The letter 'K' may come 11th in the alphabet, but now it comes first in college basketball.
Mike Krzyzewski - Duke s Coach K - had a date with history Tuesday night at the Garden and met it in typically winning fashion. His sixth-ranked Blue Devils topped Michigan State,74-69, before a sellout crowd of 19,979 in the Champions Classic to give him career victory No. 903 and push him past legendary Bob Knight for the most wins in Division I history.
Knight, who coached Krzyzewski at Army and became his lifelong mentor, was on hand along with a cadre of former Blue Devil greats who were available because of the NBA lockout.
To have this milestone in Madison Square Garden is truly special. I ve always considered it hallowed ground, said Krzyzewski, who shared an emotional embrace with Knight moments after the final buzzer. I don t know how it happened but it just worked out. A lot of things in my career have just worked out.
Krzyzewski, 903-284 in his 37th season as a head coach, has taken Duke teams to 11 Final Fours and won four national championships.
It ll mean a lot when it s all over, and I don t know when that ll be, Krzyzewski said. I want to win a championship with each team I coach. I am more into that because that s the moment you want with a group. This is a program moment.
It was nip-and-tuck until Duke (3-0) erupted on a 20-1 run to take a 61-41 lead with 9:18 to play. The Blue Devils Andre Dawkins, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry combined to sink three unanswered three-pointers to ignite it. The Spartans only point came on a free throw after Miles Plumlee was called for a technical foul.
In the final minutes, Duke made enough misplays to make it interesting, as Krzyzewski put it, but the final score was as close as it got. Dawkins had 26 points, Curry 20 and Kelly 14 for Duke. Brandon Wood scored 22 for Michigan State (0-2).
Spartans coach Tom Izzo said he was put in the position of either being the guy who gave up (Hank) Aaron s record-breaker or the guy who shot Bambi but added, If I have to lose to someone it would be him.
A clearly relieved Krzyzewski was asked how he felt about being No. 1 all-time and replied: I look in the mirror and I don t see Brad Pitt let s put it that way. I m more of a realist. I know that I m a very good coach and I get really good guys. And then it s up to us to fight like hell to try to win.
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