Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 19, 1992 TAG: 9201190127
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: D5 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BILL BRILL SPORTSWRITER
DATELINE: DURHAM, N.C. LENGTH: Medium
DUKE BELTS UNC CHARLOTTE
The good news for UNC Charlotte in the first half was the 49ers shot nearly 60 percent and made their first seven 3-pointers.The bad news was they trailed top-ranked Duke by 10 points.
The Blue Devils took what 18th-ranked UNC Charlotte gave them, shot 60.9 percent from the floor and missed just two free throws in a 104-82 basketball victory that ended an 11-game win streak by the 49ers (11-2).
Given impetus from the start by Thomas Hill's high-jumping sniping, Duke added to its streaks. The Blue Devils (12-0) have won 18 games in a row, 71 straight non-ACC games at home over nine years and 23 consecutive times in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Former Duke great Jeff Mullins coaches the 49ers, and, he said, "When you prepare for a game, you try to attack their weaknesses. When you talk about Duke, there are no weaknesses. So you have to take a gamble."
UNCC's risk was to slough inside on Christian Laettner, pressure Bobby Hurley and make Duke win from the perimeter.
That freed Thomas Hill, who started the game with a 3-pointer, made 10 of 12 shots and finished with 23 points.
"Thomas Hill obviously has improved his shooting," Mullins said.
Duke's versatility proved difficult for the 49ers, who had to take a timeout after just 1:39 when they fell behind 7-0.
"We create a lot of matchup problems," said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. "Thomas [Hill] can go inside any time. He played center in high school.
"Thomas got a lot of points, but he got them in the context of our offense. He didn't get them in bunches."
The 49ers cooled somewhat after halftime but still shot 52.4 percent, the best of the year against Duke. And they were 11-for-18 from 3-point range, nine of them by guards James Terrell, who had 23 points, and Henry Williams, who had 22.
Having proven it could hit from outside, Duke worked in low to Laettner after halftime, and he maneuvered for a casual 17 points in the half and a game-high 24.
Hurley finished with 11 assists and two turnovers, giving him 33 assists and just six floor errors in three home games in eight days.
Hurley's steal gave Duke a basket right before halftime.
"We didn't go to sleep on that," Mullins said. "Hurley just made a great steal."
Duke had a season-low seven turnovers.
"I like seeing kids work hard." said Krzyzewski. "We showed them a lot of respect and we played extremely well."
Thomas Hill said, "In a game like this, it's up to us to go out and go 100 percent. I think it shows the maturity of the team that coach didn't have to give us a rant-and-rave speech. We just went out and did it."
Said Brian Davis, "In some ways, these games are more important than ACC games because of what it says about our progress as a team." \
see microfilm for box score