The Duke Blue Devils and the North Carolina Tar Heels have the most heated rivalry in all of college sports. Last Wednesday, the game at Cameron Indoor Stadium lived up to all the hype.
At halftime, Duke led by seven points, 36-29. Those 29 first-half points were a disappointment for UNC, a team that averages 90 points per game, but the Heels hung tough, despite a poorly played first half and 23 turnovers on the game.
In the second half, Carolina made a few small comebacks, but could never steal the lead from the Blue Devils. UNC's Rashad McCants hit a lay-up with under a minute left to play, pulling his team within one point, and the Heels had one more chance when they got the ball back, down by one point, with 18 seconds remaining.
North Carolina PG Raymond Felton brought the ball up-court but couldn't find the man he was looking for. He passed to teammate David Noel, who dribbled the ball out of bounds as the clock expired, setting off an eruption from the Cameron Crazies. Final score: Duke 71, North Carolina 70.
Duke sniper J.J. Redick was a key component in the Blue Devils' offense, playing all 40 minutes and dropping in 18 points. Duke's best freshman, DeMarcus Nelson, added 16 points in what appeared to be his breakout performance of the season. UNC was led by forward Sean May, who had 23 points and 18 boards.
The two teams are set for a rematch on March 6 at the Dean Dome on the North Carolina campus. Get ready for another bloodbath.
UNC would get its revenge though, even if they weren't the ones to knock off the Blue Devils. On Saturday, the Maryland Terrapins upset Duke, 99-92 in overtime. This win, coupled with a win at Duke earlier in the season, gave the Terps their first season sweep of the Blue Devils since 1995. The Terps had six players in double figures, led by John Gilchrist's 19 points.
Yesterday, the Tar Heels picked themselves up even further by posting a solid win over the No. 14 UConn Huskies, 77-70. Down by three points at halftime, Carolina came out of the locker room strong, outscoring the Huskies by ten points in the second period. Both teams had four players in double figures, but it was the play of Felton and McCants in the second half that catalyzed the Heels to victory.
Illinois remains the only undefeated team in the nation. The Illini are now 25-0 after picking up solid wins this past week against Michigan and number 21 Wisconsin, and with no ranked teams left in their regular season, the possibility of an unscathed regular season record looks promising.
In stark contrast to the Illini stand the Savannah State Tigers. The Tigers finished out their season with a 49-44 loss to Florida A&M last night and their record now stands at 0-28. The team is the first Div. I team to have a winless season since Prairie A&M in 1991-92, and only the second in 50 years.
Look for Oklahoma State and Arizona to move up in the rankings this week. Oklahoma State posted solid wins over number eighteen Oklahoma (79-67) and Texas A&M (66-59) while Arizona knocked off USC (88-76) and UCLA (83-73).
There will be a lot of motion in the opposite direction as well. Boston College will drop from number four, as the Eagles' first loss came on Wednesday against unranked Notre Dame, 68-65. Number nine Louisville got walloped by Memphis on Wednesday, 85-68, the kind of loss that will not go unnoticed by the poll voters. Finally, Oklahoma has lost three straight games to Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, and Missouri. Don't be surprised if the Sooners drop out of the Top 25.
Players of the Week: Charlie Villanueva had a monster game against Syracuse last week in the Huskies' 74-66 huge win over the Orangemen, notching a double-double with 21 points and 10 boards.
In the Midwest, Thomas Gardner of Missouri led his team to a massive upset of Oklahoma on Saturday. Gardner had 18 points, was four for nine from behind the arc, and was the definition of clutch in Missouri's comeback win over the Sooners.
