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Ty Lawson has been hampered all week by a sprained ankle and was a game-time decision. Prior to the game, a source reportedly said that Lawson will play but they did not know whether it would be starting or coming off the bench...

Duke-North Carolina: Blue Devils Demolish Tar Heels

by Sean Stancill (Senior Writer)

10

1,338 reads

Sports

February 06, 2008


Ty Lawson has been hampered all week by a sprained ankle and  was a game-time decision. Prior to the game, a source reportedly said that Lawson will play but they did not know whether it would be starting or coming off the bench.

Well they lied.

Lawson did not play as the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils outstroked No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels to win 89-78.

Greg Paulus led Duke with 18 points that came off six 3s. Gerald Henderson put in key minutes for Duke as he had 12 points and 8 rebounds on 5-10 FG shooting.

Wayne Ellington was non-existent for the Tar Heels as he only had 8 points on 3-14 shooting. Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 17 rebounds in a losing effort. Hansbrough was a beast early on and finished with 18 points in the first half while his whole team scored 21.

Duke led 42-39 at the half, thanks in large part to a steady offense and the 3 ball.

The teams opened the 3rd slowly as Duke went without a FG for over four minutes while UNC went without a FG for more than three and a half minutes.

Play began to pickup starting with North Carolina G and Oakland product (my hometown) Quentin Thomas scoring six of nine UNC points in a 2:40 minute span.

Another Oakland product Demarcus Nelson went to the bench with 16:15 left after picking up his fourth foul.

Duke began pulling away in the second half after a trey by Paulus to make it 51-46. 

An unlikely hero arose for UNC by the name of Marcus Ginyard. Ginyard banked in a layup to trim the lead to 58-53, but Duke's perimeter shooting was too much to overcome.

Duke G/F Gerald Henderson hit a tough fadeaway, followed it up with a dunk, and then raced down the other end of the court to provide great weakside help as he blocked Tyler Hansbrough's layup attempt. Henderson's style of play and skill level reminds me of a Tayshaun Prince with better offensive skills.

Wayne Ellington was nowhere to be found as he dissapeared in yet another big game. Ellington reminds me of former UCLA G Arron Affalo. A guard that has all the talent in the world, but when a big game comes around he turns into Casper the Friendly Ghost.

Duke was outrebounded by UNC 44-37 and outdimed them 17-16.

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10 comments Last one added about 1 year ago — Leave a Comment

  1. Michael Whittenberg about 1 year ago

    Aww man, you don't know how good it felt to be there and gloat in the faces of Tarheel fans. It made my week. A win over NC is way better than the Super Bowl.

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  2. Michael Whittenberg about 1 year ago

    Yeah--but I love Duke because I grew up around there. I hate the Tarheels with a passion.

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  3. Allan Wexler about 1 year ago

    I still think that the Heels will go further than Duke. The loss of Lawson last night was monumental. Quentin Thomas didn't play poorly in the second half, but he turned the ball over too much in the first half. Duke still doesn't rebound enough to have a long run in the tourney and they can't always count on shooting as well as they did last night. At any rate, Kyle Singler is one heck of a player.

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  4. keith evan about 1 year ago

    What a terrible article! Your atricle's title, "Blue Devils Demolish Tar Heels" is completely off base and clearly demostrates that you did not watch the game. And you refer to a Ginyard as an "unlikely hero"??? How is a Mr. Basketball in Virginia an "unlikely hero"...and how is a guy that shot 3 or 10 from the field on the losing team a hero? Becuase he hit a layup to cut the Duke lead to 5 midway through the 2nd half?

    Then you compare Gerald Henderson to Tayshaun Prince? Tayshaun was a tall, thin shot blocker who played most of his offense from beyond the 3 point line. Henderson is a strong, physical slasher...they are hardly similar.

    And saying that Ellington disappears in all the big games...just not true (although he did not play great in this game). As a freshmen, he averaged nearly 12 points, shot 84% from the line, and had a nearly 4:1 assist to turnover ratio. And he was 1st team ACC Tournament.

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  5. Coach Kunt Dref about 1 year ago

    "Lawson did not play as the No. 3 Duke Blue Devils outstroked No. 2 North Carolina Tar Heels to win 89-78."

    Yeah Duke outstrokes everyone... when theyre in the shower after the game

    Buncha flaming homosexual rectum-wreckers

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  6. Sean Stancill about 1 year ago

    He was not a big name player then now was he Keith? He was just a good freshman? And what is Gerald Henderson if not skinny? Tayshaun Prince by tje way does have a tendency to slash and Henderson is a occasional shot blocker like Prince. Also you didn't even spell article right, there's no wau I'm taking your opinion seriously. Let me guess your a North Carolina fan who has sour grapes after the embarrassing lost on National T.V. , well get it over it.

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    • keith evan about 1 year ago

      Your rebuttal is that I misspelled "article"? Is that the best you can come up with?

      Here are some stats of Prince and Henderson from their freshmen and sophomore seasons...they sure don't look very similar:

      Prince (6'9" - 210lbs) - Blocked shots: 21 & 41 - 3pointers: 29 & 46
      Henderson (6'4” - 210lbs) - Blocked shots: 10 & 23 - 3pointers: 8 & 10

      Prince was a “shot blocker”…Henderson blocks some shots, but so does just about every other college player with descent hops.

      Yes, I am a North Carolina fan…but no I do not have “sour grapes”. Carolina lost a close game to the #2 team in the country. A good analyst would not label North Carolina’s loss as “embarrassing”…in fact I have read some 15 to 20 articles on the game and not one uses the word “embarrassing” when describing the loss. North Carolina was without their star point guard and their very good backup…had Lawson been able to play it could have been a very different outcome.

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  7. Sean Stancill about 1 year ago

    Your right it could have been different, but the fact is he didn't play and its tough luck for North Carolina. But if there a great team they need to play like one and win big games. Prince wasn't just a Shot Blocker he was a decent scorer that comes in the clutch in the NBA. Henderson does play defense and he's a good scorer and Henderson averages 1.1 BPG. If that's not a good Block Per Game average for a G then what is.

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