On the sideline, North Carolina coach Matt Doherty said a little prayer for his 7-foot center. On the foul line, that center was thinking about Christmas, waking up in Greensboro and skipping the presents to go to a gym and shoot free throws.
Then Brendan Haywood thought this: “All I have to do is hit one free throw and we win. I’m a 50 percent shooter. I know I can hit one.”
He hit two and No. 4 North Carolina won 85-83–but only after a missile from No. 2 Duke’s Chris Duhon was barely off target at the buzzer, ending a masterpiece Thursday night at deafening Cameron Indoor Stadium.
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“I think I aged a little bit today,” Doherty, a former Tar Heel, said after his first UNC-Duke game from the bench.
The victory is the 15th in a row for North Carolina (18-2, 8-0) and puts the Tar Heels ahead of Duke (19-2, 7-1) for first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference–and probably ahead of the Blue Devils in the next national rankings.
This is what Haywood’s free throws had done. It was the least he could do, he believed.
“I’ve almost lost some games from the foul line this season,” he said. He was hitting 48.6 percent from the line. “I almost cost us the UCLA game. Florida State too. It was so sweet to win one at the line.”
And, finally, from Doherty: “There’s not a young man who works harder at the foul line than Brendan, and he’s scrutinized a lot. Brendan deserves [this].”
Haywood’s free throws ruined the heroics of Duke’s Michael Dunleavy, who scored six spectacular points in the final minute.
Heroics were needed because, after Duke rallied from a 13-point deficit, UNC had taken control of the game, leading 80-74 on a Joseph Forte field goal with 58.3 seconds left. Forte had 24 points, a career-high 16 rebounds, six assists and three steals.
Duke had come back from bigger deficits–and in less time. Just Saturday the Blue Devils had rallied from a 12-point hole in the final 66 seconds to win at Maryland. This time Dunleavy dunked on Jason Capel (20 points, six rebounds, five assists) for a three-point play that cut North Carolina’s lead to 80-77 with 51.7 seconds left.
With 3.9 seconds left, after Capel had hit three of four free throws over the previous half-minute, Dunleavy took a pass from Nate James and lofted a three-pointer over Julius Peppers to tie the score 83-83.
The game appeared destined for overtime, but Duke senior Shane Battier made an aggressive play that turned into a fatal mistake.
Going for the steal on Forte’s long pass, Battier collided with Haywood with 1.2 seconds left, sending Haywood to the line.
“I was trying to bat the ball down and send it to overtime,” Battier said. “I was like a defensive back. I guess it was pass interference.”