Duke Dumps UNC In Hard-Fought Rivalry Game
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DURHAM, N.C. – Duke slowed the pace and made North Carolina play a half court game. Under those circumstances, nobody plays better defense than the Blue Devils.
J.J. Redick scored 18 points, freshman DeMarcus Nelson added 16, and no. 7 Duke forced 23 turnovers to hold off the second-ranked Tar Heels 71-70 last night.
North Carolina squandered a chance to win in the final seconds, never getting a shot off after inbounding with 18 seconds left. David Noel dribbled the ball out of bounds just as the buzzer sounded and the Cameron Crazies raced onto the court, celebrating the Blue Devils’ 15th victory in the past 18 games in this Tobacco Road rivalry.
Daniel Ewing finished with 15 points and helped the Blue Devils (18-2, 8-2) move into a first-place tie with North Carolina in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Wake Forest trails both by one-half game.
Duke finished 21-of-22 from the free throw line and made 10 3-pointers. All but one of the Blue Devils’ baskets in the second half were 3-pointers – only a layup by Nelson with about 10 minutes left came from inside the arc.
Sean May had 23 points and 18 rebounds for the Tar Heels (19-3, 8-2), who couldn’t overcome their shoddy ball control. Point guard Raymond Felton had eight turnovers and May added five, and the top assist team in Division I finished with only 10, 11 below its average.
Felton scored 13 points and freshman Marvin Williams had 12 for North Carolina.
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MEMPHIS ROUTS NO. 8 LOUISVILLE
Freshman point guard Darius Washington scored 25 points and Memphis coach John Calipari earned his 300th victory in the Tigers’ 85-68 win over no. 9 Louisville last night.
Rodney Carney added 24 points and Anthony Rice had 15 – all in the second half – for the Tigers (14-10, 7-3 Conference USA), who snapped the Cardinals’ nine-game winning streak and handed Louisville its worst home loss in four seasons under coach Rick Pitino.
Taquan Dean and Ellis Myles each scored 17 points for Louisville (20-4, 8-2), which was out rebounded 41-30 and shot a season-low 33%.
Louisville had a 10-game home-court winning streak snapped and matched its worst defeat at Freedom Hall since a 74-57 loss to UAB in February of 2001.
