I once commented to a Kentucky fan wearing a UK shirt that it was almost perfect, except they forgot the D at the front and the E at the end. He did not appreciate my humor. Kentucky’s hate for Duke runs almost as deep as that of Duke’s biggest rival, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), and it all goes back to the Duke Kentucky NCAA Region Finals game of 1992.
It was a game for true sports fans– fast paced, high stakes, high scoring, turnovers, steals, breathtaking plays, and an incendiary foul, the memory of which causes any Kentucky fan to go apoplectic to this day. Two highly ranked teams coached by college basketball’s rising stars- Mike Krzyzewski for Duke and Rick Pitino for Kentucky—vied for the chance to play in the Final Four. Forty-five playing minutes of non-stop athletic skill, passion, and drama– it all came down to a final unlikely and legendary shot in overtime. Wikipedia has its own page dedicated to “The Shot.” The Bleacher Report ranks the game as #2 of the top 25 NCAA games of all time. Only the Duke/UNLV 1991 semi-final game ranks higher, the #1 NCAA game of all time. In fact, five of the top 25 NCAA games of all time include a Duke basketball team, a testament to the legendary coaching ability of Mike Krzyzewski, commonly referred to as Coach K.
Some say The Shot should never have happened because Christian Laettner should have been thrown out of the game before that play, but that was not the call and history can’t be rewritten. The Shot lives on as an illustration of the triumph of skill, perseverance, and belief under immense pressure. The ultimate play on a path to back-to-back NCAA championships that had not been achieved since UCLA’s feat under the legendary Coach John Wooden in 1972 and 1973.
My husband, David, and I almost missed the game. We had to go to a party, probably celebrating someone’s engagement or upcoming baby- we did a lot of those celebrations in those days. I’m sure that it was something we felt was impossible to miss, because otherwise no exception for real time watching of all Duke NCAA tournament games would have been made in the house of Payne. Between the two of us, we spent seven years in Durham, North Carolina, each obtaining Duke undergrad and law degrees and watching lots of Duke basketball live in Cameron Indoor Stadium. We have searched high and low for sports bars around the world to watch Duke NCAA basketball games live. I remember cheering wildly in a small bar on St. Martin when Duke redeemed its 1990 NCAA tournament final blowout loss to UNLV by beating them in the incredible 1991 NCAA semi-final.[1]
We arrived at this party in Washington D.C. in the Spring of 1992, and I was under strict orders not to discuss any live updates I might hear with David as we were going to watch the game later at home. He wanted to be surprised- to feel like he was watching it live. Maybe we were even a bit overconfident that the game was going to go Duke’s way. Duke was, after all, the reigning NCAA champion and the past season had been one of Duke’s best. Their record going into the tournament was 25-2 with only two losses. Duke had been ranked as the top team in the nation every week of the regular season. But, as everyone who watches the NCAA tournament knows, anything can happen. That’s why they call in March Madness and what makes it so exciting and fun to watch.
Sometime into the evening, David became aware that someone had turned the television on in a side room to watch the game. It was during the first half. David’s plan to wait until later to watch the game was foiled. He was immediately sucked in and called me over with a silent wave. We surreptitiously watched the game unfold.
The two basketball teams in the match-up were exceptional. Kentucky was coming off a two-year postseason ban due to major recruiting violations committed by Rick Pitino’s predecessor, Eddie Sutton. The teams four seniors, three of whom were Kentucky natives, had remained loyal to Kentucky and stayed with the program despite the bans. They were Richie Farmer, Deron Feldhaus, John Pelphrey and Sean Woods, referred to as “The Unforgettables” by Kentucky fans. Sean Woods described his commitment to Kentucky as follows, “I’ve been a Big Blue fan since birth.” The Wildcats’ biggest star, however, was sophomore Jamal Mashburn who would go on to have a 12-year career in the NBA, and later become an ESPN NBA analyst.
Duke was entering the game as the returning NCAA champions. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill were its key players returning from the 1991 Blue Devils championship team. Christian Laettner would be the NCAA college player of the year and go on to win a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics as part of The Dream Team. All three players would go on to play in the NBA. Grant Hill became the most celebrated NBA player of that Duke 1992 team, playing in the NBA for 19 years, earning the NBA Co-Rookie of the year in 1995 and was a 7x NBA All-Star. Thomas Hill, Antonio Lang, and Brian Davis were three underrated, but incredible and dependable players who held the team together in close games. Duke won the ACC tournament in 1992 defeating UNC by twenty points, 94-74, to enter the NCAA tournament on a high note alongside its 25-2 winning regular season record.
The game was about halfway through the first half and tied. Duke’s transition game was fast and furious. The pace and intensity of the game almost jumped off the television. Bobby Hurley’s three-point shot making prowess was only exceeded by his innate, superlative passing ability. An alley-oop pass to Grant Hill from Hurley where Hill catches the ball mid-air above the basket and slam dunks it before touching the ground felt like a choreographed dance move in the Bolshoi Ballet. Hill’s grace in rising and flying above the court was unmatched in this game.
Christian Laettner with his poised follow through, becomes the all-time leading scorer in NCAA history in the first half of the game, a record among many that he still owns today. But Kentucky’s defense was fierce. Famous for its Wildcat defense, Rick Pitino said, “If our press doesn’t work, we won’t win.” In the first half of the game, Kentucky forced 11 turnovers leading to 15 points, while Duke forced 5 turnovers leading to 5 points. At halftime, Duke led 50-45, shooting 72 percent for field goals versus Kentucky’s 50 percent.
Our plan to watch the game on a delayed basis at our home was not going to work. We could not miss the second half of this exciting game. But, like fools, we had planned to meet our friends, Jim and Julie, for a late dinner at a local bar and restaurant. I honestly don’t know what we were thinking when we planned this evening. We left the party soon after the first half of the game concluded and set out to meet our friends. We turned the game on the radio so that we wouldn’t miss a play.
The second half started out strongly in Duke’s favor. The Wildcats only hit one basket in the first eight minutes of the second half. Duke is up 56 to 48 with thirty-two minutes to go. The fast pace continues. The radio commentator notes that Duke’s Brian Davis lost a contact under the basket after a series of multiple missed attempts and under-the-basket collisions. Players crawl under the basket looking for the lost lens. At this point in the game, Duke is out rebounding Kentucky 25 to 11. The plays continue rapidly as Duke builds its lead to 64-55. Kentucky’s big man Martinez fouls out and Hurley hits a three pointer to bring Duke’s lead to double digits, 67-55. The plays continue to astound as each team is playing to win, knowing that otherwise it would be the last college game for many of them.
At this point, we careen into the restaurant parking lot, park the car, and sprint in. We beeline to the bar where the game is playing, and a crowd is cheering loudly. Mashburn has come alive, and the game is now 67-57. He hits a three pointer that brings KY back and Duke is only up by seven points, 67-60. The game continues wildly, several baskets made and after another Kentucky three pointer, Duke is only up by five points 73-68. Laettner takes the ball down the court to the basket and is roughly fouled by freshman Aminu Timberlake. As Laettner steps over Timberlake, he stomps on his chest in pointed retribution for the foul. The commentators discuss the foul. “That was a nasty situation. I don’t know if Christian Laettner did it on purpose or not,” says one commentator. “Yeah, he did,” emphatically responds the other. People at the bar are booing loudly. Laettner is called for a technical foul.
Laettner shoots two baskets first because he was fouled. Amidst loud boos in the stadium, he calmly makes both baskets easily. Swoosh. Swoosh. Richie Farmer for Kentucky shoots the Kentucky technical shots and only makes one of the two baskets. The score is 75-69. Duke makes two more baskets and is suddenly up by ten points again with seven and half minutes to go. The minutes fly by with non-stop action as Kentucky is on a run and their scoring heats up. Incredulously, the game is tied at 81-81 with just over five minutes left. Kentucky’s three key players Woods, Pelphrey and Brown each have four fouls.
Players race up and down the court making miraculous plays and baskets until the game it tied 91-91 with two minutes to go. Duke scores 2 points. Then Kentucky scores two points. It’s 93-93 and Hurley has the ball. He takes it down the court, shoots, and misses. Kentucky calls a time out and the referees confer on how much time is left on the clock. Eight tenths of a second is put on the clock and Mashburn inbounds the ball for Kentucky. If Kentucky scores, they will win the game. Kentucky fans are screaming wildly at the bar. David and I clench our teeth hoping for Kentucky to fail. The inbound pass to Pelphrey is knocked out by Duke and no time remains. The game heads to overtime.
We haven’t even let our friends know that we are at the restaurant. We can’t miss any more of this game. Overtime starts and we are glued to the bar watching the big screen tv among our new friends and enemies. Grant Hill takes the ball to the basket and misses. Pelphrey hits a massive three pointer for Kentucky. Duke heads back down the court and is called for an offensive foul by Brian Davis who fouls out of the game. The game is tilting quickly in Kentucky’s favor. Kentucky has the ball and Thomas Hill steals, passes to Hurley who shoots for three and misses. Grant Hill rebounds and quickly passes the ball back to Hurley who scores three to tie the game, 96-96. Pelphrey scores two for Kentucky. Then Laettner takes the ball back down the court with two minutes remaining in the game and is fouled by Mashburn, his fourth foul. Laettner makes both free throws to tie the game again, 98-98.
With 1:46 left in the game it’s Kentucky’s ball. Woods takes on Hurley and misses. Duke has the ball. With only five seconds left on the shot clock, Hill passes it to Laettner who makes an off balance shot that miraculously drops. The announcer yells, “How did he get that shot off?” Duke leads 100-98. Mashburn shoots, makes the two-point basket, and is fouled. He makes his free throw bringing the score to 101-100 for Kentucky. Kentucky calls time out. With 19.6 seconds left, it is Grant Hill to Hurley to Laettner who is fouled by Mashburn, who fouls out of the game. Laettner again makes both free throws and Duke is up 102-101. Time out for Kentucky to formulate their final play.
With 7.8 seconds left on the clock. Kentucky inbounds the ball and Woods quickly scores for Kentucky 103-102. With only 2.1 seconds left on the clock, Duke needs a miracle. The announcer asks, “Will the dream die here for Duke?” Duke needs a shot, one that will go down in history. The Shot unfurls. Unguarded on the inbounds play, Grant Hill threw the ball 79 feet to Laettner who is at the opposite court foul line. Laettner dribbles right, then turns left to put up the buzzer beating, game winning shot to give Duke a 104-103 victory. The shot is eerily reminiscent of his buzzer beating overtime shot against Connecticut that advanced Duke to the 1990 NCAA Final Four. We scream loudly and jump up and down wildly at the bar, high fiving complete strangers, in total amazement at this final play.
We rush to find our friends, who were forgiving of our lateness until Jim, who went to UNC, heard the reason. To this day, I still can’t believe Laettner calmly dribbled the ball in a fake to the right before he let loose the game winning shot to his left, with less than two seconds to seal the game winning play. It was the culmination of thousands of hours of practice, playing games, and a patience and confidence that is rarely witnessed. And, it could have gone either way. Laettner finished the game with 31 points and seven rebounds. He was a perfect 10-10 from the field and 10-10 from the free throw line that night. His only imperfect moment was his intentional foul on Timberlake, which drew a technical foul for his team.
Duke went on to beat Indiana in the semi-final game in another tight match. A bittersweet victory for Coach K to beat his former mentor, Bobby Knight, in his last attempt for an NCAA championship. And then, Duke went on to beat Michigan’s Fabulous Five by twenty points to win its second NCAA championship in a row—recreating a feat that had not been accomplished since 1973 by John Wooden.
So, now you know more about The Shot than you might ever have wanted to know. You might hate Duke more, or hate Duke less, or not care about Duke at all. But I hope my memory has increased your appreciation of how a single play can clinch the biggest of games.
As Doug Boyd says in the last stanza of his not famous, but hilarious song “1992”
’92 is ancient history
In the NCAA
But the ghost of Christian Laettner
Haunts Kentucky to this day
[1] Notably, Duke’s win over UNLV in the 1991 semi-final NCAA game stopped UNLV from winning back-to-back NCAA championships for 1990 and 1991.
A Year at Stanford 