NCAA East: Florida downs Duke, 87-78

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Florida lost the lead, but kept its composure and ended Duke's East Regional domination. <br><br>Brett Nelson scored 15 points and Mike Miller added 10, including four crucial free

Friday, March 24th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Florida lost the lead, but kept its composure and ended Duke's East Regional domination.

Brett Nelson scored 15 points and Mike Miller added 10, including four crucial free throws in the final minutes, as the fifth-seeded Gators upset the top-seeded Blue Devils 87-78 on Friday night.

How big was it? Duke (29-5) had won 26 straight games in the East Regional since 1986 and was 21-3 as the top seed. The Gators (27-7) will play the Seton Hall-Oklahoma State winner for a spot in the Final Four.

The Blue Devils lost because they couldn't shoot straight from long range, converting just 3-of-19 3-pointers after going 2-for-17 against Kansas in the second round.

Shane Battier led Duke with 20 points, 15 in the second half. Chris Carrawell finished with 16 and freshman point guard Jason Williams added 13 on 6-of-20 shooting, 1-for-9 from beyond the arc.

Duke's loss left the tournament with only one remaining top seed, Michigan State in the Midwest Regional. Arizona was knocked out in the second round in the West, and Stanford was eliminated in the second round in the South.

Duke, which went five minutes without a basket in the first half, went cold again when the game was on the line, missing six 3s and not getting a basket for the final 4:45.

The Blue Devils, who committed 22 turnovers, were not bothered by the Florida press. They simply lost on their own mistakes.

Still, they seemed set to finally take control after Williams hit a 3-pointer with 6:37 left for a 73-66 lead.

But Brett Nelson hit a 3 for Florida and Teddy Dupay's three-point play tied it for the 12th time, 74-74, with 4:45 left.

Another 3 by Dupay and a basket by Brent Wright gave the Gators the lead for good, 79-78 with 2:08 to go.

Trailing 40-33 at the half, Duke scored seven straight points in the first minute of the second period to tie the game for the fifth time.

Nate James missed a chance at a three-point play to start the run, but Battier converted the third offensive rebound off the missed free throw and then hit a layup for the tie.

With the game tied at 7, Williams set up Boozer's dunk and Carrawell hit a 3-pointer as Duke threatened to pull away against an ineffective Florida press.

Nelson changed that in a hurry. He hit consecutive 3s and turned the press into an effective strategy, forcing a turnover by Mike Dunleavy that led to another 3, this one by Major Parker from the left corner, the fourth in a row for the Gators.

A baseline jumper by Nelson boosted Florida's lead to 20-13 with 12:05 left.

Duke fought back with a seven-point run on a jumper in the lane by Carrawell, a bank shot off the glass by James, and three free throws to tie it at 30 with 5:00 to go.

But the Blue Devils, who had a dozen turnovers and shot just 35.7 percent in the half, fell behind at the break, failing to get a field goal for the final 6:28.

Worse yet, the Blue Devils were 2-for-8 from 3-point range in the half.

The Blue Devils even fouled up their last chance, failing to get a shot off before the shot clock expired in the final seconds of the half.
The Gators, who had six steals, had 11 turnovers but hit half of their 32 shots.