ATLANTA - One week, four games, no more skeptics.
When the Blue Devils lost center Carlos Boozer to a fractured third metatarsal nearly two weeks ago, they were supposed to be too short, too thin, too shallow and all too incapable of defending their back-to-back ACC tournament championships. Now those same Blue Devils (29-4) are the No. 1 seed in the East region and heavy favorites to return to the Final Four in Minneapolis.
Exactly seven days after running North Carolina out of its own building, Duke demolished the Tar Heels (25-6) Sunday in a championship game that was only a game for about 11 minutes.
The first triumph over their archrivals snared the Blue Devils a share of their fifth straight regular-season conference title. The second, a 79-53 massacre in front of a divided crowd in Atlanta's Georgia Dome, earned Duke a third consecutive ACC banner in the second-most lopsided championship game in the history of the ACC tournament.
"When this tournament started, coming here a man down with Carlos being out, I don't really know how many people gave us a chance to win it," tournament MVP Shane Battier said. "No one really gave us a chance, so I'm very proud of our guys."
Battier and his teammates did everything right Sunday. They outrebounded, outmuscled and outhustled the Tar Heels, who played an uninspired second half after getting blown away, 50-30, in the first half. Carolina's 19-for-65 performance from the floor-an abominable 29.2 percent-was the second lowest in the history of the ACC finals, dating back to N.C. State's 1955 squad.
The victory was also the 600th in the storied coaching career of legendary Mike Krzyzewski.
"This last week has been as gratifying for me as I have had as a coach," said Krzyzewski, who emphasized that the decisive factory Sunday was the defensive rebounding of forward Mike Dunleavy and point guard Jason Williams.
Dunleavy led Duke with game-highs in both points (24) and rebounds (13). He also had the only sound shooting game on an afternoon in which both teams struggled from the field.
Williams only grabbed five rebounds, but he scored 15 points and held superstar Joseph Forte in check before rolling his ankle seven minutes into the second half. Although Williams' injury appeared somewhat serious when he hobbled off the court with the assistance of trainer Dave Engelhardt and guard Andre Buckner, Krzyzewski said his leading scorer is expected to play Thursday against Monmouth in the first round of the NCAA tournament.
Williams sat in anguish on Duke's bench while Engelhardt examined his ankle, but the sophomore had the brightest smile on his face when the celebration began. After gingerly lifting himself up the ladder, Williams sliced one of the net's four remaining strands and waived it about with a series of rapid-fire pumps of his right arm that was as electrifying to the Duke cheering section as one of his trademark slaps of the hardwood.
Both Dunleavy and Williams joined Battier on the tournament's first team, along with Forte and Maryland's Juan Dixon. Nate James was named to the second team.
"I take my hat off to Duke and Coach Krzyzewski. They're a great team and they performed really well," said UNC coach Matt Doherty, whose team lost for the fourth consecutive Sunday. "You have to admire what they've done."
Doherty's post-game admiration masked a sickly feeling of frustration that overtook the first-year coach when the Blue Devils turned a 23-20 game into a 42-21 laugher in a matter of four-and-a-half minutes. Duke's run was highlighted by Williams' lob pass into center Casey Sanders, who caught the ball in traffic and elevated over Julius Peppers for a layup and foul that epitomized the way Duke dominated the paint against Carolina.
Sanders recorded three blocks and united with reserves Matt Christensen and Reggie Love to hold all of UNC's post players to single-digit scoring totals. Despite a significant advantage in size over each of Duke's three interior players, Tar Heels center Brendan Haywood made little impact, particularly in the second half when he took only three shots.
"I think it got to a point where a lot of people wrote off each of these guys and didn't really expect them to contribute to our team this season," Battier said of Sanders, Love and Christensen. "We had seen flashes from each of them, but not the sustained level we saw this weekend."
Note: Krzyzewski said he expects to receive more conclusive X-rays on Boozer's fractured metatarsal either Monday or Tuesday. Duke's coach added that he does not think Boozer will be ready to play in the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament, but a return is anticipated in the Sweet 16. Boozer has been walking around without a cast and doing cardiovascular work on an exercise bike.
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