Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, March 11, 1991 TAG: 9103110140
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DOUG DOUGHTY SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: CHARLOTTE, N.C. LENGTH: Long
The sooner, the better.
The chance for atonement presented itself Sunday in the championship game of the ACC Tournament and the Tar Heels seized the moment, coasting to a 96-74 victory at the Charlotte Coliseum.
Duke had won both previous meetings between the teams this year, including an 83-77 triumph only one week earlier on the Tar Heels' home floor. That clinched the regular-season title for the Blue Devils.
"It would have been nice to win the championship playing someone else," Carolina forward George Lynch said, "but it made things even better to play Duke in the final and get those first two losses out of our heads.
"We had a lot of guys feeling bad after losing to them twice and we said, `We've got to to play Duke again.' We would have waited till the NCAA championship, but we got the chance this week and really did a number on them."
Seventh-ranked North Carolina (25-5) led by 18 points in the first half and increased its margin to 76-50 with 8:50 remaining. It was the most lopsided ACC championship game since Carolina beat N.C. State 87-50 in 1968.
"I thought the first four minutes of the second half would be crucial, and they were . . . for North Carolina," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, whose Blue Devils trailed 49-36 at the half. "It was their game the whole way."
Senior Rick Fox, named the tournament most valuable player, scored a game-high 25 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. The Tar Heels shot 56.3 percent as a team and outrebounded the Blue Devils 37-28.
"This has to be our best basketball game of the season," Carolina coach Dean Smith said. "I thought Duke looked unbeatable [on Saturday] and people might say we `survived' Clemson and Virginia, but this can be a strange game at times."
Sixth-ranked Duke (26-7) shot 40.9 percent from the field Sunday and committed 19 turnovers, seven in the first 4 1/2 minutes. During one stretch, the Blue Devils did not get off a shot on six straight possessions.
Krzyzewski knew it was not his day, when, with 17:39 remaining in the first half, he was assessed a technical foul by Lenny Wirtz as the Blue Devils were preparing to bring the ball up court.
"I'm at a loss for why the technical was called," Krzyzewski said. "I have no idea in the whole world. I made a statement to Grant Hill `to be stronger and not let them body up to you.' "
ACC supervisor of officials Fred Barakat said it was apparent that Wirtz thought Krzyzewski's comments, which included a few expletives, were directed at him. Wirtz already had warned Krzyzewski about his sideline conduct.
"Since it was so early, I don't think it had any impact on the game," said Krzyzewski, but the tone was set for the afternoon.
Carolina quietly went about its business and Duke seemed to have its attention divided between the officials and the Tar Heels. Junior center Christian Laettner received a technical late in the game.
Laettner finished with 22 points, and senior Greg Koubek came off the bench to score 21 points, 16 in the second half. However, Duke's starting backcourt of Thomas Hill and Bobby Hurley was a combined 1-for-15 from the field.
Hurley was scoreless until he hit a pair of free throws with 1:56 remaining and finished with five turnovers. He committed four turnovers in the first 3 1/2 minutes and was benched by Krzyzewski.
"It wasn't just Bobby," said Krzyzewski, who sent Hurley back in the game after a brief cooling-off period. "We needed to be stronger with the ball. They were in control offensively and defensively.
Hubert Davis scored 17 points for North Carolina and much-maligned senior point guard King Rice had 12 points and seven assists. Rice was 5-of-7 from the field and did not commit a turnover.
"I just don't know how you can criticize King Rice," Davis said. "There's always criticism, but King Rice silenced his critics today."
Davis and Fox were named first-team all-tournament, along with Laettner, Virginia guard John Crotty and N.C. State guard Rodney Monroe. Laettner received 119 of a possible 121 votes, followed by Fox with 116 and Crotty with 111.
It was the third Carolina-Duke championship game in the past four years and sixth overall. Carolina is 5-1 against Duke in the final and has won an ACC-record 12 titles, 11 under Smith.
"The hardest thing to do still is to win the regular season," Smith said. "People in this part of the country make a bigger deal of the tournament because we had the foolish idea that [the tournament] should determine our national representative.
"That's what made it fun. That's why people bought tickets. Now that we have more than one representative, I think it's great. But I had to sit here long before these players were born and you had to win the tournament to go to the NCAA and that didn't seem fair."
So, which would Smith prefer, the regular season or the tournament?
"What a terrible time to ask me," he said. "Right now, I'd have to struggle with that one. I want them both."
see microfilm for box score
by CNB