No. 1 Duke hands UNC worse loss ever

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Posted 6:39AM on Friday, February 1, 2002

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - There had been little evidence North Carolina could compete with No. 1 Duke this season. The Blue Devils proved the obvious Thursday night as Mike Dunleavy scored 23 points and Jason Williams added 18 in an 87-58 victory over the Tar Heels. Duke (19-1, 7-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat North Carolina by 14 points in the Smith Center in the 2001 regular-season finale, then bounced the Tar Heels by 26 in the ACC tournament title game. It was more of the same this time as the Blue Devils became the first team to win four straight in the 16-year history of the Smith Center. Mike Krzyzewski took out his starters with three minutes left and his club up by 35 points. Brian Morrison led North Carolina, which matched a season-high with 25 turnovers, with 12 points. Duke and Maryland have a two-game lead over North Carolina State and Wake Forest at the halfway mark of the ACC season. The Blue Devils and Terrapins meet for a second time Feb. 17 in College Park. Md., in what will likely decide the regular-season crown. The loss dropped North Carolina (6-12, 2-6) to 1-7 in January. The last time the program lost that many in the month was in 1951. Unlike in past years when both teams were ranked high in the polls, there was little buildup and interest in this one. Tickets were going for face value prior to the tipoff of what is usually one of college basketball's most anticipated games. Duke, which has won seven straight since a one-point loss to Florida State on Jan. 6, shot 61 percent in the first half and committed just two turnovers to go up by double digits. The Blue Devils then went on a 10-2 run to start the second half as Carlos Boozer had a layup and turnaround jumper, and Dunleavy made a 3-pointer and a layup to go up 58-37 and the rout was on. A 3-pointer by Williams with 7:57 left gave Duke a 31-point lead as North Carolina managed just 12 points in the first 15 minutes of second half. North Carolina coach Matt Doherty called a 30-second timeout with 5:28 left and yelled at his team to pick up the pace and compete harder as the Tar Heels tried to avoid more embarrassment and the worst loss in the 210-game series. Duke's largest win in the series was 35 points in February 1964. The Tar Heels shot 58 percent in the first half, but fell behind by as many as 15 points as eight players accounted for 14 turnovers. North Carolina also let Duke get nine easy baskets on either layups or dunks. Duke got off to a slow start offensively, but the Tar Heels threw away any chance of capitalizing with 11 turnovers in the opening 10:09. North Carolina was within eight before the Blue Devils scored on their final eight possessions of the half. Williams, quiet much of the period, was the key over the final 4:13, getting two driving layups and a 12-footer for a 48-35 halftime lead.