ESPN is touting it as a “rivalry renewed.”
Seems a little excessive, given that UConn and Duke have never been in the same conference, have met once since the 2004 Final Four and have never had a home-and-home.
But you can’t deny that these two teams have a history of producing classic games.
March 16, 1964: NCAA Tournament Second Round/Final 8, Duke 101 UConn 58
OK, maybe this one wasn’t a classic. But hey — there used to be a banner hanging in Gampel with 1964 ELITE EIGHT written on it. So there’s that. UConn also lost to Rutgers that year, so you know it was a different era.
Dec. 14, 1976: Duke 64 UConn 59 (OT)
UConn. Duke. Overtime. Madison Square Garden. What more could you ask for (aside from a UConn win)? One thing I like about this game is that it shows that even in the 70s, Duke refused to ever play a good team on the road, out of conference.
Tony Hanson played 41 minutes and led all scorers with 26 points in this one. Broadcasting greats Jim Spanarkel and Mike Gminski led Duke with 20 points apiece.
March 24, 1990: NCAA Tournament Elite Eight, Duke 79 UConn 78
The Dream Season came to an end in the same building that will host Thursday’s game. You all know the story. You all know that just two days after Tate George put the Huskies on the brink of the Final Four, Christian Laettner came and ruined everything.
So let’s take a step back and recognize that run for what it was: the first undeniable sign that UConn basketball was for real. The Huskies stormed through the mighty Big East en route to a 1 seed. They beat Syracuse and Georgetown — two conference powers, who had each had great seasons — at home, in back-to-back games in front of sold-out crowds. They won the Big East Tournament championship for the first time, again by beating Georgetown and Syracuse back-to-back.
The way it all ended was terrible, made worse by Laettner being one of the top-five worst human beings to ever touch a basketball. But that shouldn’t spoil everything that came before it.
And you know what? UConn lost to Duke the next year in the NCAA Tournament as well. But we remember that game for something else entirely.
March 22, 1991: NCAA Tournament Sweet 16, Duke 81 UConn 67
Almost exactly one year after Laettner’s heart-breaker, the Huskies’ season again ended at the hands of the Blue Devils. UConn was the upstart 11 seed that year, so maybe this loss wasn’t quite as soul-crushing as 1990. Heck, today, we hardly remember the result of that game, because this happened.
Rod Sellers played 27 minutes, had seven rebounds and no one cares because he is awesome and he destroyed Christian Laettner.
(NOTE: Laettner still led all scorers with 19 points and was Final Four MOP. Whatevs.)
Nov. 29, 1994: Great Eight, UConn 90 Duke 86
Remember the Great Eight? I liked that. I wish that was still a thing. Anyway, UConn picked up its first ever win against the Blue Devils early in the 1994-95 regular season, a year that would end with the Huskies back in the Elite Eight.
In this one, Ray Allen had 26 points and Kevin Ollie scored 24 to overpower Cherokee Parks and the Blue Devils. Duke shot 8-11 from three in the second half, but 20 team turnovers, including seven from Steve Wojciechowski, gave the Huskies a few too many opportunities.
Another notable performance: freshman Trajan Langdon had four points in 14 minutes off the bench. He’s the only one from that edition of the Blue Devils to face the Huskies four and a half years later…
March 29, 1999: National Championship Game, UConn 77 Duke 74
They were calling the NCAA Tournament the Duke Invitational. The Blue Devils hadn’t lost since the first month of the season. They were facing a team that was in its first ever Final Four, while this was Duke’s fifth trip in the 90s alone. The Blue Devils were 9.5-point favorites.
Everyone seemed to forget that UConn came into the 1999 championship game 33-2, with its two losses coming against Syracuse (without Richard Hamilton and Jake Voskhul) and Miami (in the final seconds on Senior Day).
Duke jumped out to a 9-2 lead, but UConn clawed back, led by 13 first-half points from Ricky Moore. Richard Hamilton had 27 points in his final collegiate game. Khalid El-Amin had 12 more. Souleymane Wane hit a hook shot over Elton Brand. The Huskies had a one-point lead in the closing seconds, but Duke had a chance to win the game.
Then came the most important defensive possession in UConn history to that point.
UConn got the ball back after the travel, El-Amin hit a pair of free throws, and Langdon again had the chance to be the hero.
He tripped, and the rest is UConn history.
Nov. 12, 1999: Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, UConn 71 Duke 66
What many hoped would be the championship game of this mini four-team tournament ended up being for third place as both the Huskies and Blue Devils were upset in the semifinals.
Despite being relegated to the consolation game, Albert Mouring put on a show with 22 points, while Kevin Freeman posted a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds. It also gave Duke an 0-2 start, which was a lot of fun to laugh at for a few days until the Blue Devils got rolling.
April 3, 2004: National Semifinal, UConn 79 Duke 78
It took until 2004 for UConn to beat a team twice in the NCAA Tournament, and who else would it be, but Duke?
One thing that strikes me about this game is how much it paralleled the game against Pitt at MSG just a few weeks earlier for the Big East championship. In both games, UConn jumped out to an early double-digit lead. In both games, UConn quickly coughed it up and trailed at the half. In both games, the other team controlled most of the second half until a furious and improbable comeback shifted things the Huskies’ way.
Another thing that we will all remember: Emeka Okafor, who was later named Final Four MOP, pretty much only played in one half. He picked up two early fouls in what was a dreadfully officiated game, and sat the rest of the half. Duke also ran into foul trouble, but Mike Krzzyewski rolled the dice and kept his big men in the game. Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph and Nick Horvath all fouled out, causing Krzyzewski to yell “you’re cheating us” at official Ted Hillary.
Still, Duke held the lead late, until a layup from Okafor put UConn ahead with 26 seconds left.
Yet despite all the thrilling moments of this classic game, one of my favorite moments was watching J.J. Reddick’s delightful display of sportsmanship:
Stay classy, JJ. Sincerely, Emeka Okafor
Nov. 27, 2009: NIT Season Tip-Off, Duke 68 UConn 59 at Madison Square Garden
Hey, you can’t win ‘em all. Jon Scheyer had 19 points and Nolan Smith added 16 more to give Duke the NIT Season Tip-Off championship. Jerome Dyson had 15 to lead the Huskies, who were out-rebounded 56-43, shot 0-4 from three and turned the ball over 16 times.
I was actually at this game and I remember it being the day that the shit hit the fan in the Tiger Woods scandal. By the second half, getting updates about that on my phone became more interesting than watching this game. Hoping it’s a different story on Thursday.
Love it. I was a Freshman during the Dream Season and so that next year when Laettner’s head got dribbled, I took great delight. They actually showed that game (as they had the prior year’s Tate George shot vs Clemson game) on a big screen inside Gampel.
By the way, has UconnGifs done a gif of Elden Campbell’s face following the Tate George shot?
Yup!
http://i.imgur.com/qL8keFW.gif
Perfect! Thank you.