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Duke's Depth Dooms Heels

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By AARON BEARD, The Associated Press

Published: February 7, 2008

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. - Duke's depth really took care of short-handed North Carolina, keeping the second-ranked Blue Devils alone atop the Atlantic Coast Conference.
Greg Paulus scored 18 points and was one of six players in double figures in the Blue Devils' 89-78 win against the third-ranked Tar Heels on Wednesday night, ending a three-game losing streak in the heated rivalry.
Jon Scheyer added 17 points for Duke (20-1, 8-0 ACC), which ran its spread-the-floor offense to perfection most of the night and repeatedly knocked down 3-point shots to control the game almost the entire way. Duke led by as many as 11 points in the first half and never trailed after the break, beating the Tar Heels for the first time since the 2005-06 season.

Duke shot 46 percent and went 13-for-29 from 3-point range, with Paulus going 6-for-8 from behind the arc.
Tyler Hansbrough had 28 points and 18 rebounds in what became virtually a one-man effort for the Tar Heels (21-2, 6-2), who looked a step off all night without injured point guard Ty Lawson. Lawson sprained his left ankle in the weekend win at Florida State.

North Carolina twice closed to within a point early in the second half, but Duke never wavered and made it seem like the Heels had to fight the entire way just to stay within reach.

It was a surprisingly one-sided outcome in a rivalry that drew plenty of notable onlookers, including former Tar Heels basketball players Raymond Felton and Sean May, former Tar Heels football star Julius Peppers and even former Democratic presidential candidate John Edwards.

The game also marked the return of Dick Vitale, college basketball's signature analyst-ambassador and ESPN announcer. Vitale arrived at the Smith Center about five hours before he was to return to the air after two months away while he underwent and recovered from throat surgery.

As he turned the corner toward the media entrance, Vitale was suddenly in the middle of the North Carolina students already in line to get the prime seats for the game against their archrival.

The more the students cheered and chanted, the closer Vitale got to crying and eventually the tears streamed down his face.

"This is unbelievable. It's been like this since Dec. 5 when I found out about the lesions in my throat," said Vitale, a man who admits he's emotional most of the time anyway. "The phone calls, the notes and letters, the gift baskets. How lucky can a man be? On Dec. 5 I never thought I'd be here again."

After the game, Vitale walked across the court with a huge smile on his face and summed the day up as only he can:

"It was awesome, baby."

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