Duke Blue Devils Win NCAA Championship

On March 28, 1992, the Duke Blue Devils edge out the Kentucky Wildcats. With two seconds left the Blue Devils completed a three-quarter court inbounds pass from Grant Hill to Christian Laettener, who would then put in a basket to win the game in overtime 104-103.

The 1992 NCAA Men's Basketball Champions, the Duke Blue Devils.

The win over Kentucky put Duke into the Final Four and eventually they would be crowned NCAA Tournament Champions with a win over Indiana in the Final Four and Michigan in the Finals.

Duke’s Laettener would be the games leading scorer with 31 points in the win. Kentucky’s Jamal Mashburn would lead the Wildcats in scoring with 28 points.

Eight players from this game, including Grant Hill, Christian Laettener, Jamal Mashburn, Bobby Hurley, Brian Davis, Thomas Hill, Antonio Lang and Cherokee Parks were drafted into the NBA.

Grant Hill, Laettener and Mashburn would have successful careers in the NBA while several of the others drafted would not play in the NBA after being drafted, but play overseas.

The NCAA Championship for Duke was the schools second, and second of a back-to-back with their first win coming in 1991. Since 1992, Duke has won two more NCAA Tournament Finals in 2001 and 2010. Duke was the NCAA Tournament runner up six times, including 1964, 1978, 1986, 1990, 1994 and 1999.

Duke made the Final Four 15 times including five straight appearances from 1988-1992. They reached the Elite Eight 18 times, including five straight appearances from 1988-1992. Duke has played in the Sweet 16 a total of 27 times, including seven straight from 1986-1992 and nine straight from 1998-2006. The Blue Devils have played in the NCAA Tournament a total of 37 times, and have been in the NCAA Tournament every year since 1996, marking 18 straight appearances in tournament play.

The Blue Devils and Wildcats are tied for third all-time with 15 Final Four appearances, trailing only North Carolina and UCLA.

The Blue Devils 10 NCAA Tournament Finals appearances ranks third all-time behind Kentucky and UCLA, and their four victories in the NCAA Tournament Finals ranks fifth all-time, behind North Carolina, Indiana, Kentucky and UCLA. Despite not having the most NCAA Championships, Duke is the proud owner of the highest winning percentage in NCAA Tournament play with .750 winning percentage.

The Duke Blue Devils have appeared in 133 NCAA Tournaments, fifth all time behind only UCLA, Kansas, North Carolina and Kentucky. Their combined record is 96-33.

With Duke still in the NCAA Tournament this year they have a chance to add onto their schools already historic basketball legacy.

While the Kentucky Wildcats would miss out on the Final Four and their chance win the NCAA Tournament Finals in 1992, but the school has had some good seasons since. The Wildcats have amassed eight NCAA Tournament Champions, including three since 1992, in 1996, 1998 and 2012. The Wildcats were the NCAA Tournament runner-ups in 1966, 1975 and 1997.

Kentucky made the Final Four 15 times, including back-to-back appearances in 1948-1949, 1996-1997 and 2011-2012. The Wildcats reached the Elite Eight 34 times, including four straight years from 1996-1999. They had reached the Sweet 16 a total of 39 times, including six consecutive years from 1968-1973. The Wildcats have played in the NCAA Tournament a total of 52 times, including 17 straight appearances from 1992-2007.

The Wildcats 11 NCAA Tournament Finals appearances rank second all-time, only behind UCLA, and their eight victories in the NCAA Tournament Finals also ranks second all-time, again behind only UCLA.

Kentucky also leads all schools with 57 20-win seasons, 13 30-win seasons, and is the only school with five different NCAA Championship coaches Adolph Rupp, Joe B. Hall, Rick Pitino, Orlando “Tubby” Smith and John Calipari.

The Kentucky Wildcats have appeared in 158 NCAA Tournaments, the most of any school. Their combined record is 113-46.