UNC 76, Duke 68
Boxscore |
Recap |
Game FlowDespite it being DeMarcus Nelson's Senior Night, the Heels were able to withstand a second half rally by the Dookies to secure the win and the ACC Regular Season crown outright. This team continues to get better every single night. Early in the season I said we barely looked like a top 25 team much less the #1 team in the nation. Now I feel comfortable saying that we are easily one of the top teams in the nation if not THE best.
We played our best first half of the season. This was a little surprising since we don't normally play our best ball in the first half. Our perimeter defense was VERY good--significantly better than when we played Duke at home. Duke missed a few 3s early and Danny Green got hot. That combination led to a 20-9 lead with 9:25 to go in the first half. At the 5 minute mark in the first half, Duke was shooting a measly 22%! If it wasn't for Greg Paulus going 4-4 from three point range, we could have had a 20 point lead going into the half. But I'll "settle" for a 11 point lead at Cameron any day. It was Duke's lowest scoring first half all season and biggest halftime deficit all season. Who says Carolina can't play defense?? (I used to, but don't anymore)
Duke came out fighting in the second and for the first 10 minutes the roles were reversed. Duke looked to be the aggressor and UNC was on its heels. The Dookies came all the way back and even took a 2 point lead with 3:30 to go. At this point I thought it was anyone's game although the momentum had swung in Duke's favor. Tyler had a tough night--he had to fight and scrap for every point he got. In some cases he forced things up, but he wasn't getting the foul calls like he normally does (more on this in a minute). Our guard play was the difference. Danny and Wayne let us down in the first meeting, but they did not disappoint this time around scoring 34 points combined! Especially Danny. He was huge.
In the final 3 minutes we went on a 10 point run and shut down Duke completely. They missed their last 10 shots! Ty Lawson had a huge steal that sealed the deal. Ty looked maybe 75% against BC. Tonight I thought he looked more like 80-85%. Maybe he'll prove me wrong and will be 100% by the end of the season. He was a difference maker for us scoring 10 points and making many good decisions on the court.
The win means we get the regular season crown and secure a #1 seed in the ACC tourney. It SHOULD also mean a #1 seed in the EAST regional for the NCAA Tourney, but some "bracketologists" are saying that if Duke and UNC meet in the ACC tourney and Duke wins, then Duke should get it (or maybe both teams get a #1 seed, but UNC has to go to another regional). I disagree. UNC is the best team in the ACC--even with a loss in the ACC tourney they should get a #1 seed in the EAST. Ending the regular season as the #1 overall team in the nation should count for a lot.
Some other notes on the game....one reason we were able to shut Duke down was that we changed up our defensive scheme. Roy made everyone switch on ALL screens. That means sometimes Hansbrough was guarding Paulus or Danny Green was guarding Zoubek. Because of Duke's lack of post presence, the plan worked brilliantly. Duke maybe got 3 or 4 wide open 3 pointers compared to the 10-11 wide open shots in our first game. They didn't necessarily take that many fewer (3) than last game, but the looks were mostly contested. Oh and did I mention that UNC had 15 blocks!! That's right 15. Danny Green had 7 and Deon Thompson had 5. Wow!!
This game (and the season overall) shows why Roy should be Coach of the Year in the ACC. While the team had high expectations early in the year, it was unjustified at that time. We were more like a #15-20 team the first 3 months of the season and Roy coached his team to be #1 by the end of the season.
Boy was Dickie V sweating a lot! I know it was hot, but someone at ESPN get that man a replacement shirt every hour or two!
FLOP TRACKER
I saw Kyle Singler flop early in the first half so I thought I would keep track of all the flops the Dookies did over the course of the game. It is obvious Coach K must teach his guys the fine art of the Flop and it sickens me. What they are really looking for is something for nothing. Just play ball. Here are the flops by my count:
- Kyle Singler: 3
- DeMarcus Nelson: 2
- Greg Paulus: 3
I would be surprised if I didn't miss a few others.
I haven't said anything about them yet, but the officiating was horrible. There is nothing I hate more than inconsistent officiating. In the first half the refs were calling everything in sight. It looked like Duke was going to have to contend with foul trouble throughout the game. The second half was a totally different story. The only fouls they called were the completely obvious ones. They swallowed their whistle on everything else. Tyler Hansbrough didn't shoot 1 free throw all night! That is only the second time in his career that's happened. And it wasn't like there was no contact. It was extremely physical. I just don't understand referees sometimes.
Now we have a few days off before
we play 12pm on Friday against the #8/#9 winner. Check out
StatSheet Conference Tournament Central for more on the tourney.
