Kyle Singler scored 19 points and Brian Zoubek rebounded Gordon Hayward’s miss with 3.6 seconds left Monday night to help Duke beat Butler 61-59 for the NCAA national title.
The Blue Devils (35-5) snapped Butler’s 25-game winning streak and brought the long-awaited fourth national title back home to Carolina and the Cameron Crazies.
The “Big Three” (Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith) won the title for coach Mike Krzyzewski, his first championship since 2001 and the fourth overall, tying Coach K with Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list.
Playing against the Bulldogs and working against a crowd of 70,390 with very few pockets of Duke fans, the Blue Devils persevered.
They never led by more than six, but never fell behind after Singler hit a 3-pointer with 13:03 left for a 47-43 lead.
The Blue Devils won with defense. Holding the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and contesting every possession as tenaciously as Butler, which allowed 60 points for the first time since February. Zoubek, the 7-foot-1 center, finished with two blocks, 10 rebounds and too many altered shots to count, but also came out to trap the Butler guards and disrupt an offense that was already struggling.
They won with some clutch shooting, including Singler’s 3-for-6 effort from 3-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the second half until Zoubek’s intentional miss.
Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.