Duke Wins, Grabs Share of Title

That is, all five extensions of the hand -- representative of Blue Devils on the floor -- bound tightly together.

The Blue Devils went into Sunday's game against North Carolina without one of their fingers -- center Carlos Boozer, who was out with a broken bone in his right foot -- but still packed enough of a punch to knock out the Tar Heels

95-81 before 21,750 at the Smith Center.

The victory not only gave Duke a split in the season series with UNC, but it also earned the Blue Devils a share of the ACC title that the Tar Heels clinched Wednesday night.

The conference crown is Duke's fifth in a row, an ACC record. Five fingers in a fist? Five rings for five fingers.

"No one in ACC history has ever done that -- that's why it's so important to us," said Duke guard Chris Duhon, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half. "We played hard, and thank God we won."

Duke can also thank forward Shane Battier and point guard Jason Williams, two candidates for national-player-of-the-year honors who were even better than advertised.

Battier racked up a double-double with 25 points and 11 rebounds and was a defensive presence inside with five blocks and four steals. Williams barely missed a double-double of his own with game-high totals of 33 points and nine assists.

"I thought Shane had a good game," North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said, "and I thought Jason Williams was unbelievable."

Williams shot 13-for-27 from the field, including a 7-for-13 effort from

3-point range. But just as importantly, he pushed the tempo and kept the game a full-court race.

If BMW is the ultimate driving machine, Williams might be the next best thing. He got into the lane whenever he wanted and either finished at the hoop or kicked the ball out to open teammates.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also gave Williams some help by starting Duhon for the first time all year. The move gave Duke two point guards on the floor and UNC no time to rest.

"They had matchup problems against us," said Duke guard Nate James, whom Duhon replaced in the starting five. "When we run up and down, it's hard for them to keep up that pace."

The Tar Heels (23-5, 13-3 in the ACC) tried to counter Duke's speed with their size and efficient half-court offense. But Duke also forced the issue there, trapping off of UNC's high post and forcing big men Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang to handle the ball at the top of the key.

The defense was designed to give help to Boozer's fill-ins -- Casey Sanders, Matt Christensen and Reggie Love -- in the post. The trio did little on the stat sheet (two points, five rebounds) but did give Krzyzewski 27 minutes.

"We knew that if they could just look into the post, they would see that there was a 7-footer in there, about 260, against Reggie Love or somebody," Krzyzewski said. "That wasn't going to cut it, so we tried to do a few things to make them make other plays."

The Tar Heels managed for a little while, going into the locker room at halftime trailing 42-40.

But a 16-7 spurt in the first four minutes of the second half -- fueled in part by three turnovers by UNC point guard Ronald Curry -- gave Duke an edge North Carolina could not overcome.

Duke (26-4, 13-3) made 12 of its first 18 shots in the second half, including

5-of-9 from 3-point range, en route to building its lead to 72-57 with 11:37 left.

At that point, the Blue Devils had the Tar Heels right where they wanted them: with their backs to the wall and playing Duke basketball.

Doherty sent out a small, quick lineup of 6-foot-6 Julius Peppers, 6-8 Jason Capel, 6-5 Max Owens, 6-4 Joseph Forte and 6-2 Brian Morrison in an effort to pressure Duke and force mistakes, but the ploy failed.

The Tar Heels cut the deficit to 10 with 8:16 remaining but could get no closer. Forte struggled in the comeback effort, shooting 2-for-11 in the second half and finishing with 21 points.

Meanwhile, a major strength of the UNC team sat motionless. Haywood, in his final home game, and Lang played eight and seven minutes, respectively, in the second half.

"It really doesn't matter what I think about it," said Haywood, who tallied 12 points and eight boards in 25 minutes. "I'm a player, he's a coach, and you respect his opinion no matter what it is."

That being the case, the Tar Heels must put the loss to Duke behind them. The ACC Tournament awaits, and the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament's East Region is still there for the taking.

"It's a new season," Doherty said. "In a month from now, people won't be talking a whole lot about today. We've got to move on."

The Sports Editor can be reached at sports@unc.edu.