"I thought Chris Duhon, for an 18-year-old leading our team, handling the ball, was sensational," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Duhon also made a critical play with four minutes, 59 seconds remaining when he drove toward the basket and somehow floated the ball over 7-feet-1 Arizona center Loren Woods. At the time Woods already had four blocks and his play at both ends of the court had sparked another Wildcats rally that cut a one-time 68-59 Duke lead to 68-65.

Not only did the shot fall, but Duhon was fouled by Woods, his fourth. That severely cut the big man's aggressiveness on the court and was one reason Shane Battier was able to convert a follow dunk over Woods and a driving dunk a couple minutes later.

"I was just trying to go out and help the team any way I could," said Duhon, a freshman from Slidell, La.

-- Senior Writer Dan Wetzel

Dominant Woods

He had a reputation for being a little soft, a finesse guy that could look pretty, but might not be the big man you build champions around. Whomever believed that conventional wisdom of Woods was proven wrong Monday night.

It wasn't just the 22 points, the 11 rebounds or the 4 blocks, it was the fearsome way Woods controlled the game at both ends of the court for long stretches.

"He dominated for a while there," said Krzyzewski. "We couldn't stop him. And he seemed very poised. He had great composure. It's the best I've seen him play, even on tape."

For Woods the chance to change his reputation was nice, but it didn't soothe the pain of the 82-72 loss.

"Like I've said since the beginning of the tournament or even before that, it's not about me," said Woods, a senior out of St. Louis who averaged 13.0 points and 6.3 rebounds a game. "I've played within the team the last three, four months.

"Two months ago Coach Olson just said, 'do what we ask you to do and that's it.' Ever since then I've been trying to do what the coaches have asked of me, what my teammates have asked of me."

-- D.W.

The winningest

It is a somewhat misleading statistic since college basketball seasons are longer now than ever, but Battier leaves Duke as the college player with the most career wins. The national player of the year won 133 games (against 15 losses) the past four seasons. The previous highs were by the senior class at Kentucky in 1998 and 1999, each of which won 132 games.

While other players have had better winning percentages or even won three NCAA titles, Krzyzewski isn't ready to take anything away from Battier.

"In his career," said Krzyzewski, "our team won 133 games and lost 15. Are you kidding me?"

-- D.W.

All Final Four

The United States Basketball Writer's All-Final Four team included Arizona's Richard Jefferson and Woods and Duke's Mike Dunleavy, Jason Williams and Battier. The Most Outstanding Player award went to Battier. -- D.W.

Repeat?

As the last team to repeat as national champions -- 1991, 1992 -- Duke is already on the hot seat for next season. The key losses are Battier, the national player of the year, and Nate James, a solid role player, but the early departures of Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer also are a possibility. Both have said they will stay, but NBA scouts aren't convinced.

Should everyone come back and the Blue Devils add Rutgers transfer Dahntay Jones, a smooth 6-5 wing, 6-3 freshman Daniel Ewing of Sugarland (Texas) Willowridge and big man Nick Horvath who sat out due to injury, then Duke will again be a team to beat.

"We'll have experience and a lot of scoring with the addition of Dahntay Jones," said Boozer. "And we'll be pretty good defensively."

"Hopefully," said Krzyzewski, "we'll come close to having the camaraderie we had this year and the leadership. I think we'll be very good again. We have to replace the leadership Shane and Nate gave us. That's something you can't, like, figure out how it's going to be."

-- D.W.

Walton downplays injury

Luke Walton might have had the most gutsy performance of anyone Monday night, when he had four points and four assists with only one turnover in 16 minutes. All with a broken right thumb.

In their typically coy fashion, Arizona officials did not reveal the nature of Walton's injury until Monday. It occurred last Tuesday during a McHale Center practice and required the use of a short, soft cast.

"The depth maybe got to us," said Wildcats coach Lute Olson. "When you get to this kind of a game with these kinds of players that you're going against, you need to be fully healthy."

Over the last few days, Walton only hinted that the "tape" on his cast was affecting him. After the title game, he confirmed that he had been having trouble gripping the basketball, but he mostly wanted to downplay the significance of the injury.

"Tonight, we'd make runs but we could never hit those big shots," Walton said. "We could never get over that hump in the second half. It's rough when you lose. You always look for little things, but there's no excuse. They just outplayed us down the stretch.

"We didn't get winded. We were in great shape. We knew that the thing we needed to do better was not let them penetrate in the lane. We weren't going to come off the shooters, but if someone penetrates the lane you've got to collapse on them. (Mike) Dunleavy was just hitting huge shots."

-- Staff Writer Rob Miech

Not just hot air

Woods and Jefferson were particularly eloquent in their review of how they handled an assortment of obstacles this season, including the death of Olson's wife Bobbi, and what they learned from the setbacks.

Olson ended his press conference with glassy eyes and a measured tone in his voice.

"I hope that what they had to say, those statements, are true, and that a lot of the guys feel the same way, that life ... can be tough," Olson said. "It's how you get through it and how you react to it that's the important thing.

"They've been a really, really good team to work with. They've been receptive. They've been coachable. They've been together. I think the adversity has made them stronger and even closer, I think, as a team."

-- R.M.

Goose eggs

When reserve Wildcats Eugene Edgerson and Justin Wessel both fail to score, it usually means a tough game for Arizona. That proved true Monday when neither scored a point -- or even attempted a shot -- against Duke.

That only happened two other times this season, in a 74-75 defeat to Mississippi State on Dec. 30 and in a 78-76 victory against California in Berkeley on March 10.

The Blue Devils' subs outscored the Wildcats' 18-4.

-- R.M.