Can UConn shock the world again? Huskies prepare to face Duke on anniversary of first title win

WASHINGTON — The most devout of Connecticut basketball fans undoubtedly still have Jim Nantz’s final call on the night of March 29, 1999 committed to memory.

“Pressure from Jones…Langdon trips, and UConn has done it! El-Amin comes over and says, ‘we shocked the world!’ Folks, you gotta believe, because just when people say you can’t, you can, and UConn has won the national championship in its first attempt in the final!”

UConn defeated Duke on that unforgettable Florida night inside what is now Tropicana Field, establishing itself as a college basketball power with its first national championship and solidifying 77-74 as a set of numbers Husky fans still reference with pride and passion over a quarter-century later. Now, 27 years to the day that Jim Calhoun’s all-time program build was punctuated, UConn and Duke will meet again, this time with a trip to the Final Four on the line.

Sunday’s East regional final will be just the tenth time in which the Huskies and Blue Devils have lined up opposite from one another. Duke holds a 5-4 advantage in the all-time series, and has not lost in the series since April 3, 2004. However, it is UConn who holds arguably the two biggest victories, the aforementioned national championship game and the Final Four triumph in San Antonio that led to a second title.

Things have changed considerably for both programs since the last time they faced off in 2014. UConn now has six championships, one more than Duke. UConn is seeking a third title in four seasons, Duke’s last net-cutting in April took place four months after defeating the Huskies in the Meadowlands, a drought that now spans 11 years. But much like the fateful 1999 encounter whose anniversary will be celebrated Sunday, Duke will be a considerable favorite, leaving UConn to channel its inner Khalid El-Amin in order to book a flight to Indianapolis.

One person close to both Husky teams then and now believes history can repeat itself.

“I love this group,” Tom Moore, the former UConn assistant coach turned general manager, said Friday after the Huskies defeated Michigan State in the Sweet 16 to set up the renewal of the rivalry with the Blue Devils. “I love how this group feels about themselves right now and the belief they have.”

Moore also sees a lot of the 1999 team in this iteration of the Huskies, drawing similar parallels between a regional final loss to North Carolina the year before and this UConn team’s resurgence as seniors Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed, Jr. begin the final hours of their collegiate careers.

“The mindset going in was we were, almost like Khalid said, we’re gonna shock the world,” Moore said of UConn’s first championship team. “They were a resilient, tough group, and they’d been sort of gunning for that game since the year before, when we lost to Carolina in ’98, in the Elite 8, I think they felt it was their destiny to get there in ’99. (A) very determined group, but very similar to this group…tough, really tough, really determined.”

“That team, I think was down at halftime in ten games that year, and I think they might have won all of them. This team has been maybe more consistent throughout the season.”

The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament this year much like it was in 1999, Duke will enter Sunday’s game the likely favorite, even if not by as wide a margin as was the case then. Moore recalled the lack of faith among the public in the Huskies, but dispelled a similar notion with regard to this group, highlighting the desire of Karaban and Reed to end their careers on the highest of highs.

“It’s starting to feel that way,” Moore said when asked if he felt a sense of the undeniable among the two all-Big East seniors. “I can see it in little ways in both of them. They’re definitely more vocal in the locker rooms…pregame, halftime, postgame, coming in and out of huddles. The two of them are getting more and more vocal.”

“I think they think about it. It starts to hit home once you get to this tournament. After the Big East tournament, you get to this, it starts to hit home.”

Duke has been tested twice in its tournament experience this month, first by Siena as the Saints looked to become just the third 16 seed to defeat a No. 1, and most recently by St. John’s in Friday’s regional semifinal. Moore, while not on the sidelines like he once was, offered his scouting report and analysis, highlighting what needs to break the right ways for the Huskies to slay the dragon.

“I just think we have to play our regular game,” he said. “If we shoot the ball well, hold up on the backboard and we limit turnovers like we’ve been doing recently, I think we can beat anyone in the country if we shoot the ball well from three.”

Karaban was 17 months old the last time UConn defeated Duke. He has never played the Blue Devils, but as a student of the game, is fully aware of what a win on this stage, against this opponent, would symbolize.

“It would mean everything to me,” Karaban said. “We’re not gonna make it any bigger because we’re playing Duke, but it’s really just whatever we’ve gotta do to win the game to advance to the Final Four. That’s the reason why I came back. The reason why I came back is to win.”