Exorcised

LEXINGTON, Ky. -- Chances are, you didn't think this could happen.\nIU beat defending national champion and top-ranked Duke? No way. \nYou were correct until less than a minute remained in Thursday night's South Regional semifinal in Rupp Arena. \nBut, all those brackets with Duke marching straight to the Final Four took a big hit, thanks to an inspirational comeback that took the Hoosiers the entire second half to complete. \nIt was the comeback that wouldn't quit. On a team that wouldn't fold, either. \nHow did the Hoosiers start and finish their 74-73 stunner? Their staple, and IU coach Mike Davis' favorite basketball element. \n"Our guys did a great job of believing we could win the whole time," junior guard Tom Coverdale said. "Our defense is what got us there, and that flustered them a little."\nIU allowed Duke 31 second-half points and forced the Blue Devils to shoot just 33 percent and 4 of 14 from the three-point line. Meanwhile, IU slowly -- very slowly -- chipped away at a Duke lead that ballooned to as much as 15 early in the second half. \nEach time IU cut the Duke edge, the Blue Devils responded like clockwork. Either a driving lay-up or a three-point bomb from the wing deflated IU and a Rupp Arena crowd that consisted of about 80 percent Hoosier fans.\nDuring the first 14 minutes of the first half, IU never scored more than four consecutive points. \nBut, momentum finally shone on the Hoosiers after Duke's Jason Williams missed a breakaway lay-up that could have pushed the Blue Devil lead to 14. The Hoosiers went to work.\nA Jared Jeffries putback and two A.J. Moye free throws trimmed the Duke lead to eight with 9:46 to go, but IU could draw no closer than eight until three minutes later when Jeffries scored again to cut the lead to six. \nIU eventually cut the gap to one on another Jeffries putback, but a 7-2 Duke run pushed the lead to six with just more than three minutes remaining. \nThe comeback looked dead. \nBut from that point, IU outscored Duke 10-3 to close the game, finally tying the contest at 70 with 1:54 left on two free throws from Coverdale. The Hoosiers hit 6 of 7 free throws and used sticky defense to force two turnovers and hold Duke to shoot 2 of 6 in the final three minutes. \nFinally, the comeback was complete. \n"About the middle of the second half, I was thinking 'If we don't make a move soon, it's just not going to happen,'" Davis said. "Sure enough, we started making a move."\nTo even get to that point, Davis knew he would have to rely on his trademark defense, one that finished first in Big Ten in points allowed per game last season and second this season. IU held Duke, which averages more than 90 points per game, to just 73.\nWilliams, the Naismith Award winner, finished the night 6 of 19 from the field. Forward Mike Dunleavy was 5 of 16 and guard Daniel Ewing was 2 of 8. \n"(IU) did what they have done defensively all year, so that wasn't a surprise," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "They just hung in there the whole time. I never felt comfortable."\nTo cook up a plan that could potentially make the Blue Devils blue, Davis spoke with members of the coaching staff at Maryland, which was one of just four teams to beat Duke this season and is a fierce Blue Devil rival. He implemented a game plan similar to the one used by the Terrapins from the tip-off. \n"I wanted to talk to someone who had beaten Duke," Davis said. "I called…and got a great game plan." \nIt turned out to be the game plan that helped ignite a sense of shock in Rupp Arena. The Hoosiers have said since winning a share of the Big Ten regular season title that a trip to the Final Four in Atlanta was their goal -- and one they could achieve. \nThursday, it didn't bother them that nearly everyone else had written them off long before the Sweet 16. Or that it took a comeback that seemed like it would never materialize. \n"No one thought we could win this game except for us and the coaching staff," Coverdale said. "We knew we could bother them with our defense, and that's exactly what we did"