UNC beats Duke, 83-68, for ACC title

GREENSBORO - Round 3 goes to the Tar Heels.

Fourth-ranked North Carolina beat No. 1 Duke for the second time in three meetings Sunday afternoon at the Greensboro Coliseum, 83-68, wrapping up its second-straight Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament title in the process.

"I'm thrilled with this victory," first-year UNC coach Bill Guthridge said. "I'm so proud. We played our hearts out and executed better offensively and defensively. I've always been excited to win this tournament."

The Tar Heels (30-3, 16-3 in the ACC), who were making their seventh finals appearance in eight years, took home their ACC-best 15th conference tournament title with the win. UNC advanced to the finals by beating N.C. State handily on Friday and eeking out an 83-73 overtime win over Maryland in Saturday's semifinals. By beating the Wolfpack, Terrapins and Blue Devils (29-3, 17-2) in three consecutive days, the Tar Heels avenged their three regular-season losses and secured the top seed in the East Region of the NCAA Tournament, earning the right to return to Greensboro for the regional semifinals and finals.

"It's a great feeling to win back-to-back titles, both times as underdogs," said UNC point guard Ed Cota, who finished with eight points and five assists. "Duke was the top seed last year too. We just wanted to prove to everyone else that we're the best team in the ACC."

For the first 29 minutes, Duke and North Carolina battled to a 57-57 tie. For the next three minutes, the two teams played as if neither wanted to take home the hardware, with the only scoring coming on a pair of Cota free throws. Then the Tar Heels exploded on an 11-0 run to put the game away.

Vince Carter, who had been quiet for the tournament's first two-and-a-half games, ignited the run with a tough turnaround jumper in the post and kept the fire lit under the UNC players with a series of athletic plays.

"Especially during that period, Carter hit some big buckets for them and he made some athletic moves," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "I'm not sure how many points he had, but his points during that period were key points."

Jamison demonstrated just how little the injury bothered him midway through the second half as he received the ball on the perimeter, blew by Duke's top defender, Shane Battier, and exploded to the basket for a one-handed dunk.

"I don't think the injury had any ill effects today," Guthridge said. "In fact, I might find out what it is and give it to everybody."

Jamison, Carter and last year's tourney MVP Shammond Williams, who scored 19 points, led a Tar Heel offensive attack that shot 54.4 percent for the game. Duke, meanwhile, continued to struggle with its shooting as it had the entire tournament, connecting on just 33 percent of its shots for the game.

The Blue Devils kept themselves in the game, however, with offensive rebounding. While the Duke outside shooters continued to clank jumper after jumper, the Blue Devil big men worked hard inside to pull down 20 offensive boards, led by Elton Brand's six. Still, Duke was largely unable to convert on the majority of its second-chance opportunities.

"Our rebounding was pretty good," Krzyzewski said. "We just didn't convert them. We were hungry and going after the boards, but we didn't get anything out of it."

One Blue Devil who did heat it up both inside and out was Roshown McLeod. The senior scored 24 points and hit 5-of-10 three point attempts. Unfortunately for Duke, McLeod also sat out for a five-minute stretch of the second half after picking up his fourth foul with 14:36 remaining.

It's no coincidence that the Blue Devils struggled to score after McLeod left.

"Ro's our best scorer," Brand said. "Once he was out, it became a different game."

The first half was a see-saw battle that saw Duke lead by as many as five and North Carolina take a seven-point lead late in the half. Trajan Langdon, who shot a disastrous 3-for-14 on the day, cut the halftime deficit to four at 40-36 with a last-second three from the corner.

Chris Carrawell was the Blue Devils' go-to man in the first frame, scoring 12 points and hitting both three-pointers he attempted. For the game, Carrawell scored 18 points and was the only Duke player to shoot over 50 percent (7-for-11).

The Tar Heels each celebrated the win in their own fashion. Freshman Brendan Haywood, a Greensboro native, stood at center court and soaked up the atmosphere. Carter ran up into the stands to hug his mother, who has been to almost every UNC game this year. Williams concluded his tour of the ACC by leading the UNC band in the school fight song.

Notes: The members of the all-tournament first team were: Jamison, Williams, McLeod, Langdon and Clemson's Terrell McIntyre.... The second team was: Carrawell, Cota, Carter, UNC's Ademola Okulaja and Maryland's Rodney Elliot.