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Sports 1B Tuesday April 6, 2010 INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The too-perfect basketball story with the too-perfect ending is still available on DVD. The real cele- bration for the new national champion — that’s taking place on Tobacco Road. Kyle Singler scored 19 points and Brian Zoubek rebounded Gordon Hayward’s miss with 3.6 seconds left Monday night to help Duke beat Butler 61-59, ending the tiny underdog’s try for a ‘‘Hoosiers’’ sequel one win short of the Hollywood ending. The Bulldogs had a chance to win it at the end in an amazing sequence that defined this tourna- ment. When Gordon Hayward’s half-court shot at the buzzer went flying, thudded off the backboard and rim, and out and most of the crowd of 70,390 gasped, ‘‘Ohhhh.’’ So close. The Blue Devils (35-5) snapped Butler’s 25-game win- ning streak and brought the long- awaited fourth national title back home to Carolina and the Cameron Crazies. The ‘‘Big Three’’ — Singler, Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith — won the Big One for coach Mike Krzyzewski, his first champi- onship since 2001 and the fourth overall, tying Coach K with Adolph Rupp for second place on the all-time list. ‘‘First of all, it was a great bas- ketball game. I want to congratu- late an amazing Butler team and their fans,’’ Krzyzewski said. ‘‘Fabulous year. We played a great game, they played a great game. It’s hard for me to say it, to imagine that we’re the national champions.’’ Nobody figured this would be easy, and it wasn’t — no way that was going to happen against But- ler, the 4,200-student private What a game to end one of the most memorable tournaments in history, the kind that could be his- tory if the NCAA goes ahead with what an expansion to 96 teams — something very much on the table for next year. ‘‘Both teams and all the kids on both teams played their hearts out,’’ Krzyzewski said. ‘‘There was never more than a couple, a few points separating, so a lot of kids made big plays for both teams.’’ Nobody led by more than six. Playing against the Bulldogs MCT photo Gordon Hayward of Butler (20) shoots over Brian Zoubek of Duke (55), but misses in the final seconds of the NCAA Final Four championship game in Indianapolis Monday. Duke defeated Butler, 61-59. school that turned the tournament upside down and drove 5.6 miles from its historic home, Hinkle Fieldhouse, to the Final Four. Butler (33-5) shaved a five- point deficit to one and had a chance to win it, when its best player, Hayward, took the ball at the top of the key, spun and worked his way to the baseline, but was forced to put up an off- balance fadeaway from 15 feet. He missed, Zoubek got the rebound and made the first of two free throws. He missed the second one intentionally, and Duke’s title wasn’t secure until Hayward’s desperation heave bounded out. and working against a crowd of 70,390 with very few pockets of Duke fans, the Blue Devils perse- vered — never leading by more than six but never falling behind after Singler hit a 3-pointer with 13:03 left for a 47-43 lead. The Blue Devils won with defense. Holding the Bulldogs to 34 percent shooting and contest- ing every possession as tenacious- ly as Butler, which allowed 60 points for the first time since Feb- ruary. Zoubek, the 7-foot-1 cen- ter, finished with two blocks, 10 rebounds and too many altered shots to count, but also came out to trap the Butler guards and dis- rupt an offense that was already struggling. They won with some clutch shooting, including Singler’s 3- for-6 effort from 3-point range and 6 of 6 from the free throw line in the second half until Zoubek’s intentional miss. They won with a mean streak, most pointed when Lance Thomas took down Hayward hard to prevent an easy layup. The refs reviewed the play and decid- ed not to call it flagrant — one of a hundred little moments that could have swung such a tight, taut game. Giants open season with win HOUSTON (AP) — Tim Lince- cum pitched seven scoreless innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Houston Astros 5-2 Monday night. Lincecum (1-0) allowed four hits and struck out seven with no walks to shut down a Houston offense that started the season with star slug- ger Lance Berkman on the disabled list. The Giants got a boost from new left fielder Mark DeRosa, who scored in San Francisco’s three-run second inning and added a solo homer in the eighth. Houston starter Roy Oswalt (0- 1) allowed seven hits and three runs in six innings as he extended his team record to eight straight open- ing day starts. Sergio Romo allowed two hits in a scoreless eighth inning. Hous- ton finally got on the board in the ninth when Carlos Lee singled and scored on a ground out by Pedro Feliz. J.R. Towles followed with an RBI double off Brandon Med- ders. Brian Wilson came in for the last two outs and the save. Lincecum retired the first five batters before Feliz singled in the second. Lincecum didn’t allow another hit until a single by Lee with two outs in the fourth, before retiring Geoff Blum to end the inning. About the only thing that slowed Lincecum was the mud that got stuck in his cleats with one out in the fifth. He walked off the mound and motioned to the umpire before a Giants trainer came out and handed him something, which he used to dig the chunks of mud out from in between the spikes. He then returned to the mound and quickly retired the next two batters. Houston’s Michael Bourn got his first career hit against Lincecum with bullet single the pitcher had to duck to with one out in the sixth inning. Bourn was 0 for 10 against Lincecum before the hit. Kaz Matsui gave Houston con- secutive hits for the first time in the game with his single to right field. But Lincecum retired Hunter Pence and Lee to end the inning. He pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning, striking out Feliz and Towles. The performance improved his record to 34-2 in 55 starts when the Giants score at least three runs. Bengie Molina hit an RBI single in the second and John Bowker’s run-scoring single pushed the lead to 2-0 and sent pitching coach Brad Arnsberg to the mound for a chat with Oswalt. Juan Uribe added one last run with his sacri- fice fly to right field that scored Molina. The Giants pushed their lead to 4-0 with Edgar Renteria’s RBI dou- ble in the seventh inning off Chris Sampson. Oswalt allowed a single in each inning he pitched after the second and was helped in the third and fifth innings when Houston turned dou- ble plays. NOTES: Former President George H.W. Bush and wife Bar- bara had front-row seats behind home plate. The Bushes, who have a home in Houston, often attend sporting events in the area. Barbara Bush was recently hospitalized after a mild relapse of Graves dis- ease, a thyroid condition. ... Tommy Manzella became the first rookie to start for the Astros on opening day since 2005 when he started at short- stop on Monday. Obama, Big Mac highlight opening day Albert Pujols launched two home runs, Roy Halla- day looked every bit an ace and Barack Obama pulled out a White Sox hat to make his presidential pitch. Still, no one had a bigger blast on opening day than Jason Heyward. Billed as the majors’ next phenom, this Braves prospect bridged baseball’s past and future Monday when he caught the ceremo- nial first ball from Hank Aaron. Then with the Atlanta crowd chanting his name, the 20-year-old Heyward mashed a three-run homer on his first swing in the big leagues. ‘‘I felt my legs, but I couldn’t hear myself think,’’ he said. ‘‘I think I’ll remem- ber that the most ... how loud it was.’’ Nice job, rook. Mark McGwire made a more quiet return. Back in baseball after admitting he took steroids, Big Mac drew little reaction in Cincinnati when he was introduced as the new hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals. In New York, there were a few boos. After seeing their club crippled by injuries last season, Mets fans heckled — of all peo- ple — the team trainers. Tough crowd! Cubs manager Lou Piniella didn’t seem real pleased, either, when the umpires’ call went against him on a dropped fly ball. After a postseason dotted with missed calls, there are sure to be more shouts this year for extra instant replay. A day after Boston beat the World Series champion New York Yankees in the major league opener, most everyone else swung into action. On a huge sports day in America — the NCAA men’s basketball champi- onship game, the Tiger Woods news conference — baseball delivered a full first day. There were 13 games on the schedule, plus a bid for history. Toronto pitcher Shaun Marcum took a no- hitter into the seventh inning at Texas before it got broken up. His effort was even more remarkable because he missed the entire 2009 season with elbow trouble. Too bad for the Blue Jays, they were beaten in the bottom of the ninth inning. Some four hours before first pitch between the Mariners and Athletics at the Oakland Coliseum, Seattle players warmed up by tossing around a football in right field. The black clouds had parted in the Bay Area and blue skies emerged. For 40-year-old Ken Griffey Jr., it was time to enjoy another opening day. ‘‘They’re always special, the start of six months of baseball,’’ the Mariners star said. Obama drew a loud ova- tion when he continued a tradition that started 100 years ago with William Howard Taft — the presi- dential first pitch. He warmed up with some prac- tice tosses at the White House but really, the lefty could use a little more time in the bullpen. Duke wins 61-59 thriller over Butler Champions by state 15 — California: Stanford, 1942; San Francisco, 1955- 56; California, 1959; UCLA, 1964-65, 1967-73, 1975, 1995. 11 — North Carolina: North Carolina, 1957, 1982, 1993, 2005, 2009; N.C. State, 1974, 1983; Duke, 1991-92, 2001, 2010. 9 — Kentucky: Kentucky, 1948-49, 1951, 1958, 1978, 1996, 1998; Louisville, 1980, 1986. 5 — Indiana: Indiana, 1940, 1953, 1976, 1981, 1987. 3 — Kansas: Kansas, 1952, 1988, 2008. 3 — Michigan:Michigan State, 1979, 2000; Michigan, 1989. 3 — Ohio: Ohio State, 1960; Cincinnati, 1961-62. 2 — Florida: Florida, 2006-07. 2 — Connecticut:Connecticut, 1999, 2004. 2 — New York: CCNY, 1950; Syracuse, 2003. 2 — Pennsylvania: La Salle, 1954;Villanova, 1985. 2 — Wisconsin: Wisconsin, 1941; Marquette, 1977. 2 — Oklahoma: Oklahoma A&M (Oklahoma State), 1945- 46. 1 — Maryland: Maryland, 2002. 1 — Arizona: Arizona, 1997. 1 — Arkansas: Arkansas, 1994. 1 — Nevada:UNLV, 1990. 1 — District of Columbia: Georgetown, 1984. 1 — Texas: Texas Western (Texas-El Paso), 1966. 1 — Illinois: Loyola, Ill., 1963. 1 — Massachusetts: Holy Cross, 1947. 1 — Utah: Utah, 1944. 1 — Wyoming: Wyoming, 1943. 1 — Oregon: Oregon, 1939. Tiger: I’m back to win at Augusta AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — He looked like the same Tiger Woods, head down as he walked along the first fairway at the Masters, no one suspecting the jangled nerves he felt from taking his golf public for the first time since his private life unraveled. One fan called out, ‘‘Welcome back, Tiger.’’ Instead of ignoring him as he has done so often, Woods turned toward the man with a wave and a smile. ‘‘To be out there in front of the people, where I have done some things that are just horrible, and for the fans to really want to see me play golf again ... I mean, that felt great,’’ Woods said Monday. ‘‘That really did.’’ Then came another tense moment — facing the media for the first time since he was exposed for cheating on his wife. He dodged questions with rehearsed answers, refused to go into details about the therapy he sought or the state of his marriage, except that his wife won’t be at Augusta Nation- al this week. But there was a touch of humility and patience in his voice during a 35-minute press conference. He even tried to call every writer by name. ‘‘I need to be a better man going forward than I was before,’’ he said. ‘‘And just because I’ve gone through treat- ment doesn’t mean it stops. I’m trying as hard as I possibly can each and every day to get my life better and better and stronger. And if I win championships along the way, so be it.’’ One thing hasn’t changed. Woods, a four-time champion who hasn’t hit a shot that mattered since Nov. 15, is not at the Masters simply to make amends. ‘‘Going to go out there and try to win this thing,’’ he said. And so ended a most unusual start to the Masters, which might be as tough as any round Woods plays this week. It was a solid start in the process of restoring his image. Woods clearly was intent on mingling more with the fans than he did before the sex scandal. First, he putted a couple of balls to some kids watching alongside the 18th green. Then, a real surprise: he stopped to sign autographs while heading to the practice range. He had not played to the crowd since winning the Aus- tralian Masters in Melbourne, where fans saw him only as golf’s best player with 82 victories and 14 majors and no rival except history. His world caved in 12 days later with a car accident out- side his home that sent him to the hospital with a busted lip that required five stitches, and a shattered image that might take years to repair. ‘‘A lot has happened in my life over the past five months,’’ said Woods, who provided a few details and denials in the 47 questions he fielded from reporters who occupied all 207 seats in the media center. Among the revelations: — He ruptured the Achilles’ tendon in his right leg in December 2008, two months before his return from knee surgery. Woods said he was taking Vicodin for that and his left knee. — He began taking Ambien after his father died because he was having trouble sleeping. — He was sent to an Orlando, Fla., hospital after his Nov. 27 accident for a sore neck and a cut lip. — He denied ever taking human growth hormone.