No. 2 Duke hasn’t dominated the ACC the past five seasons by backing down from a challenge and the Blue Devils were determined not to give ground against their biggest rival yesterday.
Duke (26-4, 13-3), playing at a breakneck offensive pace without its top inside threat, made Atlantic Coast Conference history by winning or tying for its fifth straight regular-season title with a 95-81 victory over No. 4 North Carolina at Chapel Hill, N.C.
"This is the result of coming to work every single day with the dedication needed to be a champion," said Duke’s Shane Battier, who was spectacular in his final regular-season ACC game. "Not once, but five times. That will be something to look back on."
Duke lost by two points to the Tar Heels (23-5, 13-3) in Durham, N.C., a month ago, missing 14 of 27 free throws, but remained alive for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament with a dominating offensive show in the Smith Center.
"We’re Duke; this is a championship program," said freshman Chris Duhon, who scored 15 points and had four assists in his first career start. "We’re not going to lay down and lose for anybody. We just came together as a team and showed why we are still pretty good."
Duke’s two stars were the heroes in the Tobacco Road rematch as the Blue Devils were 14-for-38 from 3-point range without center Carlos Boozer, who watched from the bench with a broken bone in his right foot.
Jason Williams scored 33 points and Battier added 25 points, 11 rebounds and five blocks as Duke won its third straight at Chapel Hill.
ACC scoring leader Joseph Forte led the Tar Heels with 21 points.
"The way they played broke our rhythm," UNC coach Matt Doherty said. "I don’t think we were real sharp handling the basketball. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit because they came into a tough situation being a man down."
