On January 27, 2001, the second-ranked Blue Devils played at eighth-ranked Maryland Terrapins in what would become the first of four contests between these two ACC powerhouses that year. With Duke trailing by 10 points with 54 seconds left in regulation, Williams scored eight points, including two three-pointers, in a 13-second span and James hit two free throws to send this game into overtime. In overtime Battier blocked a layup by Juan Dixon at the baseline with 4 seconds left to preserve a 98–96 victory. However, the Blue Devils stumbled in the next game at home against their archrival, fourth-ranked North Carolina by a score of 85–83. A month later, Maryland would avenge their previous home loss to Duke when the No. 16 Terrapins defeated the No. 2 Blue Devils 91–80 on Shane Battier's Senior Night in Cameron Indoor Stadium. After center Carlos Boozer had to leave with a foot injury in that game, coach Krzyzewski decided to change his game strategy, favoring a smaller, quicker lineup by having Duhon start at point guard and moving Williams over to shooting guard. His plan was successful in his next game at North Carolina, when Duke defeated the No. 4 Tar Heels 95–81 to claim a share of the regular season championship. With many pundits having written Duke off after Boozer's injury, the new-look Blue Devils in fact went on to win all 6 of its following games before Boozer rejoined the team in the Sweet Sixteen of the NCAA Tournament.
Conference Tournament
Duke finished the regular season with a 26–4 record entering the ACC Tournament as a No. 2 seed. In the tournament semifinals, they met Maryland for the third time this season. In another thrilling contest, after Maryland had rallied from a 14-point, second-half deficit, the Blue Devils defeated the Terrapins 84–82 when Nate James tipped in the game-winner with 1.3 seconds left to advance to the title game against North Carolina. In the third game between Duke and UNC that season, the Blue Devils emerged victorious as ACC Tournament champions by the score of 79–53 and received a No. 1 seed in the East Regional of the NCAA Tournament.
NCAA tournament
The Blue Devils would travel the same path they took nine years ago when they claimed their last championship in 1992, from Greensboro to Philadelphia to Minneapolis, where they met Maryland for the fourth time that season, this time in the Final Four with a berth in the championship game at stake. Finding themselves down 39–17 with 6:57 to play in the first half and down 49–38 at the half, Duke went on to stage a comeback against the Terrapins and win 95–84 to advance to the championship game. Duke's 22-point deficit and 11-point halftime deficit marked the largest comeback in Final Four history. Facing fifth-ranked Arizona led by Gilbert Arenas and Richard Jefferson and coached by Lute Olson, who had lost his wife to cancer earlier during the season, Duke was able to stave off a comeback attempt in the second half and clinch the title by a final score of 82–72. With his third national championship, coach Mike Krzyzewski tied his mentor Bob Knight for third place behind Adolph Rupp and John Wooden. Battier was named the NCAA Basketball Tournament Most Outstanding Player.
