on april 5, 2010, butler and duke faced off in what "the new york times" called "the most eagerly awaited championship game in years". late in the first half, duke went on an 8–0 run to take a 26–20 lead. stevens called a timeout. with starters matt howard and ronald nored on the bench in foul trouble, stevens was forced to call on backup center avery jukes who came up big for butler. jukes scored 10 first half points, tying his season high. at half time, duke's lead stood at 33–32.