MINNEAPOLIS— Shane Battier performed the duties of senior leader one last time Monday night

With his teammates milling about the Metrodome basketball floor minutes after winning the national championship, Battier got everyone’s attention and pointed to the stage. He climbed up, his teammates joined him and the Duke pep band broke into the alma mater, “Dear Old Duke,”for a final sing-along.

It’s a tune Battier heard countless times during his four-year career, the solemn sounds almost always following a joyful moment. Battier did, after all, win 131 games as a BlueDevil, tying an NCAArecord held by Kentucky’s Wayne Turner.

None of those victories meant as much as Monday’s 82-72 defeat of Arizona, though. For all the regular-season conquests, league titles and NCAATournament victories, Battier still didn’t own a national championship.

Until last night.

“I just tried to savor it,”Battier said. “The national championship is something so vast when you talk about it. To actually be on the verge and win it, words can’t describe it.

Battier’s legendary status in Duke basketball lore was established long ago. He earned national Player of the Year honors this season and already had his number retired in Durham. The only thing missing from his résumé was that elusive championship, and the subject came up repeatedly during the postseason.

“I feel like I’m the John Elway of college basketball,”said Battier of the Denver Broncos quarterback, who won two Super Bowls in the final two years of his NFL career. “I know how John Elway felt to get the monkey off his back and win the championship.”

Like Elway, Battier took home a Most Outstanding Player award along with a team title. Duke’s 6-foot-8 forward scored 43 points, grabbed 19 rebounds, had eight assists, blocked six shots and recorded two steals in the Final Four wins over Maryland and Arizona.

Against the Wildcats, his outside shots weren’t falling, so he pressed the attack down low, found open teammates and took care of the ball — all the little things that make up a champion.

“You know, I don’t think there’s been any question in anyone’s mind about him being the Player of the Year,”Arizona head coach Lute Olson said. “Shane Battier is going to have a great game — six assists, no turnovers, 18 points, played the whole 40 minutes.”

Battier scored just six points in the first half. He connected for a nice three-point play in the lane with eight minutes to play in the game to give Duke a 64-52 lead, but Arizona rallied.

A Richard Jefferson 3-pointer brought the Wildcats within three points when Battier came flying in off a missed shot for a two-hand putback slam.

That stretched the lead to 73-68 with 4:24 remaining, but a pair of Loren Woods free throws again made it a three-point game. On Duke’s next possession, Mike Dunleavy missed a shot, but Battier squeezed in between two Arizona defenders and batted the ball in the air. It hung on the rim for an apparent eternity before rolling to the back iron and trickling through the net.

“On that play, I just tried to keep it alive,”Battier admitted. “I actually hit it with the back of my hand, believe it or not.”

Not to mention with his back to the basket.

“It was one of the great plays I’ve seen in a championship game,”Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “I don’t see how he could explain that. He had an out-of-body experience or something. I had perfect vision. I didn’t see how it was possible to make that play.”

Jefferson answered at the other end, but Battier’s personal run wasn’t over yet. Blue Devil point guard Jason Williams drove to the hoop, saw Battier all alone and delivered the pass. Battier soared for a one-handed slam that pushed the lead to 77-72. Arizona didn’t score again.

“My jumper was short all night,”Battier said. “In the second half when Imade those couple dunks, I don’t know where I found the strength to do it.”

He also managed to corral a pair to key rebounds in the final minutes, preventing the Wildcats from making a late run. As the clock raced ever closer to all zeroes, Battier simply stood near half court and pondered what it meant to finally be a champion.

Dunleavy, his roommate, told him during their embrace at the buzzer.

“I just said thank you for being a friend, a teammate, a leader for me. Someone I can look to,”Dunleavy said. “He’s always doing the right thing. I told him how deserving he was of this.”

After all the emotions of the past year, Battier also declared himself deserving of a long vacation.

“I’m going to take one big victory lap,”he said with his trademark grin. “I’m going to fly around the country and enjoy it, hang out, drink pop again, eat junk food.

“I’ve got a busy schedule.”

Battier listed the Masters as his next destination, not to mention jaunts to Los Angeles, Florida, Atlanta. And he shouldn’t have any trouble getting into any of the special events he’s headed for.

Not being the nation’s most celebrated college basketball player who won a championship in his final game.

“It was the way it should be. It was like a storybook,” Krzyzewski said. “I wasn’t the main character, but I’m glad I was in the book.”