There's always next time: Duke falls 97-73 in heartbreaker

CHAPEL HILL - With 12.8 seconds remaining, the Tar Heel faithful began chanting, "We're No. 1."

Following North Carolina's 97-73 thrashing of current No. 1 Duke Thursday night at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, it would be hard to argue otherwise.

"They're the real deal," Blue Devil coach Mike Krzyzewski said following Duke's most lopsided defeat since its 103-73 loss to UNLV in the 1990 NCAA finals. "They're a great team. The game meant a lot to them and their playing together and maturity showed. They're a legitimate contender for the national championship-there's no doubt about that. They just played a lot better than us."

Tar Heel junior Antawn Jamison dominated the game from the opening tip and fell just shy of a career high with 35 points, including 23 in the first half.

"Tonight Antawn showed why he's an All-American," UNC coach Bill Guthridge said. "If he's not the best player in the country, he's certainly one of the best."

UNC (23-1, 9-1 in the Atlantic Coast Conference) rode Jamison's performance to a 16-point halftime advantage and responded to a late Blue Devil (20-2, 9-1 ACC) rally with a 24-4 run of its own to close out the game.

Duke actually pulled to within four, at 73-69, with just 5:48 to play after trailing by as many as 20 earlier in the second half. Duke had cut the lead to 10 one possession earlier on a three-pointer by Chris Carrawell. After a defensive stop, the Tar Heel's Mahktar Ndiaye opened the door for the Blue Devils by fouling Shane Battier while battling for a rebound. It was Ndiaye's fifth foul, but it would not be his last as he slammed the ball to the floor in disgust, drawing an untimely technical foul.

Battier connected on both of his free throws and Trajan Langdon followed up by hitting both the technicals and hitting a running jumper to complete the six-point possession.

From then on, it was all UNC higlight-reel material. Shammond Williams scored seven straight points, and the Tar Heels repeatedly turned hurried Blue Devil shots into easy baskets in transition.

"They got points quickly, and not just dunks," Krzyzewski said. "Though it's obvious that they enjoy dunking."

Almost too much in fact. With just over two minutes remaining, Cota attempted an off-the-backboard alley oop to teammate Vince Carter. Carter, who had already brought the house down several times with thunderous dunks, went for the dunk a little too hard, turning what would have been the intro highlight on the 2 a.m. edition of Sportscenter into a hard brick off the back iron that caromed to Williams, who drained an open three.

"I'm mad at Vince for that," Cota said with a smile. "He's been asking for that pass all year. That would have been a hell of an exclamation point on the game. I guess he just tried too hard."

The grand finish concluded with the North Carolina students in attendance storming the court in celebration.

The fans may have been ready to rush the floor after the first half as the Tar Heels overcame a slow start by both teams to explode offensively over the last 10 minutes of the half.

"I thought both teams came out a bit tight early," Guthridge said. "I think that can be attributed to both teams wanting to win very badly. Overall, our team executed very well tonight."

Duke actually led by as many as six early in the opening period but mostly stayed neck-and-neck with Carolina until the half's final six minutes. The Blue Devils managed just seven points over the final half-dozen minutes while UNC rang up 23 points.

"I was disappointed with the way we played in the first half," Krzyzewski said. "We weren't the team we've been all year even before it started going bad."

The epicenter of Duke's woes was undoubtedly Jamison, who shredded whatever combination of Blue Devils attempted to guard him, hitting 9-of-11 field goals in the first stanza

"Jamison was unstoppable," Carrawell said. "He was unbelievable-he just gave it to us."

Duke kept itself in the game in the first half and rallied in the second half behind strong nights from Carrawell (19 points, 3-of-4 from three) and Roshown McLeod (19, eight rebounds). The Blue Devils also received an emotional lift at the start of their last charge when Shane Battier managed to stop Jamison for the only time on the night, rejecting his shot on a hard drive to the basket.

That defensive stop was one of the Blue Devils' few on the night as UNC shot an astounding 63.5 percent from the floor on the night; a stark contrast to Duke's 33.3-percent night, which included 9-of 30 shooting from downtown. It was a night in which almost anything would fall for the Heels, even for Ndiaye, who scored seven points on 3-of-4 shooting, including a perfect splash from three-point land.

"I can hit that shot," Ndiaye said. "We just have so many three-point shooters on our team that I have to pick my spots."

The win moves UNC into a first-place tie with Duke atop the ACC and is a milestone in Guthridge's first year at the helm of the Tar Heels.

"I know coach Guthridge is going to go home tonight and do a dance," Carter said of his coach, who received congratulatory visits from former point guard Kenny Smith and George Karl, coach of the NBA's Seattle Sonics. "I know I would."

The Blue Devils next contest is Sunday at 3:30 p.m. at N.C. State.