University of North Carolina beats Duke
Victory over No. 6 Blue Devils cliches ACC regular season championship
By Robbi Pickeral - McClatchy Newspapers
Issue date: 3/10/08 Section: Sports
DURHAM, N.C. (MCT) - The top-ranked North Carolina men's basketball team is the regular-season Atlantic Coast Conference champion, has the top position in next weeks league tournament and appears to boast the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the NCAA East Regional.
A 76-68 victory over sixth-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday made sure of it.
The Blue Devils came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie it, and even take a two-point lead at 68-66.
But UNC guard Wayne Ellington made a layup that knotted the score again, 68-68, with three minutes left.
A putback by Tyler Hansbrough gave the Tar Heels (29-2, 14-2 ACC) a 70-68 advantage with 1:58 left, then two free throws by point guard Ty Lawson gave them a 72-68 cushion - enough for Carolina to win its third straight game over Duke (26-4, 13-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Danny Green led the Tar Heels with 18 points off the bench, and Ellington and Hansbrough each chipped in 16. Hansbrough also grabbed 15 rebounds.
Greg Paulus scored 15 points for Duke.
The Tar Heels led 42-31 at halftime, thanks to 10 turnovers and 31.3 percent shooting by Duke, and 14 points from Green. But the aggressive Blue Devils opened the second half with a 17-9 run, culminating in back to back field goals by reserve center Brian Zoubek, then back-to-back field goals by DeMarcus Nelson that cut their deficit to 51-48 with about 14 minutes left.
Lawson and Ellington pulled the Tar Heels back ahead with consecutive jumpers, but Duke followed with two more 3-pointers to cut its deficit to 57-54 with 11:43 left.
With 9:30 left, Duke's Jon Scheyer tied it 57-57 with a corner 3-pointer.
The game was a contrast of styles, with Carolina trying to
control the lane and feed Hansbrough, and Duke trying to penetrate, then pop the ball to the perimeter for easy 3-pointers.
With the victory, North Carolina earned the top seed in the ACC Tournament and will play Friday at noon in the tournament quarterfinals. Duke earned the No. 2 seed, and will play at 7 p.m. Both teams have first-day byes.
A 76-68 victory over sixth-ranked Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Saturday made sure of it.
The Blue Devils came back from an 11-point halftime deficit to tie it, and even take a two-point lead at 68-66.
But UNC guard Wayne Ellington made a layup that knotted the score again, 68-68, with three minutes left.
A putback by Tyler Hansbrough gave the Tar Heels (29-2, 14-2 ACC) a 70-68 advantage with 1:58 left, then two free throws by point guard Ty Lawson gave them a 72-68 cushion - enough for Carolina to win its third straight game over Duke (26-4, 13-3) at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Danny Green led the Tar Heels with 18 points off the bench, and Ellington and Hansbrough each chipped in 16. Hansbrough also grabbed 15 rebounds.
Greg Paulus scored 15 points for Duke.
The Tar Heels led 42-31 at halftime, thanks to 10 turnovers and 31.3 percent shooting by Duke, and 14 points from Green. But the aggressive Blue Devils opened the second half with a 17-9 run, culminating in back to back field goals by reserve center Brian Zoubek, then back-to-back field goals by DeMarcus Nelson that cut their deficit to 51-48 with about 14 minutes left.
Lawson and Ellington pulled the Tar Heels back ahead with consecutive jumpers, but Duke followed with two more 3-pointers to cut its deficit to 57-54 with 11:43 left.
With 9:30 left, Duke's Jon Scheyer tied it 57-57 with a corner 3-pointer.
The game was a contrast of styles, with Carolina trying to
control the lane and feed Hansbrough, and Duke trying to penetrate, then pop the ball to the perimeter for easy 3-pointers.
With the victory, North Carolina earned the top seed in the ACC Tournament and will play Friday at noon in the tournament quarterfinals. Duke earned the No. 2 seed, and will play at 7 p.m. Both teams have first-day byes.
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