Men's Hoops Assured A Piece Of Third Place Despite Loss To Duke
March 4, 2000
By ELIZABETH A. DAVIS DURHAM, N.C. - Shane Battier scored 30 points as No. 4 Duke beat North Carolina 90-76 on Saturday to sweep the season series for just the fourth time in 36 years. Chris Carrawell, Duke's lone senior playing in his final game at Cameron Indoor Stadium, scored 21 points as the Blue Devils (24-4, 15-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) won their fifth straight game in the 81-year-old rivalry. North Carolina (18-12, 9-7) has not won at Cameron since 1996. Even with the loss to Duke, the regular-season ACC champion, the Tar Heels are assured at least a tie for third place. Duke took control early and never trailed. Joseph Forte, who led North Carolina with 24 points, made a layup with 1:41 left to pull North Carolina within 11 at 80-69, but that was as close as the Tar Heels would get. As the Cameron Crazies chanted "Thank you, C-Well," Carrawell made two free throws and then punctuated the victory with a dunk off a steal to make it 84-69 with 1:30 remaining. He went to the bench with 32 seconds left to more showers of cheers. The Blue Devils stretched their lead from four to 10 points in a dazzling one-minute span in the first half. Jason Williams scored on a fast break and made another basket eight seconds later after a North Carolina turnover. Then on the inbounds pass, the Tar Heels again turned the ball over and Carrawell, who had 11 points in the first half, grabbed it for a dunk to put Duke ahead 22-12. That spurt keyed an 18-8 run that gave the Blue Devils a 40-20 lead with two minutes left. Duke led 42-27 at halftime. The Tar Heels didn't look the same after senior point guard Ed Cota left for
a few minutes in the first half to get five stitches over his left eye. With a
large bandage over his eyebrow, Cota finished with 11 points and 13 assists.
North Carolina tried to trim Duke's lead in the second half and got it down to 11 after Jason Capel's 3 and Julius Pepper's layup to make it 54-43 with 13:34 left. But Battier hit consecutive 3-pointers to make it 60-43 a minute later. The Tar Heels cut the lead to nine on Forte's 3 with 5:14 left, but Carrawell pushed it back to double figures with a leaping layup on the next possession.
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