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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- The deliberate pace North Carolina needed
was frustrating for No. 3 Duke, but it was a perfect tune-up for
the rest of the postseason.
North Carolina slowed Friday night's game against Duke to a
crawl, enabling the Tar Heels to hang with the Blue Devils for much
of the contest before eventually bowing out 60-48 in the
quarterfinals of the ACC tournament.
The defeat officially ended Carolina's (8-20) record of 27
straight appearances in the NCAA tournament and secured its first
20-loss season in school history.
"That was an NCAA tournament game," said Jason Williams, who
led Duke with 20 points. "Tournament games are going to be slowed
down and you are going to be fighting for possession after
possession. That's what happened here and that's what we'll face
the rest of the way."
After losing the first two meetings with Duke (27-3) by a
combined 54 points -- including Sunday's 93-68 drubbing -- the Tar
Heels knew they couldn't run with the Blue Devils. Needing to win
the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament to extend the season,
coach Matt Doherty spent the week working on a completely different
game plan.
What he came up with was one of the slowest tempos in North
Carolina history, with guard Adam Boone often stopping the ball at
midcourt as 10 or more seconds ticked off and the Tar Heels let the
clock wind all the way down before taking their shots.
"You don't want to have to play that way, but it was the only
chance we had to win," said Doherty, who had clearly been crying
in the locker room.
"We worked on it and I went to Jason (Capel) and said this is
the way we need to play to try to beat Duke and he said, `Let's do
it. I'm with you.' And we thought we were going to win."
The strategy almost worked as Carolina shot 51 percent while
taking just 29 shots and keeping the score close throughout.
The Tar Heels had an 11-10 lead with 12:26 to play -- but when
their shots stopped falling it dropped them into a hole. North
Carolina went scoreless for almost 4 minutes, then Mike Dunleavy
hit a pair of 3-pointers to give Duke a 26-14 lead.
So the Tar Heels brought the game to a near stop with Boone
holding the ball at midcourt. The pace was agonizing for the fans,
who booed loudly every time Boone stood idle, and frustrating for
the Blue Devils, who crouched low and began clapping in rhythm to
keep their focus.
No matter to the Tar Heels, who closed the half with an 8-2 run
to only trail 28-22 at the break.
"It was obvious we couldn't run-and-gun with them," Capel
said. "We had to do something."
The slow pace continued in the second half, allowing the Tar
Heels to twice climb out of 10-point holes. Working to their
advantage was Williams' early shooting woes -- he had just six
points with 10 minutes remaining.
But he found his scoring touch at the worst possible time for
North Carolina. After the Tar Heels pulled within 37-34, Williams
made them pay when Carolina's Jawad Williams missed a pair of free
throws.
Instead of making it a one-point game, it went the other way
when Jason Williams hit a soft jumper after the miss, then
converted a North Carolina turnover into a 3-pointer for a 44-34
Duke lead.
"We had worked all week on better communication, so the biggest
play of the game was Jason's 3," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
"He ran the baseline, saw Chris (Duhon) and just yelled `Chris!'
and Chris found him and hit him and that was the communication I
was talking about."
When North Carolina again rallied to cut it to 58-43 with 4:35
to play, Williams came up with a steal that led to his own dunk
then hit a quick 3 to push Duke's lead to 53-43. Duhon followed
with another 3 to make it 56-45 with 1:14 to play and seal the win.
Carlos Boozer finished with 11 points, and Dunleavy had 10.
Capel finished with seven points and received a standing ovation
when he fouled out with under a minute to play. He ran over to the
Duke bench and shook hands with the coaching staff before leaving
the court for the final time.
After the game, he and fellow senior Kris Lang sat silently,
unable to digest that their Carolina careers were over.
"I'm trying not to say too much," said Lang, whose eyes where
red-rimmed. "It was very emotional for me in the locker room, so
I'd rather not say too much about it."
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Duke vs. UNC