bstrickland@heraldsun.com; 419-6671
DURHAM -- Before the first media timeout Saturday night, it became fairly apparent which team would win the latest chapter in the storied series between Duke and North Carolina.
So after a while, Duke students who never had experienced the thrill of a victory over the Tar Heels at Cameron Indoor Stadium settled in -- though they never settled down -- to watch the show and wait to see what the final count would be.
They weren't disappointed.
The fans got their payoff for six weeks of camping out and five years of waiting it out in the form of an 82-50 blowout.
The Duke players, for their part, got the sweet taste of beating UNC at Cameron, as well, along with much more -- a share of the ACC's regular-season title, a perfect season at home and a perfect sendoff for the seniors.
"Our seniors have been such a good group. They deserved this moment," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said as his team cut down the nets in Cameron for what is believed to be the first time. "When you play that well, you always are concerned that you can let up. I never thought we let up."
With the victory, the Blue Devils (26-5, 13-3 ACC) wrapped up the No. 1 seed in the ACC Tournament. Duke will face the winner of Thursday's opening-round game between No. 8 Boston College and No. 9 Virginia in the quarterfinals Friday at noon at the Greensboro Coliseum.
The Tar Heels (16-15, 5-11) will be the No. 10 seed and will open against No. 7 Georgia Tech on Thursday at 7 p.m.
There actually was a touch of drama in the drubbing, at least for historians. Would Duke claim its largest victory over the Tar Heels in the 229 games between the neighbors?
The answer, not settled until the final minute, was no. Duke's 104-69 victory on Feb. 29, 1964, still is standing -- barely -- but it was the Blue Devils' most lopsided win over UNC in Durham, surpassing its 94-64 victory on Feb. 29, 1952.
"I guess that's kind of how we wanted it," said junior Kyle Singler, who paced Duke with 25 points.
Senior Jon Scheyer and junior Nolan Smith added 20 apiece, as each of Duke's big three went for at least 20 points for the first time.
While it was what Singler wanted, it certainly wasn't what UNC coach Roy Williams had in mind. While criticizing his team, which got 14 points from freshman John Henson, Williams provided a tribute of his own to Duke's recruited seniors -- Scheyer, Lance Thomas (2 points, 6 rebounds) and Brian Zoubek (8 points, 13 rebounds).
"Jon Scheyer is a young man that I've really enjoyed watching play, except against us," Williams said. "Lance Thomas doesn't shoot it very much, but he does all the dirty work and really helps their team. ... That's three of the last four games that [Zoubek] has had double-figure rebound totals.
"I think this is the best Duke team there's been in the seven years I've been here. Mike knows them better, but to me, they don't have any holes."
UNC started the game well enough, when senior Marcus Ginyard came up with a steal and hit a free throw after drawing the foul. That however, was the Tar Heels' lone lead, and nearly their lone highlight.
Duke's next three possessions resulted in 3-pointers from Scheyer, then Singler, then Smith for a 9-3 lead.
It was only the beginning.
After Scheyer hit three free throws by drawing a foul from Ginyard, Singler scored Duke's next seven points on his way to a 19-point half. Smith took care of nine of Duke's next 12, powered by a pair of three-point plays and interrupted only by a 3-pointer from freshman Andre Dawkins.
Then, when Singler hit a pair of free throws at the 9:18 mark, the Blue Devils led 31-9.
"Those three veterans on the perimeter really set the stage in the first half with how they passed and moved with one another," Krzyzewski said. "We played really well. We would have been tough to beat tonight for anybody."
After the game, Duke's seniors addressed the crowd, donning T-shirts designed by Singler that he unveiled to the team on the eve of the game. The shirts featured a logo commemorating the first 17-0 record in Cameron history.
"It made us really want to win this game," Smith said. "We couldn't let these shirts go to waste.
"That was my main focus -- I didn't want to waste all this good fabric."
