UConn edges Duke

SAN ANTONIO -- With a stunning end to a game that looked lost, Connecticut proved it can win the close ones, too.

Led by All-American Emeka Okafor, UConn scored 12 straight points down the stretch Saturday night to rally for a 79-78 victory over Duke and move one game away from the national title.

Okafor, who spent almost all of the first half on the bench in foul trouble, scored five points, grabbed three rebounds and shut down Duke's offense over the last four minutes, after Duke had taken a 75-67 lead.

The 6-foot-10 center, who can do a little of everything, finished with 18 points and seven rebounds.

Duke, which led almost the entire game, walked away a loser in its first appearance at the Final Four since 2001, when the Blue Devils won it all.

Connecticut hadn't been challenged in the tournament at all, winning its four games by an average of about 17 points.

The Blue Devils changed that.

Saddled with two fouls in the first four minutes that sent UConn coach Jim Calhoun into a tizzy against the refs, Okafor sat on the bench and didn't score a point before halftime.

Duke took advantage, ran the ball and pushed its lead to double figures.

In the end, though, it was the Blue Devils' foul trouble that did them in. All three of their centers -- Shelden Williams, Shavlik Randolph and Nick Horvath -- fouled out, and by the end, there was nobody to contain Okafor.

He gave UConn a 76-75 lead with 26 seconds left on a typically relentless sequence, missing a shot that bounced around the rim for a couple seconds, but grabbing the rebound for an easy stick back.

Duke came down and guard J.J. Redick drove the lane, but guess who was there? Okafor, and he stuck a hand in to break up that scoring chance.

UConn's Rashad Anderson hit two free throws to push the lead to three, and after Redick barely grazed the rim with a 3-point attempt that would have tied it, Okafor got the rebound and made a free throw to ice the game.

Chris Duhon banked in a 3-pointer at the buzzer to cut the final margin to one.