From: rjm1@acpub.duke.edu (ROBERT MACKENNA)
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college
Subject: Duke-Oklahoma Game Summary
Date: 6 Jan 93 07:02:23 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Duke University; Durham, N.C.



Duke ran it's non-conference home winning streak to 77 games Monday night, 
holding off an emotional Oklahoma squad 88-84 in overtime.

The game started with Oklahoma running out to an early nine-point advantage,
thanks to poor Duke shooting (one of their first nine) and worse Duke 
rebounding.  Duke came roaring back to take a double-digit lead of their 
own about two-thirds of the way through the first half.

Then Grant Hill was called for a questionable charging foul that wiped out
a fast-break basket (I say questionable because I was at the game, so I had
no instant replay and I forgot to set my VCR.  I didn't think it was
charging, but what do I know?).  Coach K disagreed with the call, in fact,
he disagreed with it so vehemently that he was called for a technical foul.
Two free throws and a score on the ensuing possession made this a six-point
turnaround for the Sooners.

Duke held a 44-41 advantage at the intermission.

Duke started the second half on fire, scoring the first seventeen points
of the second half.  Grant Hill emerged from the telephone booth to lead 
the charge.  The run lasted through the first six minutes of the half.
Duke ran the lead out to twenty at 61-41 before running out of gas. 
Oklahoma followed with a 10-0 run of the own to get back into the game.
In the last fourteen minutes of regulation, the Devils would score
just thirteen points.  Give credit to Oklahoma for gutsy play and some
fantastic defense, especially in transition.  Duke was unable to get the
ball in the basket.  Oklahoma also played tough defense on the foul line,
as several time Duke players missed both shots in double-bonus situations.

The game went into overtime after OU tied the game at 74 on a three-pointer
with 33 seconds left.  Duke played for a final shot, but didn't get off a
good one.

The overtime pretty much belonged to Duke.  With the vociferous Cameron
crowd behind them, Grant Hill once again rose to the occasion and shed his
mild-mannered reporter persona, making several spectacular shots on Hurley
feeds.  Cherokee Parks finally asserted himself on the boards, and pulled
down defensive rebounds when Duke desperately needed them.  The Devils ran
out to a 88-81 margin before a meaningless three at the buzzer by Oklahoma
made the final score 88-84.

In his press conference after the game (this is hearsay -- I had a friend
with a press pass and this is what she told me), Coach K praised the crowd,
(the students are mostly still on break -- I know I spent a lot of time
before the teaching all the adolescents around me all the different cheers)
praised the play of Tony Lang (who had not practiced in two weeks, yet 
six points, all of them at critical junctures down the stretch), and the
team's play in general.  It was his feeling that they played well, but the
shots just didn't drop.  (If I would presume to disagree, I would disagree.)

He thought that Hurley sometimes didn't play very smart, especially with the
mild spained ankle he sustained during the game.  He also darkly hinted that
he thought the officiating stunk (here I agreed).  Expect lots of free-throw
practice this week.

Grant Hill had 27 points, Hurley 23, T. Hill 13, Parks (I think) 10.

Random notes:

Tony Lang played like a man.  Especially considering the long layoff.

Erik Meek is the pleasant surprise of the season.  Still not much of a
scorer, but a solid rebounder and good post defender.  He hustles!

Bobby Hurley, I thought, had a really sub-par game.  Maybe it was the ankle
injury, but he did not make good decisions on several occasions.  Took some
poor shots, and tried to do too much himself.  Give some credit to OU here,
though.  I noticed the Sooners were drawing Bobby into penetrating into the
lane, and then keeping a big guy in front of him and not dropping anyone 
else off to help out, so Hurley had nowhere to go with it.  Turnover.
Carolina does this to him every year, it seems.  That said, I saw on 
SportsCenter that Hurley had 15 assists, which I believe breaks the school 
record for single game assists.  The previous record of 14 assists was first 
set by Kevin Billerman against UNC in 1974, and matched by Tommy Amaker and 
Hurley.  Bobby also moves into seventh place on the NCAA all-time assists 
list.

I almost had a heart attack when Kenny Blakeney came into the game with
a minute and a half left in overtime.  Fortunately my fears were unfounded.

G. Hill -- the "G" is for "God", as in, "of Basketball".  If you didn't
see him score twice on lob passes from Hurley in overtime, you missed two
highlight-film type plays.

It seemed like Duke was really out-rebounded in the first half, and did much
better in the second half.  This seems to be true in about 3/4 of Duke's
games in any given year.

Duke moves to 9-0 on the season and they keep alive their winning streak 
of 22 games in a row (they should tie the record of 23 set last year this 
Wednesday vs Clemson)(I think) and they've won 34 games in a row at home.  
No home losses since the season finale in '90.

I think my favorite part about beating these guys was beating that arrogant
Angelo Hamilton.  And I used to think Michael Jordan showboated.  Christian
Laettner has nothing on this guy.


- Rob Mac K

-- 
*ROB Mac K - The Man, The Myth, The Legend.  As if. ***********************
*        [}uke             1991 National Champions      "Wekickus         *
*          Blue Devils:    1992 National Champions           Sumassus"    *
****************************************************** rjm1@acpub.duke.edu*
Newsgroups: rec.sport.basketball.college