Ohio State 81 • 2-0
Total 3-Ptr Rebounds
## Player FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA Off Def Tot PF TP A TO Blk Stl Min
00 Sullinger,Jared f 4-8 0-1 8-8 1 5 6 3 16 3 1 0 1 34
01 Thomas,Deshaun f 4-10 1-4 6-6 2 4 6 3 15 0 1 0 0 32
04 Craft,Aaron g 4-11 0-2 5-8 0 3 3 3 13 7 3 1 3 37
32 Smith,Jr,Lenzelle g 2-4 0-1 2-4 1 2 3 2 6 2 1 0 2 26
44 Buford,William g 7-15 2-5 5-6 0 6 6 0 21 3 0 1 1 40-
02 Sibert,Jordan 1-2 1-2 0-0 0 0 0 3 3 1 1 0 0 14
03 Scott,Shannon 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 3
12 Thompson,Sam 0-0 0-0 0-0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0+
30 Ravenel,Evan 3-3 0-0 1-2 1 0 1 2 7 0 0 0 1 14
Team 2 2 4
Totals 25-53 4-15 27-34 7 22 29 18 81 16 7 2 8 200
FG % 1st Half: 12-26 46.2%
3FG % 1st Half: 3-8 37.5%
FT % 1st Half: 8-10 80.0%
2nd half: 13-27 48.1%
2nd half: 1-7 14.3%
2nd half: 19-24 79.2%
Game: 25-53 47.2%
Game: 4-15 26.7%
Game: 27-34 79.4%
Deadball
Buckeyes Defeat FloridaCOLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Florida was hitting 3-pointers and the crowd was surprisingly quiet. It was a telling moment for Ohio State.
"It seemed like it was going to be a long night," Buckeyes guard Aaron Craft said.
But with William Buford scoring 21 points, No. 3 Ohio State survived the seventh-ranked Gators' quick start for an 81-74 win on Tuesday night.
Jared Sullinger added 16 points, Deshaun Thomas scored 15 and Craft had 13 points and seven assists for the Buckeyes (2-0), who forced 16 turnovers and hit 27 of 34 free throws to lead by double figures for most of the final 20 minutes.
"I didn't know how we were going to play tonight," coach Thad Matta said of his team, which has just one senior (Buford) and one junior. "During the drive in the morning I was saying, `What if? What if?' But I thought we played with good composure. They knocked us early by making shots and our guys did a nice job of continuing to play and weathering the storm."
Freshman Bradley Beal had 17 points, Kenny Boynton 15 and Patric Young and Erik Murphy 14 apiece for the Gators (1-1), who have never beaten a top-3 team in a true road game. Down as much as 16 points, they got as close as five with under a minute left before Buford sealed it with two foul shots.
"Obviously, we got off to a really good start, which I think you want to do on the road," Florida coach Billy Donovan said. "The difference was our defense in the first half was really, really good. For a period of time there, shots were not going in for us and we needed to have a better resiliency in terms of understanding that we have to go back and play defense."
The game matched teams that won their conferences a year ago but were trying to replace three lost starters.
One of the new starters for Ohio State is Craft, a sixth man as a freshman last season who usually ended up playing 35 minutes a game. Donovan said the difference in the game was the pesty Craft.
"Clearly he dominated the game from start to finish," he said. "He was the whole key. He physically manhandled our guys - steals, strips, loose balls and drives."
The Gators jumped out to an 11-4 lead and the Buckeyes appeared to be back on their heels. By scoring 13 of the last 18 points of the half, they took a 35-32 lead.
With Sullinger controlling the lane, Buford scoring from both outside and inside, and Craft seeming to get a hand on every Florida pass and have a hand on every Ohio State assist, they pulled away.
"We did a good job adjusting as a team and getting it under control," Craft said.
Ohio State scored the first five points of the half for an eight-point edge and never let the Gators cut into the lead until the final minute.
Still, Sullinger picked up his third foul with 13:58 left and soon after headed to the bench. With Evan Ravenel filling in and Buford and Craft setting the pace on offense, the Buckeyes didn't blink at the loss of their preseason All-American.
"Their guards are just terrific," said Beal, a national high school player of the year last season. "From Aaron Craft on to Buford and all the others, they all contributed."
Ravenel had two baskets in a 6-1 run for a 50-38 lead. Buford scored six in a row for Ohio State to swell the lead to 59-44.
A rested Sullinger then returned to the lineup.
The foul line helped the Buckeyes maintain their advantage the rest of the way. Florida was just 13 of 21.
"Florida stung us early," Matta said. "As young as we are, we were constantly making adjustments out of timeouts. We kept playing and offensively we did a better job of executing. We did not play perfect. I told the coaches, we're going to look at this and there's a lot of things we have to learn. But for our program, we beat a great basketball team tonight."
Ohio State has won eight of the 12 meetings, but the Gators captured the big one. They beat the Buckeyes 84-75 to clinch their second straight national championship on April 2, 2007.
Sullinger said the win didn't mean much.
"As young as we are, we've only played two games. They've only played two games," he said. "We're only going to get better and so are they. It's just a stepping stone."
NEW YORK -- She wasn't allowed on the team bus. Back then, Army's game-day transportation was considered government-issue military transport, designed for cadets only.
So Mickie Krzyzewski, only a handful of years into her marriage, would pile her two daughters (the youngest, Jamie, would be born later) into the Toyota station wagon, and follow her husband and his team to games.
Forty-two years of marriage later, the transportation has improved slightly, the stage has grown exponentially and the guy with the one-letter last name has become Norm -- everyone knows his name.
"He always thought he would be a coach, but I don't think he knew what that meant,'' she said. "It didn't mean all of this.''
All this would be a scene befitting college basketball's royalty, which is what Mike Krzyzewski officially is.
Duke's 74-69 win against Michigan State was Krzyzewski's 903rd career win, making him the all-time winningest coach in men's college basketball history.
Swarmed by a paparazzi crew usually reserved for Beyonce in this town, Krzyzewski crossed the court as the buzzer sounded, making his way to the television table to embrace ESPN analyst Bob Knight, his college coach, his mentor and the man whose record he had broken.
Knight grabbed a teary-eyed Krzyzewski by the scruff of the neck and whispered into his ear while the crowd and media surrounded them.
Later, Krzyzewski said he told Knight that he loved him, to which Knight replied, "Boy, you've done pretty good for a kid who couldn't shoot."
"I think that means he loves me,'' Krzyzewski quipped.
That Knight was here was just one of the fortuitous moments to make a meaningful evening even more poignant.
The misfortune of the NBA lockout allowed Duke's former players to flood a makeshift reception in the bowels of Madison Square Garden. Bobby Hurley, Carlos Boozer, Grant Hill and Shane Battier were just a few of the Blue Devils' alums to gather and embrace their former coach.
The game also was played at the Garden, the game's grandest court and a building a mere 55 miles from the U.S. Military Academy, where a cadet -- just three hours after graduating -- took a bride and began a life he couldn't dream of.
"It's all so weird -- weird because this was never a goal,'' Mickie Krzyzewski said. "We got this, 903 or whatever you want to call it, while we were pursuing other goals. When we got started, we had no clue what we were doing.''
Sports fans like numbers. We are, at some level, slaves to them.
Statistics tell us who won, who is better and who is best.
Yet a man whose entire adult life has been defined by numbers has, like his wife, trouble making sense of 903.
It was only fitting that Krzyzewski would break his mentor's record with Bob Knight calling the game courtside at Madison Square Garden.
"I don't know what it means yet,'' Mike Krzyzewski said honestly. "I coach every game the same way. Maybe when it's all over, I'll be able to comprehend it all.''
Certainly it means he is unrivaled in his success.
In 35 years as a head coach, Krzyzewski has had just four losing seasons and none since 1983, a run of almost incomprehensible success.
He's won four national titles and made 11 Final Fours, driven by the opposite of what most people would expect.
"I'm more into not losing than winning,'' he said.
Four and 11.
Again, those are only numbers. Success in the modern sports era doesn't come easily. There are too many obstacles and challenges, and the chronic evolution of the game can leave the less innovative far behind.
Yet Krzyzewski has won pre-3-pointer and post, before the one-and-done and after.
"It's more than numbers; it's leadership,'' said his assistant coach and former player Jeff Capel. "He's been given this amazing opportunity to lead young people and he's run with it. When you're around Coach, you learn basketball, but you learn about life.''
The message Krzyzewski tried to deliver this week was to ignore the noise. It was "business as usual,'' Capel said. Krzyzewski used what his assistant called "incredible tunnel vision" to concentrate solely on Michigan State.
He told his players to do the same. Except that's an easy message for a 64-year-old to digest, and an entirely different one for teenagers and guys in their early 20s.
Duke looked tight early against Michigan State, perhaps too aware of the moment.
"Coach told us it was just a normal game, but you know it's hard not to think about it. You want to be part of the team that does it,'' guard Andre Dawkins said. "Then last night, coach Knight came to the hotel to talk to us. He said if we didn't win, he was going to run practice for the next two days, so that's why I decided to go out and score some points.''
Dawkins fortunately scored more than a few. He dropped 26 on the Spartans, including an unconscious 6-of-10 from the arc. Coupled with 20 from Seth Curry, it was more than enough for the Blue Devils to get the win and put the milestone in the books.
Or perhaps more accurately, the albatross out of the way.
Once No. 903 was secured, Krzyzewski admitted the week hadn't necessarily been a lot of fun. There was too much concentration on him and too little focus on his team.
"I'm tired of talking about me,'' he said. "I look in the mirror and I don't see Brad Pitt. I'm more of a realist. I know I'm a good coach, but I also know I've had really good guys and we fight like hell to win.''
Mostly there has been too much trying to define a man's accomplishments by a number.
Or at least the wrong number.
"There are numbers that evoke such emotion and meaning, but for us 903 isn't one of them,'' Mickie Krzyzewski said.
Three, she pointed out, that's a big one. The Krzyzewskis have three daughters.
Or seven. There are seven grandchildren now.
Then there's 11. That was the number Bobby Hurley wore, Mickie remembered, and 33 belonged to Grant Hill.
"But 903? What does it mean?'' she said. "It doesn't really mean anything.''
Except when Mike Krzyzewski went into the crowd to hug his family -- his older brother Bill, a fireman who's plagued by bad knees and a bad back, his girls, sons-in-law, grandchildren and wife -- Mickie was holding a sign.
"903 and Kounting,'' it read.
The Toyota station wagon is long gone.
The road continues.
Bob Knight, who held the all-time coaching wins record until it was broken by Mike Krzyzewski, released the following statement:
After reading about Roger Banister and the Four Minute Mile, I thought it would be neat to be the first coach to win 900 games. Once I reached that, I was hoping Mike would be the first person to surpass it. I also think it is neat for a coach and his former player to have the opportunity to win this many games while each one was coaching at nearly the same time. He made great contributions to our Army team, as a player and has been a great example as a coach of how to do things the right way. There is no one I respect more for the way he went about coaching and following the rules than Mike. The history of college basketball has had no better coach than Mike Krzyzewski.
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