No. 2 Duke Beats No. 3 UNC

The Duke Blue Devils broke their three-game losing streak to the North Carolina Tar Heels last night with a solid 89-78 win in Chapel Hill. Although North Carolina was without several of their key players, including starting point guard Ty Lawson, the win is still quite significant, and gives the Blue Devils frontrunner status (there’s a term that’s getting thrown around a lot these days) in the Tobacco Road rivalry. Duke lead the whole second half, never allowing the Tar Heels to get too close, frustrating them on offense and defense.

Before the season started, it was thought that Duke, which had an uncharacteristically bad season last year, would struggle in the ACC against teams with larger, more traditional post players. However, Coach K has Duke spreading the floor, allowing his team to use their speed and superior wing play to defeat teams no matter their size. Still, there are a lot of teams that might be able to turn the tables on Duke, and one has to wonder what the game would have been like if the Heels were at full strength.

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Permalink - Posted in General on February 7, 2008 - Post a comment