Duke may be the top-ranked team in the country, but the Blue Devils have not been to the ACC championship game since 1992, when they defeated North Carolina by 20 points in Charlotte.
So Sunday’s matchup with their fourth-ranked neighborhood rival holds even more significance than usual. This will be the third time these Goliaths have played this season, with each team winning at home.
“This wipes up the first two,” said Duke forward Chris Carrawell. “I’m really looking forward to it. Dickie V. will be in the house. With everything at stake, this is huge.”
Dick Vitale and the NCAA selection committee will certainly be taking a close look. Although Duke (29-2) won the ACC regular season by two games, it is likely the committee will give the No. 1 seed in the East at this same site to the winner of this rubber match. The loser should be a No. 1 seed in the Southeast.
Both Duke and North Carolina are lucky to still be breathing after one of the most dramatic days in ACC tournament history. North Carolina survived what coach Bill Guthridge described as a “discombobulated” performance to defeat Maryland 83-73 in overtime in the first game. Duke had to rally from a 12-point first-half deficit to defeat Clemson in the final second 66-64 in the second game.
North Carolina senior guard Shammond Williams, who shot just 7 for 19, had six turnovers and played what he called “my worst game ever,” emerged as the hero of the Heels’ win when he could have been the goat.
After missing a free throw with 4 seconds left in regulation that would have put the Heels ahead, Williams scored 10 of his 25 points in overtime as Carolina (29-3) wiped out a 53-44 deficit with 9:42 left against the third-seeded Terps (19-10).
Carolina fans, still stinging from a 77-75 loss to the Blue Devils last weekend at Cameron, began chanting “We want Duke,” with 2 minutes remaining in overtime. They were obviously unaware their All-America forward, Antawn Jamison, who was grimacing throughout the second half with a sore left groin, would spend time in the trainer’s room afterward and is questionable for the final.
Jamison said he first felt the injury after pregame warmups. “It got worse as the game went on,” he said.
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The body count is important here. Carolina, which only uses a seven-man rotation, was forced to play the final 15 minutes 48 seconds of regulation and overtime without starting center Makhtar Ndiaye, who fouled out. Fatigue could be a problem against a team like Duke, which goes 10-deep and has been able to make the most of talented freshmen like William Avery.
Avery, who played 18 critical minutes because Wojciechowski was still recovering from the flu, scored nine points and made a game-winning follow with just three-tenths of a second left against the Tigers (18-13).