Gator Wrangling: Duke Slips By Florida In A Thriller

When you’re a kid and you fall in love with a sport, it’s magical. As you get older though, other things push in and the sport, though always there, gets pushed back. Every so often though, you see a game that reminds you of why you fell for that sport in the first place. Duke and Florida gave us a game like that Monday night in the ACC/SEC Challenge. That game was not always beautiful, but it was magical and did ascend to a higher level of passion far beyond pedestrian basketball. And best of all, Duke won, 67-66.

Not that it was easy, because Florida is a very good basketball team.

This game was nip and tuck early and with 8:02 to play, was tied, 19-19. And then Duke built some separation.

Caleb Foster hit a free throw to give the lead back to Duke, 20-19 and then Caleb Foster got the ball to Patrick Ngongba twice, first for a three, then for a layup to give Duke a 25-19 lead. Then the Boozers struck.

First Cameron hit a shot, then Cayden apparently tried for an alley-oop, but like Cameron’s recent attempt, it just went in the basket. Then Cameron hit another shot to give Duke an 11 point lead at 32-21.

Caleb Foster hit another shot with 2:18 left, followed by a Cameron Boozer layup that put Duke up 36-21.

Boogie Fland hit a three with:35 left and Duke took a 13 point lead into halftime, which set things up for a powerful second half from both teams. ‘

A bit of foreshadowing: Isaiah Evans, who we thought might have a big night, was 0-4 from deep. That follows a 1-5 showing against Howard and a 3-9 outing against the Razorbacks.

It’s a bit early to call it a slump, but Evans is not shooting well from outside lately.

Florida would rally quickly in the second half and cut the lead back to 40-38 with 14:15 to play.

From there, Florida would push and Duke would reclaim the momentum, rinsed and repeat.

Boogie Fland hit a pair of shots that tied the game at 59 with 2:39 left.

Then Cameron Boozer showed (again) why he is not just a terrific player but an unbelievable competitor. Everyone at this level is competitive obviously, but there is a hierarchy of talent and of competitive desire and Boozer is at or near the top of both.

Because with 2:10 left and Florida playing with immense heart, Boozer stepped up and hit a hugely important three.

Fland hit another basket with 1:49 to go, then Boozer got another layup.

Alex Condon got a pair of free throws after a Boozer foul to cut the lead to 64-63 and then Patrick Ngongba had the stones to take a huge three with :43 left – and missed.

Then Fland stepped up yet again and hit a three to put the Gators up 66-64 with :35 left.

Then Boozer got the ball to Evans, who remember had not hit a three all night and has not shot them well lately in general, hit a huge clutch three, and when he did, Cameron absolutely erupted.

Then, with just :04 left, Foster got the ball away from Fland and was fouled by Condon. He missed his free throw and Florida got a TO, baby!

it was Maliq time. Florida called a time out, then it was Maliq time. We were expecting a variation of the play Wake Forest ran to beat Memphis last week. It’s the same basic play that Valpo famously ran to beat Ole Miss in the NCAA tournament in 1998 and that Cincinnati ran in 1999 to beat Duke in the Great Alaska Shootout: a full court pass which is immediately shoveled to a shooter who immediately and unexpectedly streaks in for an open shot.

Only Brown wouldn’t allow it: Mr. Hands got his mitts on the ball and whatever Todd Golden drew up, Florida’s last-gasp attempt never happened.

We saw some amazing things in this game. First, we had no idea that Thomas Haugh was that good. He lit Duke up and the Blue Devils have some solid defenders, not least of all Brown. Haugh played all 40 minutes, shot 9-15 and also had 6 boards. He looked like a pro.

Boozer did his Boozer things: he finished with 29 points (10-21/3-9), 6 boards, 2 assist and a steal.

When you get past him, though, we’re seeing Ngongbo growing by leaps and bounds. Last year we thought he might redshirt to recover from his high school foot injury. Then by the end of the season, we saw a very cerebral player, though one we thought was somewhat limited athletically.

Well, scratch that too: in this game, against a massive frontcourt and an overall athletic team, Ngongba racked up 5 blocks, 11 points and 5 boards.

Ngongba is turning into an absolute beast and a great compliment to Boozer.

As impressive as his block game was, he wasn’t the only guy to get 5. We were shocked to see that Evans also threw back 5. Did anyone see that coming?

As we mentioned, this game hit a level of passion that was truly extraordinary. Both teams, in the old cliche, gave it all they had, left nothing on the floor, blah, blah, blah. Well, it was all true. Florida was just as deserving of winning as Duke. They were magnificent. Duke just made a few more plays at the end.

What a game! Duke fans will be talking about this one for awhile.

Notes – the worst part of the game was when Nik Khamenia went down and for a few minutes it looked pretty serious…fortunately he was able to come back in though he wasn’t overly effective…Cayden Boozer dribbled right into a defender at half court and lost the ball…highly uncharacteristic…the ferocity of this game was unforgettable…