncwdevil]

1994 - hurt, but I didn't get that upset, I was 13 and had been following Duke basketball for about 6 yrs, the Final Four was practically an annual event for Duke fans at that point

Thurman should have gone pro after that season, his stock was sky-high.

1999 - this one probably hurt the worst, by that point I realized that Duke didn't make the Final Four every year, and I wanted that team to go down as the best college team of all time. the fact that we were probably around 10 point favorites going into that game didn't help any, and to make matters worse, my suitemate at UNCW was from NY and decided to act like a lifelong UConn fan that night just to piss me off

2004 - sucked because I knew if we could hold on against UConn, we'd have a good shot at the title on Monday, also making it worse was the fact that I was getting my masters at UNC that year and my classmates showed me no mercy

[EarlJam]

Collins was 4-8 on 3s that night and made 76 on the season.

Grant was 1-4 on 3s that night and made 39 on the season.

Collins had a good look, it went into the cylinder and spun out.

It was the right decision and a gutty shot by Collins.

I completely agree. One more millimeter or less on the ball and Collins' status/legacy as a Duke player would be legendary (in all the right ways).

-EarlJam

[EarlJam]

As for Uconn '99 and Louisville '86, it's tough for me to get too bent out of shape on teams that won over 35 games in a season, and had so much success outside of that one game. IMO, if I'm disappointed in a team solely because they lost their last game, I think my standards are too high. Both those years were great rides, even if they didn't end well.

What made Louisville so tough was the fact we were up ten, late with Johnny D still in the game. I was certain Duke would get it's first title that night. Like many games, had a play or two just gone in our favor, we would have taken it home. Late in the game, the unimaginable happened: Johnny D went stone cold, missing shots he made like lay-ups all season long.

It sucked and sucked hard.

-EarlJam

[ArkieDukie]

Man, we really should have won that game.

What a lucky shot by Thurman? And Collins' shot dang near went in. That would have given us three championships in four years.

I hate Arkansas.

-EarlJam

That was the first NC after I returned to AR. I didn't know who I would cheer for until I watched the game; I grew up as an AR fan. The answer was Duke. My heart broke when Scottie's shot went in. (I must admit, Nolan's press conferences helped swing the balance.)

On a related note, most AR fans hate Duke because of the 1990 Final Four game where we took out the Day-Mayberry team. I learned very recently that they saw the post-game shots of Duke students rolling in mud on the quad and interpreted it as making fun of "the Hogs." I was there at the time and didn't interpret it that way at all. Did I miss the significance of all the mud wrestling/sliding/rolling?

EarlJam, nice touch with the flower. I see you took my advice.

[jimsumner]

I've written about the '86 season over and over again. If there is one game in Duke's history whose outcome I could change, it would be the '86 title game. Whatever takes second place is a distant second.

For the record, Duke's biggest lead against Louisville was 7. Alarie missed an open jumper that would have made it 9. But it seemed like more. I've always thought Duke lost that game in the first half. Duke fumbled away a half dozen or so fast-break advantages and led by only 3 at intermission. Should have been double-digits. Then Louisville doubled Dawkins down the stretch and nobody stepped up.

Idle speculation. Imagine if the NCAA reseeded the Final Four. In '86 Louisville and Kansas would have slugged it out in one semifinal, while Duke would have cruised against LSU in the other. Big advantage to Duke in the finals.

Fast forward to 1999. UConn and Michigan State fight it out, while Duke plays Ohio State. Again, big advantage Duke.

Oh well.

[devildeac]

Or the number of fouls not called on Okafor down the stretch.
Or the number of consecutive shots that JJ missed down the stretch (the game wasn't hit fault, but I had to bring someone else into the mix).
I was at that game. It was sickening.

Y'all have just ruined my evening. Somewhere on a different thread, I think, even Jumbo commented on how horrendous(paraphrasing) the officiating was in this game. About 8 fouls on Duke in the 1st several minutes of the 2nd half and 1 on u-cons. K was livid, asked the officials who said "they'd look into it." Disgusting.

[Troublemaker]

'86 was Duke's first sons losing. Agree that it was the most painful.

[DukeFan1000]

Where did this come from? On the Duke-shoulda-won-but-didn't scale, this game ranks well behind '80 Purdue, '86 Louisville, '98 Kentucky, '02 Indiana, and '04 UConn on my personal list.

Don't forget 1999

[Devils8780]

That Arkansas team was fun to watch, though, in the tournament. Thurman, Williamson, Corey Beck, Darnell Williams...

[jimsumner]

I didn't forget '99, I omitted it.

I might get hammered for this but here goes.

In some respects this was the toughest loss of all because a win by that team would have ensured their status as one of the top teams ever. If you look at the entire body of work up to the title game, then this was the best team in Duke history. And a title seemed so inevitable.

But maybe that's the problem. I certainly don't want to take anything away from the Huskies. Rich Hamilton was the best player on the floor that night, El-Amin clearly outplayed Avery, and the role players all brought their A games. But I somehow can't escape the feeling that at some level Duke took a win for granted and that the team's hubris was a significant contributing factor to the loss.

Or maybe the stars were just misaligned. But this loss just feels different to me than the title losses in '64, '78, '86, or '94.

[EarlJam]

I didn't forget '99, I omitted it.

But maybe that's the problem. I certainly don't want to take anything away from the Huskies. Rich Hamilton was the best player on the floor that night, El-Amin clearly outplayed Avery, and the role players all brought their A games. But I somehow can't escape the feeling that at some level Duke took a win for granted and that the team's hubris was a significant contributing factor to the loss.


As a fan, I was certainly over confident. I was, like now, living in Atlanta. I called my brother on the phone just before heading over to The Famous Pub. We laughed on the phone and I remember him saying, "Tonight Duke returns to basketball GLORY!" This was, of course, to be the pinnacle of Duke's four-year comeback from the 1995 debacle.

"YES," I exclaimed, "Tonight, we conquer!"

On the way to the game, with a friend, we weren't even that nervous. Or at least we were the least nervous of any other trip past or future Duke made to the Final Four. We "knew" we were going to be celebrating this night.

At The Famous Pub in Decatur, a Duke hangout at the time, the place was shoulder to shoulder, standing room only with Duke fans. I only saw one table, with three U-Conners at it in the corner. "You poor souls," I thought.

I may be exaggerating my over-confidence a bit but it was definitely there.

Well, the rest is history.

Titanic, Hindenberg, Trajan Langdon falling down.

I don't know what was more powerful: the utter shock of not winning it all that night or the sadness of losing. Both levels were probably the same, with the shock coming first.

What an awful night.

-EarlJam

[hurleyfor3]

On a related note, most AR fans hate Duke because of the 1990 Final Four game where we took out the Day-Mayberry team. I learned very recently that they saw the post-game shots of Duke students rolling in mud on the quad and interpreted it as making fun of "the Hogs." I was there at the time and didn't interpret it that way at all. Did I miss the significance of all the mud wrestling/sliding/rolling?

No, you didn't. It had rained a lot that day, and the quad wasn't in the best shape to begin with after we had celebrated making the Final Four a few days earlier. Add to that the fact that nobody on campus had yet seen us even play in a championship game -- the previous two years, we made it to the Final Four and promptly lost.

Then consider how the game went. Arkansas opens up a seven-point lead relatively late in the game, then quits scoring. We go on a furious scoring barrage to win by 14.

We had nothing against Arkansas... why on earth would we have anything against Arkansas? But it was the best postgame celebration I ever witnessed at Duke, and that includes '91 and '92.

[Olympic Fan]

Great thread ... I often fantasize about changing the outcome of tough losses. If I could change just one ... just three ... seven games?

Here's my top 10 list:

1 1986 title game -- I agree with Jim on this one. This team deserved to win the title. It was the best team in the nation that year and had already earned a place in Duke history by restoring the program to greatness. The problem was that they ran out of gas in Dallas. Only Dawkins and Amaker had any legs in the title game. I know the Kansas semifinal took a lot out of them, but Alarie and Henderson -- so good all season -- we in shooting slumps throughout the tourney. Then there's the play late with Duke down one and Dawkins plays great defense on Jeff Hall, forcing an airball, but Ellison rebounds it to give L'ville the 3-point lead and the game. It still hurts.

2. The 1939 Rose Bowl -- undefeated, untied and unscored on ... then Doyle Nave to Al Kreuger in the final seconds and Duke loses the Rose Bowl 7-3. I dream of Tipton intercepting that pass and giving Wallace Wade the signature moment of his career and giving Duke football a team of perfection.

3. The 1994 title game. The only thing is that unlike 1986 (and 1999), I don't think the 1994 team was the nation's best team. It was a great (over)achievment just to get to the title game. What hurts is how narrow was the margin that the game turned on -- 50 seconds left, the shot clock about to expire and Scotty Thurman launches one that I still swear grazed Tony Lang's fingernail and it goes in ... and at the other end, Chris Collins launches a 3 than goes halfway down and spins out. Arrrghhh!

4. The 1966 semifinals. Very simple. Bob Verga is healthy and Duke plays Texas Western for the title one night later. Not as sure Duke wins that game, but with Lewis to battle Big Daddy and Marin to help with the ballhandling, I think the Devils would have had a great shot. Plus, with Flournoy hurt, who guards Marin for the Miners?

5. The 1978 title game. Okay, Kentucky WAS the best team that night and deserved to win. Still, it was such a great ride for such a young team. A win would have given Duke a moment to match State's '83 miracle team. I give Givens all the credit in the world -- the Goose had the game of his life -- but I'll never forgive Jim Bain for the technical he called on Bill Foster (for merely making a traveling motion after Lee, in fact, travelled).

6. The 2004 semifinals. Like everybody else on the thread, the officiating still burns me (I can still see Okafor use two hands to push away Deng before he grabbed the rebound and converted the go-ahead put-back). However, I caution you -- the pros that call that the worst-officiated Final Four game ever are talking about the totality of the game ... the bad calls went against Duke late, but went against UConn earlier.

7. The 1998 regional finals. The blown lead hurts. I don't know what it is about Tampa Bay/St. Pete -- I hate going there.

8. The 1933 Georgia Tech loss. Wade's first great Duke team was 9-0 and had already been offered the Rose Bowl -- provided they beat Georgia Tech in Atlanta. On a wet sloppy field and a driving rainstorm, Duke dominated but couldn't get in the end zone. Trailing 6-0 late, Duke appeared to score the tying TD ... but All-American Fred Crawford was called for being off-side and the score was nullified ... I don't have any idea whether it was a bad call or not, but I know Wade claimed that Crawford was so quick that he was often called for being off-side just because he was off the ball so fast.

9. The 1994 UNC game. Duke had a great comeback and took the lead late, then couldn't tackle Octavious Barnes on a simple crossing pattern with just over a minute left. Even after that, Duke came down and almost got into range for the winning field goal (back when Duke could actually kick field goals). A win over Carolina that day would have made Duke 9-2 and earned the Devils a bid to the Cotton Bowl ... in the last season when the Cotton Bowl was a major bowl.

10. The 1999 title game. It bothers me because with a victory in St Pete (did I mention that I hate the Tampa-St. Pete area?) the '99 Devils would be talked about as one of the great teams in ACC and college basketball history. Nobody ever dominated the ACC like they did ... nobody. It doesn't rank higher for two reasons -- one, that was a great UConn team that actually spent more time at No. 1 that season than Duke; there only losses came when center Jake Voskill was out) and, two, because one of the reasons Duke didn't play as well that night was that a couple of players were more intent on polishing their NBA resumes than winning the game.

Now, I realize that all of the above is just wishful thinking. Realistically, you could go the other way and point out 10 great Duke moments that could have just as easily have gone the other way. We've had our share of great moments and usually I prefer to dwell on them. But every once in a while, I wonder, 'What if?'

[Duke12]

Jim - agree with your assessment except Purdue '80. Joe Barry Carroll just took over the game and Purdue deserved to win. '86 loss was very tough to swallow going into the game 37-2. David Henderson missed a late chippie lay-up late which probably cost us the game