Duke-North Carolina: Blue Devils Demolish Tar Heels

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.