By Matt Bonesteel
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, March 29, 1999; Page D8

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., March 28 – In one respect, Duke center Elton Brand and Connecticut center Jake Voskuhl had similar semifinal games. Against Michigan State, Brand drew his fourth foul with 10 minutes 12 seconds remaining and sat out for almost six minutes. Voskuhl drew his fourth foul with 8:17 to go against Ohio State. He returned with 2:50 left, only to foul out with 1:24 remaining.

But foul trouble was their only similarity.

Brand dominated the lane in the first half, grabbing 13 rebounds, one fewer than the entire Michigan State team. Despite his foul trouble, Brand finished with 18 points and 15 rebounds.

Voskuhl, on the other hand, was not a factor. He finished with two points and five rebounds in 19 minutes. Fortunately, Connecticut relies on Khalid El-Amin and Richard Hamilton to get the job done offensively, and Kevin Freeman does a lot of the dirty work inside.

Tonight, it will be Voskuhl's job to stop Brand.

Brand has "proven that he can score on anyone in the country," Voskuhl said. "Just to foul him maybe won't be the most intelligent thing to do."

Connecticut Coach Jim Calhoun said he realizes Voskuhl can't handle Brand on his own. Even though Voskuhl is three inches taller than Brand, the Duke forward is about 15 pounds heavier. Calhoun will counter that difference by using a variety of defenses.

"It comes down to double-teams, where it comes [from], who it comes [from], zoning perfect, continue trapping, where your rotations come from," Calhoun said. "Those are the kinds of things we have to formulate in our own mind."

It will probably be Freeman's job to help Voskuhl guard Brand, and Voskuhl is grateful for any assistance.

"I'm fortunate enough to have a teammate like Kevin Freeman," Voskuhl said. "He's a great help defender. I'll be counting a lot on Kevin tomorrow night."

No one expects Voskuhl to win the battle inside, and some are predicting an early knockout. Voskuhl said he knows that he can't be too relaxed, as he said he was Saturday night.

"I think you put pressure on yourself, and I just had a peace about myself throughout this whole thing," Voskuhl said. "I thought I might have been a little too loose [Saturday] night."

Duke's Trouble Shooting
Entering Saturday's game, Duke was shooting a solid 70 percent from the free throw line. But against Michigan State, the Blue Devils shot 52 percent (14 of 27).

"I made some big ones, but I missed some big ones," said forward Chris Carrawell, who shot 58 percent this season but helped Duke seal Saturday's win by hitting four of six free throws late in the game. "But when you see a Trajan Langdon [an 85 percent shooter] miss the front end of a one-and-one, you don't feel so bad."

Langdon said Michigan State's rough play made it tough to go to the line.

"I give credit to Michigan State," Langdon said. "It was a very physical game. And a lot of times, when you're bumping, you're going a hundred miles an hour, you're a little bit worn down in a game like that. It's tough to step to the line and really slow down and concentrate on it and knock it down."

Happy James
Duke forward Nate James – a graduate of St. John's at Prospect Hall in Frederick, Md. – played only seven minutes Saturday night, scoring two points on a dunk in the first half. But his lack of playing time doesn't mean he isn't happy to be here.

"It feels great. It's a dream come true," James said. "It's always been a goal of mine to get to the Final Four. That's why I came to Duke."

James is even happier that he went to Duke and not Maryland, which recruited him in high school.

"If I went to Maryland, I'd be at home with a sad face watching Duke," James said. "I'm a part of [the Final Four]. It's definitely what I want."