This is how it was supposed to end.
For recruited seniors Jon Scheyer, Brian Zoubek and Lance Thomas, this is how Duke’s last home game of the 2009-2010 season was meant to go: a 16-point lead nine minutes in, a 27-point advantage at the break, and ultimately, an 82-50 victory that gave the Blue Devils their first win over North Carolina in Cameron Indoor Stadium in five tries.
For Scheyer, it was another typically accomplished performance, as the senior scored 20 points, dished out seven assists and generally dictated play on every possession. For Zoubek, it was the crowning moment of a career full of stops and starts, but one that has clearly peaked in the big man’s last days at Duke. Zoubek grabbed nine rebounds in the first half—three less than the entire Tar Heel roster—and finished close to another double-double with eight points and 13 boards.
Thomas was less of a factor on the stat sheet against the overmatched Tar Heels, yet his emotion in warmups clearly had an impact on his hyped-up teammates. So did his words during the postgame senior speeches.
“Seventeen-and-0, baby,” Thomas whooped to the Cameron Crazies’ delight, referencing Duke’s unbeaten record at home this season. “Seventeen-and-0.”
Zoubek summed up his teammate’s feelings a tad more eloquently in an excited locker room after the game.
“I would have been happy with any kind of win, but to get the win like this, with everyone playing great and playing their heart out, is special,” Zoubek said.
This triumph over North Carolina will forever belong to the senior class, but the Blue Devils who won this game for Duke were Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith. Guarded by either undersized or underskilled Tar Heels, Singler and Smith—both juniors with possible NBA futures—found space on the perimeter and in the paint, in transition and in the half-court. Singler led all scorers with 25 and Smith wasn’t far behind with 20.
And in a stat that shows how efficient Duke was on offense—and how stagnant North Carolina looked on the attack—Smith and Singler’s combined scoring output was greater than that of the Tar Heels’ whole team until 6:21 remained in the contest, if one could call it that.
“We were just constantly moving, staying in motion, getting good looks,” Smith said of how he and Singler found so much space to score. “Guys were being unselfish and guys were just playing together.”
Smith added, with only minimal prodding, that he would be making an appearance at the traditional bonfire on the quad after the final buzzer.
North Carolina led once Saturday night in Cameron, after Tar Heel senior Marcus Ginyard capitalized on a Scheyer turnover and made a free throw to give his team a 1-0 lead. Three 3-pointers later—not surprisingly, one each from Scheyer, Singler and Smith—and the Tar Heels were all but beaten. Duke’s first offensive outburst gave the Blue Devils a 23-7 lead nine minutes into the game; seemingly moments later, Duke was up an unconscionable 30 points against its greatest rival.
The Tar Heels did little to help themselves on this night. North Carolina came in having won two straight conference games, its only such streak of the conference season, but put itself in a huge hole early thanks to lax defense and poor rebounding. Duke managed to shoot over 50 percent from the field in the defining first period, and the Blue Devils went 7-of-13 from beyond the arc in the half. On the offensive end, the Tar Heels shot a mediocre 37 percent; what doomed them, though, was their inability to score from outside or get to the free throw line.
Point guards Larry Drew II and Dexter Strickland encapsulated the Carolina attack’s inefficiencies. The two had the speed to outrun the Duke defense in transition, yet when they tried to do so, they either turned the ball over or failed to create easy baskets for teammates or themselves. The pair had a combined five points and four rebounds in 51 total minutes of action. In contrast, Scheyer had five points two minutes and 25 seconds after tipoff.
As the game neared its end, a look down the two benches said it all. On one side, North Carolina’s Deon Thompson sat with a towel over his shoulder, head coach Roy Williams waited for the seconds to tick down with an exasperated look on his face and the Tar Heels’ walk-ons made their way onto the court. On the other end, Duke assistants Chris Collins and Nate James shared a joke and a laugh, while Zoubek and Scheyer both got massive hugs from Krzyzewski. And on this night, the seniors had earned them.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.