LEXINGTON, KY. ? Duke won’t go back-to-back again. Indiana is back, plain and simple. And Jason Williams’ college career ends on a sour note.

With a never-give-up rally and a wild ending, Indiana produced an upset as stunning as any in the Hoosiers’ hoops history.

Indiana's Tom Coverdale jumps into the arms of coach Mike Davis. The Hoosiers toppled top-seeded Duke, 74-73, in an NCAA South Regional semifinal Thursday in Lexington, Ky.

After chipping away at a deficit that was as big as 17 points, fifth-seeded Indiana took advantage of another miss by Williams at the foul line to beat the defending national champion Blue Devils, 74-73, in the South Regional semifinals Thursday night.

“We messed up a lot of brackets,” Indiana coach Mike Davis said. “Just tear ’em up, throw ’em away.”

Top-seeded Duke had a chance to tie it with 4.2 seconds left when Williams a unanimous All-American was fouled as he made a long 3-pointer to get the Blue Devils within a point. But he missed the free throw, and Carlos Boozer couldn’t convert a follow shot.

“I’m not stunned,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said after his team’s eight-game NCAA tourney winning streak ended. “I’m 55 and I need a hip replaced. I coach a game where I know we can lose every time we go on the court.”

Indiana (23-11) makes it first trip to a regional final since Bob Knight took them to the final eight in 1993. The Hoosiers will play the winner of the Kent State-Pittsburgh game with a chance to move on to the Final Four.

It was the most significant victory of Davis’ tenure, which began when Knight was fired in 2000. Davis has had to deal with the pressure of succeeding a coach who won three national titles in a state that treats basketball as religion.

“I am going to ask for a raise,” Davis said, joking. “I am trying to walk in the right spirit, and when you do that you have to let some things roll off your shoulders. It’s my job to put a product on the court that Indiana fans can be proud of. It’s my job to make sure that my guys play hard for 40 minutes.”

Jared Jeffries had 24 points and 15 rebounds for the Hoosiers, who held Duke to 33 percent shooting in the second half.

That strong defense helped Indiana climb back into a game it trailed 29-12 after 11 minutes, with 19 of Duke’s points coming off Indiana turnovers.

But just as in losses to Florida State and Virginia during the regular season, Williams failed to convert from the foul line when it counted most.

“The hardest thing is, this is it for me,” said Williams, a junior who is heading to the NBA. “I’ve always dreamed of being in that situation, and the ball just didn’t bounce my way.”

Williams, only a 67 percent free-throw shooter, left the Rupp Arena court in tears.

Duke was trying to be the first school with consecutive NCAA titles since it won championships in 1991 and ’92, and these Blue Devils returned four starters from the team which beat Arizona in the 2001 final. The Wildcats lost Thursday, too, falling to Oklahoma 88-67 in the West Regional semifinals.

“Last year the ball bounced our way a lot,” Duke’s Mike Dunleavy said. “I guess this game it didn’t and we know what happened.”

Tom Coverdale’s free throws with 1:54 left tied it at 70-all, then he sank a baseline jumper over Chris Duhon less than a minute later. Suddenly, the Hoosiers had the lead and the crowd on their side.

Daniel Ewing missed a 3-pointer on Duke’s next possession, and the Blue Devils were forced to foul.

A.J. Moye made both free throws with 11.1 seconds remaining before Williams was fouled on his 3-pointer by Big Ten defensive player of the year Dane Fife.

The last words from Davis to his team before they ran onto the floor: “Let’s go shock the world.”

The Hoosiers were shockingly bad, though, at the start.

But Indiana used a 17-5 run over a span of 6 1/2 minutes to close to 63-62 with 5:42 left as Jarrad Odle scored 11 of his 15 points.

Duke (31-4) wasn’t quite ready to give in. Dunleavy made a long 3-pointer to give Duke a 70-64 lead with 2:50 left, and it appeared the Blue Devils would advance to their 11th regional final under Krzyzewski.

Duke eventually did fold down the stretch, though, against a team that battled harder over the final minutes.

Indiana was helped by the poor shooting of Williams. The guard followed up his 5-for-18 shooting game against Notre Dame in the second round with a 6-for-19 effort against Indiana.

“In warmups I was shooting the ball very well, and I thought I was going to shoot the ball well in the game,” said Williams. “I started off hitting my first one and stuff just wasn’t going down.”

Boozer led the Blue Devils with 19 points and nine rebounds, but he, along with several other starters, got into foul trouble late. Duke’s defense, which caused a season-high 23 turnovers by Indiana, was soft inside late.

The Hoosiers “won the ballgame through their toughness,” Krzyzewski said. “They just hung in there the whole time. We couldn’t stop them and they were relentless on the boards. We just couldn’t get that defensive stop to get a bigger lead.”