Ok, so the NCAA national basketball championship is over. Duke, the favorite, wins by ten over Arizona 82-72. Despite the double digit win the game was very close. Arizona, who played brilliantly offensively and defensively against last years national champion, Michigan State in the Final Four, looks like a completely different team against the Blue Devils. The Wildcats could not get into a rhythm from the perimeter and because of their reliance on jump shots, they couldn’t catch up to Duke.

The game itself was great to watch. After the first half there was no clarity as to who would come out on top once the final buzzer sounded. Duke as always, relied heavily on the three point shot. When the three point bombs go the Blue Devils way they are pretty much impossible to beat. For every two-point basket you make, they come right back, pull up for three, and not only match your basket but get one more point than you did for the previous shot your team just made. And if you shot a three, they’ll match it.

But, if you can figure out how to guard the perimeter against the Dukies, you can stay in the game, which is exactly what Maryland did for most of their Final four loss against Duke, and the same thing Arizona tried to emulate and for the most part succeeded in. The game was back and forward for a long time. No team could take a commanding lead to knock the confidence out of the other team. Duke could not get their three point attempts to drop, which is what kept Arizona in the game, but despite being undersized, managed to get their points from the inside.

Arizona on the other hand, wasn’t getting any constant scoring from their guards, Gilbert Arenas and Jason Gardner, but 7 foot 1 center Loren Woods, who many analyst have dubbed way to soft for his size, played outstanding in the first half, getting great position on the Duke players who he oversized by many inches. Woods would finish with 22 points, 8 rebounds and 4 blocks, numbers that would have gotten him consideration for player of the game had his Wildcats come out on top. But they didn’t come out on top. And why is that?

Was it the best player in the nation, Jason Williams who led the way? Kind of. Was it the senior leadership of Shane Battier, who provided points and solid defense? In a way. The true hero of the game was Duke sophomore Mike Dunleavy Jr., who is the son of Portland Trailblazers head coach; you guessed it Mike Dunleavy Sr. Dunleavy Jr. calmly stepped up and drained three three-pointers in a span of 45 seconds. He would hit four three pointers in the second half, and five total, helping Duke get the commanding lead that they could not get throughout the game. Besides helping Duke get a commanding lead, Dunleavy’s three’s knocked the wind out of Arizona, and pretty much killed any attempts at a comeback.

Some might wonder why Arizona didn’t get the ball in the hands of Woods in the second half that much considering the success he had in the first half, but in the end, nothing could overcome the three-point barrage of Dunleavy.

So Duke wins and the fairy tail is finished right? Depends on who you root for. Duke fans are as happy as can be, but fans of the opponents that Duke faced throughout the tournament(mainly ACC rival Maryland and Arizona) believe that Duke was the beneficiary of way to many calls in their favor.

During the final for when Duke faced Maryland, the officiating was so horrible that the announcers were even questioning it. It seemed as if the officials were perplexed to the point that they couldn’t figure out what they were doing(that’s just my opinion of course), but when calls constantly started going Duke’s way after Maryland built a 22 point lead, fans starting screaming foul play on the part of the officials. And when Maryland power forward Lonny Baxter fouled out on a very questionable call, fans went livid. Things were no better in the championship game as the officials constantly seemed to miss calls and make wrong ones, namely when Duke superstar point guard Jason Williams, twice appeared to commit his fifth and final foul, which would have taken him out of the game, and maybe given the Wildcats the edge they needed. But no matter what you think, nothing can be done to change the fact that Duke is the national champions of college basketball. Whether they can repeat all depends on whether star players Jason Williams and Carlos Boozer decide to come back to school or go get rich in the NBA. Williams has said he wants to come back, no one seems to be sure about Boozer. Time will tell, if Duke ends up looking like a team of season veterans looking to repeat, or a young team looking to rebuild.