Kelli Benson, a sophomore, said police were making the situation worse. We would eventually calm down if they didn't provoke us. The line Las Vegas oddsmakers don't give Connecticut much of a chance against Duke in the national championship game. Naismith award Sophomore Elton Brand of Duke was chosen the winner of the Naismith men's basketball Player of the Year award yesterday by the Atlanta Tipoff Club. The club also selected Mike Krzyzewski of Duke its coach of the year.
Brand is the third consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference player to win the award.
Antawn Jamison of North Carolina won last year and Tim Duncan of Wake Forest won in 1997. Way back in November the seers of college basketball put Duke and Connecticut atop the preseason poll. Tonight, those teams will decide the national championship. No other schools held the No. 1 ranking this season, and it's been 34 years since two teams in that position played for the title, with UCLA beating Michigan in 1975. Familiar court Win or lose, the Blue Devils will end their season on the same floor they did last year.