Comparing Davidson stars: Curry vs. Gerdy

Stephen Curry needs 30 points against Georgia Southern on Saturday to become Davidson's all-time leading scorer, surpassing John Gerdy, who'll be in the stands to watch. Watch for our profile of Gerdy, who has lived an amazing life, in Saturday's Observer and online at http://www.charlotteobserver.com.

So how do Gerdy and Curry compare?

Physically, Gerdy was 6-foot-5 to Curry’s 6-3. Curry is quicker, but Gerdy was good at creating space for his shots with head and ball fakes. Curry has benefited from a running game that allows him to score often in transition. The undermanned Davidson teams of Gerdy’s day slowed the game down, costing him some shots.

“It’s hard to compare them, they played in two different eras,” says Ernie Reigel, who played point guard to Gerdy’s shooting guard for three seasons and is now a local lawyer who attends many Davidson games. “Besides the short shorts and sideburns, in our time they didn’t play the hand-in-glove defense they do now. Steph has a quicker shot than Gerd did, and he would average more points if he had played back then.

“Of course, John didn’t have the advantage of the three-point line. If we had had the three, I don’t think anybody else besides John would have ever shot, and none of us would have minded. His range was amazing.

“John was 6-5 and about 200 pounds and could jump well, so he could shoot over people. Most guards back then were 6-2 at the most. Gerd was big and he was strong. Of course, Steph has better coaching than Gerd had. I don’t think we got the most out of a lot of our players.

“Steph is also being guarded more closely; I see more trick defenses used on Steph. Steph gets a lot of points out of transition; Gerd could have done that if we had played that way.”

Johnathan Rhyne, a Lincolnton Lawyer and a team manager in Gerdy’s day, said, “People don’t realize how special he was. If he played today, and you put him on one side of the court and Curry on the other, it would be completely unfair.”

-- Stan Olson

Would Ol' Roy Take a Paycut to Help Economy?

CHAPEL HILL - On the heels of UConn coach Jim Calhoun’s tirade when asked if he would would be willing to give some of his salary back to help in these harsh economic times, North Carolina coach Roy Williams gave a more level — if lengthy — response to a similar question posed Friday.

Williams’ salary, which averages more than $2 million per year, is not paid from state funds. But in a nutshell, the Hall-fo-Fame coach said that he is more sensitive than ever to the harsh economy because his son, Scott, recently lost his job with Wachovia Securities; that he continues to give back to the University via building projects and even video equipment; and that he really can’t give a ‘yes’ or ‘no’
answer to the question.

Here’s the full text of the question and his response:

Q: Would you be willing to take a paycut providing that it would help the University system? I am aware of the fact that your salary doesn’t come through the same revenue of other state employees, but even just as a gesture…would you be willing to do that?

WILLIAMS: “Well, I think first of all, there’s no way to answer that question. You way ‘yeah,’ but then somebody’s going to call today and say, ‘give it all to me back.’ And if you say no, you come across as being insensitive. Right now, I’m the most sensitive person in this room to the state of our nation’s economy. My son called yesterday, and it was a great day because they just told him he was finished.

He’s a bond trader for Wachovia Securities, and it was bought by Wells Fargo, and Wells Fargo doesn’t do what Wachovia Securities did.
So I’m more sensitive than anybody in here; I’ve got a son that’s part of the nation’s unemployed. Now he’s a cocky little rascal that think he’s going to have a job by tonight. I said, ‘Son, people aren’t hiring, they’re letting people go.’ ….

It’s a tough time. I’m also sensitive in that I do give a great deal of money to the University every year. I am sensitive to the fact that the initial contract I signed in the spring of 2003, that it was in the contract that we would revisit and renegotiate my contract after the second year. Second year was a pretty good year, we won the national championship, I never asked to have it renegotiated. In fact, I forgot about it. The athletic director came to me six months after we were supposed to revisit, and I said don’t worry about it.
The next year, 2006, I had maybe the most satisfying year I’ve ever had as a coach. I was National Coach of the Year, and he asked me whether I wanted to renegotiate again. And I said I was fine, I was satisfied with it. And we did something the year after that.

I don’t think I’m in the business to make money. If you convince me that me giving something up would help somebody, then we would really have a great discussion. Because I’m willing to do a lot of things; I’m not willing to stand up here and say ‘yes,’ and I’m not willing to stand up here and say ‘no’ because I think it’s a question that there’s no good answer. I just know from my buddy Jimmy Calhoun that I’m not going to tell you to shut up.

These are tough times, these are times that nobody knows. I can look around the room and know that it’s affected the people in the room right here. But it is a fact … I am not paid by state funds, and we’ve had some success, and we’ve made a lot of money in men’s basketball. And if we start losing games and losing money, they’re not going to ask me to give any of the money back, they’re going to fire me. And that’s something else I understand.

But again … I don’t believe there is anybody who is more sensitive to it than I am. I do believe I give a great deal of money whether it’s Carolina Covenant or other programs here in our department or to build other buildings over there, or to help build baseball stadiums.
So I’m very proud of what my wife and our family have done there, and I’m going to continue doing it. We have video equipment in our office that used by … six other teams here that I bought. If they fire me tomorrow, I don’t think I’m going to give a darn about that video system. It was a system that was good for other people, and there wasn’t necessarily a place in the budget for it, so I bought it. And I could care less – if they fire me, I have 13 free weeks at the Maui Marriott. And I am not going to give a darn about that video equipment at that time, so they can keep the sucker."

— Robbi Pickeral

Pack PGs: Room for more improvement

On Tuesday, N.C. State assistant coach Pete Strickland was listing the reasons for the Wolfpack’s improved play over the last three weeks.

As explained in a story in Thursday’s Raleigh News & Observer, the Wolfpack’s big lineup, eight-player rotation and faster pace have played major roles. Improvement by N.C. State’s point guards makes all those things possible.

“It’s funny how much gets back to our point guards,” Strickland said.

Better ball handling by the point guards has made it possible for N.C. State to play three post players instead of having an extra ball handler in the game. Javi Gonzalez and Farnold Degand have beaten out freshman Julius Mays to earn spots in the rotation as the Wolfpack is starting to establish continuity on offense.

Gonzalez and Degand are largely responsible for N.C. State’s increase in fast break production because they’re pushing the ball up the floor better.

Their contributions in an 85-78 loss at No. 13-ranked Wake Forest were huge. They helped the Wolfpack stay to the very end on the road against a ranked team desperate for a win to stop a slide.

Gonzalez scored eight points with six assists. Degand came off the bench for 12 points and five assists, attacking the Deacons on the fast break.

Early in the season, such production (20 points, 11 assists, five turnovers) from the point guard position seemed an almost impossible goal for N.C. State. But there’s still room for more improvement.

Late in the first half N.C. State had cut a 15-point deficit to six when Gonzalez made two consecutive careless turnovers. The Wolfpack trailed by eight at halftime and lost some of its momentum.

In the final minutes, Degand missed two free throws and fired a 3-point attempt that didn’t even come close to hitting the rim. Although the shot was open, that was a time to recognize that he’s a better penetrator than 3-point shooter and pass up that shot.

They’ve come a long way, but there’s still a long way to go. That’s why it’s possible to see the Wolfpack getting even better in the coming weeks, and why this team could use a bid to the NIT for more experience to build for the future. – Ken Tysiac

Duke's Smith out indefinitely with concussion

Duke sophomore reserve guard Nolan Smith is out indefinitely after suffering a mild concussion during Wednesday night's 78-67 win at Maryland, Duke officials announced Thursday afternoon.

"Nolan’s condition improved overnight, but we are going to proceed cautiously,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said in a statement. "Our medical staff will continue to monitor his progress and he will return to the rotation when he is fully healthy. Nolan is an important part of this team and we are looking forward to his return."

Smith is averaging 8.5 points and 2.3 rebounds per game. Duke resumes play Saturday at Virginia Tech. - Ken Tysiac

Curry's in the running for, well, everything

Now it's the Oscar Robertson Trophy--Davidson guard Stephen Curry is among 15 finalists for the award, which goes to the U.S. Basketball Writers Association's National Player of the Year. He is also one of 30 mid-season finalists for the Naismith Trophy, the Player of the Year chosen by the Atlanta Tipoff Club.

Combine those with his mid-season candidacy for the Wooden Award (another top player selection) and his being a finalist for the Bob Cousy Award, given annually to the country's best point guard. The Wooden will be presented in Los Angeles in April; the other three at the Final Four in Detroit.

Curry, despite slipping a bit of late, still leads the country in scoring at 28.3 ppg. He's tenth in steals (2.6 pg) and 21st in assists (5.8 pg).--Stan Olson

Duke's defense not healed yet

Duke’s defense didn’t get out to a promising start Wednesday night.

Its last four opponents had shot at least 54 percent from the field, and Maryland seemed on its way to doing the same. The Terrapins penetrated almost at will to score 28 of their 34 points and all but one of their 15 field goals in the lane in the first half.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said that wasn’t all bad.

“That means we’re taking away the three,” Krzyzewski said.
Indeed, despite shooting 53.6 percent from the field, Maryland was 0-for-3 from 3-point range in the first half, while Duke shot 5-for-12 to forge a 34-34 halftime tie.

In the second half, Maryland shot just 40.9 percent to finish at 48 percent for the game. The Terrapins did make three 3-pointers in five second-half attempts. But one came when they were playing 5-on-4 because Duke’s Nolan Smith was hurt at the other end.

Two others came on difficult shots at the end of the shot clock. Those two shots disappointed Krzyzewski.

“I tell our guys, at the end of the shot clock, a kid has to take it, so you cannot let up,” Krzyzewski said. “The coach wants him to hit it, but the coach wants him to take it. And you have to hunker down in those situations because it’s a freebie, and those are huge shots. The game could have changed there, because all of a sudden you see a couple of those go in at the end of the clocks, and you think, ‘Maybe tonight’s not the night.’ ”

Overall, Duke held Maryland to the lowest shooting percentage of any opponent in five games. That was an improvement, but it’s too soon to declare Duke’s defense healed.

Maryland point guard Greivis Vasquez scored just two points with no assists in the second half while playing just six minutes because of foul trouble. Four days earlier, he’d scored 35 with 10 assists in an overtime win over North Carolina.

The game could have turned out differently if the Terrapins’ top scorer and set-up man played most of the second half. So No. 7-ranked Duke still has something to prove with another road game coming up Saturday.

Once again, the opponent, Virginia Tech, is desperate for a marquee win over a top team to attract the attention of the committee that selects the NCAA Tournament field. The Hokies have Malcolm Delaney, who’s a skilled penetrator and scorer like Vasquez, and it’s difficult to imagine the opposing point guard getting into foul trouble in two straight games. – Ken Tysiac

ACC gets chance to court new fans

Although the ACC would prefer to have its basketball tournament sold out, having tickets on sale to the general public for the first time in 43 years could have some benefits.

Surely there are fans who aren’t members of an ACC school’s booster club who have wanted to attend the ACC Tournament for a long time. This will be a chance to welcome some of them to the conference’s greatest championship and grow the league’s fan base, particularly in Atlanta.

The tournament will be held in the Georgia Dome on March 12-15, and fans’ inability or unwillingness to travel during the recession has prevented schools’ booster clubs from selling out their ticket allotments.

Some ACC traditionalists probably will seize upon this as evidence that the tournament should never leave North Carolina and the ACC should have never expanded from nine to 12 schools.

The traditionalists have valid arguments against expansion. This isn’t one of them.

In 2001, the tournament was sensational at the Georgia Dome, setting conference tournament records for total attendance (182,525), per session attendance (36,505) and single session attendance (40,083).

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said the atmosphere reminded him of a Final Four. Duke and Maryland played an unforgettable ACC semifinal game there before meeting again in the national semifinals.

Taking the tournament to Atlanta again following the success eight years ago didn’t seem to be much of a risk, especially with the Dome being reconfigured for a slightly smaller crowd of 36,000.

When they awarded this tournament to Atlanta, there was no way to anticipate that the United States would be suffering through its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.

Sure, the tournament would have had a better chance of being a sellout if it were held in a smaller arena in Greensboro or Charlotte this year. But the extra seats in Atlanta also represented a bigger revenue opportunity that probably would have been fully realized in any other year. – Ken Tysiac

ACC RPI report for Feb. 24

Virginia Tech (No. 66 in the RPI) dropped out of bubble range with their third straight ACC loss, 67-65 at home to Florida State on Saturday.

Close losses are nothing new for the Hokies, who have lost seven games by four points or less. With one or two of those close losses breaking the other way, the Hokies wouldn't be in this position — on the outside looking in.

Maryland's (52) win over UNC jumped the Terps nine spaces from last week's RPI. With wins over the probable Big Ten champ (Michigan State) and ACC champ (UNC), how can the Terps be left out of the field of 65? I hear you, Morgan State, but in general, the committee values big wins more than bad losses.

Florida State (17) jumped Wake Forest (18), which is just 4-5 since starting 16-0.

And one parting thought on Georgia Tech's craptacular season: the Yellow Jackets are 1-12 against arguably the easiest ACC schedule.

They will play Duke (already lost) and UNC (on Saturday) only once each and they got three games against Virginia and N.C. State.

Truly an embarrassing effort, in a string of embarrassing efforts, for coach Paul Hewitt, who will finish with a losing record for the third time in four years.

In

	RPI	ACC	top 50
UNC	3	10-3	6-1
Duke	4	8-4	6-3
Clemson	8	8-4	5-3
Florida State	17	8-4	4-5
Wake Forest	18	7-5	5-3

Bubble

	RPI	ACC	top 50
Miami	46	5-8	2-7
Maryland	52	6-6	3-7
Boston College	55	7-6	3-7

Out

	RPI	ACC	top 50
Virginia Tech	66	6-6	2-5
N.C. State	90	5-7	2-7
Virginia	100	3-9	1-8
Georgia Tech	161	1-12	1-6

A shooter (Curry) talks about confidence

Stephen Curry is in something of a shooting slump, largely because of a sprained ankle that is now pretty much healed. But Curry had the ankle in the back of his mind Saturday as he shot 6-for-23 against Butler, including 2-of-13 from behind the arc. He started that game zero-for-8 from the floor, and at some point, you can't help thinking about that next shot...

"If you don't make your first couple, you definitely start thinking a little bit," he said. "You try not to as much as possible but that's natural. I don't think it translated too far down the stretch in the game; I do have a short memory no matter what. But you start thinking and playing mind games with yourself, like 'what am I going to do differently on the next shot?'

"I thought that happened a little bit."

Curry complimented Butler's defensive effort.
"They stay between you and the basket and make you make a play, and their help defense is pretty remarkable. It forces you to be disciplined and make easy plays, and if you get an open shot, you've got to take it and you've got to make it. We didn't do that."

Curry will try it again on Wednesday night against UNC Greensboro in Belk Arena, and should be 100 percent healthy. He said he was "in the high 90s" on Saturday.

"I guess when you come off an injury like that, you don't want to push it too hard," he said. "You don't want to make a sharp sudden movement for fear it's going to hurt. That's probably why I wasn't 100 percent. I thought my ankle held up well."--Stan Olson

Duke-Wake tops 5 ACC games to remember

After Duke defeated Wake Forest 101-91 on Sunday at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Charlotte Observer colleague Ron Green Jr. confessed that he was glad he made the drive up from Charlotte for the game.

The intensity of both teams – and Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski – was incredible. The crowd was good, and for the most part the play on offense was at an extremely high level.

Suffice to say, it was much better basketball than Ron had seen on recent trips to Atlanta to see N.C. State and Wake Forest play an awful Georgia Tech team.

I’ve been fortunate to see far more good games in person than Ron this season, and Wake Forest-Duke is at the top of the list. Here are my top five:

5. N.C. State 84, Miami 81, OT: After Farnold Degand fouled out, backup point guard Julius Mays came off the bench and promptly hit a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to win for the Wolfpack. The quality of play wasn’t fantastic because Miami had played an overtime game two nights earlier, but both teams were extremely competitive, and N.C. State saved itself from a 1-7 ACC start.

4. Wake Forest 70, Duke 68: The first meeting between these two teams had some controversy, as forward Gerald Henderson was called for traveling after grabbing a rebound when officials should have called a foul on the Deacons in the final seconds. Wake Forest got the ball underneath the basket instead, and L.D. Williams passed to James Johnson after a Duke defensive mix-up for the winning layup just before time expired.

3. Marquette 68, N.C. State 65: N.C. State nearly pulled off its biggest nonconference win of the season, but Marquette demonstrated why it’s one of the best teams in the Big East and the nation. Dominic James came off a ball screen and pulled up for a winning 3-pointer with four-tenths of a second left as his boyhood hero, former Duke player Jay Williams, provided TV analysis at courtside.

2. North Carolina 101, Duke 87: Duke was fantastic on offense while building a 52-44 halftime lead. Ty Lawson was better in the second half, scoring 21 of his 25 points after halftime while being taunted by the Duke students to move the Tar Heels into sole possession of first place in the ACC.
The heat was almost unbearable, the crowd was deafening and Tyler Hansbrough and Danny Green finished their careers having played in four wins at Cameron.

1. Duke 101, Wake Forest 91: At one point in the second half, Wake Forest scored on 13 of 14 possessions, drawing within two points after trailing by 22 with 14 minutes elapsed in the game.
But with a career-high 35 points, Duke’s Gerald Henderson had perhaps his best game ever. And the Blue Devils won a game they simply couldn’t afford to lose. – Ken Tysiac

Wellman on committee a plus for ACC

ACC coaches and officials are not going to advertise this.

But at least some of them will be extremely happy that Wake Forest athletics director Ron Wellman has been selected to the Division I men’s basketball committee starting next season.

The committee’s biggest job is selecting the field for the NCAA Tournament.

No one from the ACC has served on the committee since Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage finished his tenure in August of 2007. And privately, some in the ACC were concerned that the conference wasn’t getting as much consideration as it should when the NCAA Tournament field was selected.

There was a great deal of disappointment in the ACC last season when Virginia Tech failed to gain an at-large bid after finishing with a 9-7 conference record. Despite having the nation’s top conference RPI last season, the ACC got just four teams into the NCAA Tournament.

Although nobody on the committee serves as a representative of their particular conference, it can’t hurt the ACC to have somebody in the room who’s seen the league’s teams up close.
N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said it’s “tremendously important” to have somebody from the ACC on the committee.

“It’s one of those things where, sort of like players, you never really know a player until you coach him,” Lowe said. “This is the same type of situation. I don’t think people will know our league the way he knows our league and will know our players. He can give them a great insight all about our league and all about our players. I think it’s great for us.”

Wellman is one of the ACC’s most influential athletics directors and has a great deal of clout throughout college athletics. He has gained respect for hiring Jim Grobe to invigorate the football program and retaining Dino Gaudio to keep the basketball team stable after Skip Prosser’s death.

There couldn’t be a better ACC representative on the committee, and people in the conference are happy to have Wellman getting ready to serve. - Ken Tysiac

Why didn't Duke start Williams sooner?

Now that freshman wing Elliot Williams is proving his worth, Duke fans are asking why coach Mike Krzyzewski wasn’t playing him sooner.

On the ACC coaches’ teleconference Monday, Krzyzewski explained why.

“He’s a freshman so he’s had to learn,” Krzyzewski said. “In probably in our first dozen games he was averaging 14, 15 minutes a game, but that’s not conference play.

“I think he’s really grown as a result of practice and has had a great attitude. If he was at the level of play he is now, early, then you would have seen it. What he’s done, is he’s worked really hard, and now he’s at that level of play.

“Because we made a change he was given the opportunity to now use the skill he has. He didn’t have that, early, and the knowledge of how to play. He’s done a great job. He’s given us a huge lift.”

In two games since entering the starting lineup, Williams has played 31 and 32 minutes.

He has scored 11 points in each game and provided strong ball pressure in the Blue Devils’ man-to-man defense. In a 101-91 defeat of Wake Forest on Sunday, Williams had three steals in the first 130 seconds to establish Duke as an aggressor in its full-court press.

Krzyzewski said a steady progression of improvement in practice, rather than one event, convinced him Williams was ready.

“In order for me to make that change, I’d have to see something for a period of time which gives me the confidence he is going to contribute in that role,” Krzyzewski said. “That’s a very big role he has. He’s going to guard the ball.”

CIAA tournament pairings

TUESDAY

Women: No.8 Livingstone vs No.9 Virginia Union, 7 p.m

Women: No.7 St. Augustine’s vs No.10 Elizabeth City State, 9 p.m.

WEDNESDAY

Women: No. 4 Virginia State vs No.5 St. Paul’s, 11 a.m.

Women: No.3 Johnson C. Smith vs No. 6 Shaw, 1 p.m.

Women: No.1 Bowie State vs No. 8/9, 3 p.m.

Women: No.2 Fayetteville State vs No. 7/10, 5 p.m.

Men: No.7 Virginia State vs No.10 St. Paul’s, 7 p.m.

Men: No.8 Livingstone vs No.9 Fayetteville State, 9 p.m.

THURSDAY

Men: No.4 Bowie State vs No.5 St. Augustine’s, 1 p.m.

Men: No.2 Elizabeth City State vs No.7/10, 3 p.m.

Men: No.3 Johnson C. Smith vs No.6 Shaw, 7 p.m.

Men: No.1 Virginia Union vs No. 8/9, 9 p.m.

FRIDAY

Women: 1 p.m.

Women: 3 p.m.

Men: 7 p.m.

Men: 9 p.m.

SATURDAY

Women: Championship, 5 p.m.

Men: Championship, 8 p.m.

-- The men's quarterfinals, men's and women's semifinals and championship games will be televised on ESPN Classic and ESPN2. For more tournament information visit, www.ciaatourment.org.

Williams' emergence helps Scheyer, too

In the excitement over freshman Elliot Williams, it’s easy to lose sight of the other player who seems to be benefiting from Williams’ role as a new starter for Duke.
Williams has played 31 and 32 minutes and scored 11 points each in the two games since coach Mike Krzyzewski has put him in the starting lineup. His three steals in the first 130 seconds Sunday helped set Duke’s aggressive tone in a 101-91 defeat of Wake Forest at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Putting Williams in the game also caused a shuffle in the backcourt, as Greg Paulus went to the bench and Jon Scheyer moved from shooting guard to point guard to take Paulus’ place.

Scheyer scored 18 points at St. John’s on Thursday and poured in a career-high 30 points against the Deacons. His five 3-pointers against Wake Forest tied a career high.

He has an easier time scoring in the lane and shooting over the defender on the perimeter because he is being guarded by smaller players. On Sunday, for example, he was guarded by 6-foot-2 Jeff Teague rather than 6-4 L.D. Williams. Scheyer is 6-5.

“I think it does help him, because once he gets rid of the ball, then he’s guarded by a point,” said Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski. “That’s something we looked at to get his offense going. He had one turnover (against Wake Forest) and I think none at St. John’s. He’s played two games, brought the ball up and has one turnover. That’s pretty good.” – Ken Tysiac

Pack's future looking brighter

It’s easy to get so caught up in N.C. State’s late-season surge that you forget to look ahead to the future.

But the events of the last couple weeks, as the Wolfpack has won three of its last four ACC games, bode well for N.C. State (15-10, 5-7 ACC) beyond this season.

Early in the season, it appeared as though the losses of seniors Ben McCauley and Courtney Fells would be catastrophic. Junior Brandon Costner has yet to announce whether he will return for next season or return pro, so N.C. State might be losing three 1,000-point career scorers after the season.

The emergence of some younger players over the last few weeks has demonstrated that N.C. State could be competitive next season even without those three players.

Sophomore center Tracy Smith has averaged 14.5 points and 9.3 rebounds over the last four games and could be even more formidable as a scorer if he develops a mid-range game in the offseason.

Freshman C.J. Williams has scored 10, 11 and a team-high 16 points in the Wolfpack’s last three wins, cementing his status as a worthy heir to Fells’ starting shooting guard position.
Williams struggled on offense earlier in the season but has made himself a dangerous 3-point shooter.

“Playing at a new level, I had to adjust at the beginning of the year,” Williams said. “It’s a lot more difficult, a lot faster and a lot stronger. So now that I’ve adjusted to it, I’m able to help my team win.”

Junior forward Dennis Horner has averaged 12 points off the bench over the last three games. During one sequence that could have been a preview of what next season’s starting frontcourt could accomplish, Smith scored on three early-second half possessions, then made an inside-out pass to Horner for a 3-pointer against Virginia.

“I’m more confident in my shot,” Horner said. “Guys in the post are getting doubled teamed and kicking it out, and I’m knocking it down for them.”

Even if Costner doesn’t return, N.C. State now looks like it should have a dependable starting lineup in 2009-10. Smith, Williams and Horner appear ready to take on more prominent roles.

It would seem point guards Javi Gonzalez, Farnold Degand and Julius Mays, all of whom return for next season, can’t possibly get worse during the offseason.

A couple promising freshmen from Georgia – guard Lorenzo Brown and forward Richard Howell – are expected to provide immediate help. It’s starting to look like a rotation that could perhaps challenge for a .500 record in the ACC.

That’s a good sign for long-suffering N.C. State fans after the direction of the program seemed in doubt following this season’s slow start.

“Those guys are our future,” coach Sidney Lowe said of the recent emergence of Williams and Horner. “It’s good to see them being a big part of it now, and playing well and gaining that confidence now. So going into next year, they should feel good about themselves. Those two guys have been so important to us coming off the bench, and on both ends, offensively and defensively.

“They know where to be. They’re never in the wrong positions on defense. They know what we’re doing. And then obviously offensively, especially if they’re knocking down those shots, that’s really big for us. We don’t win these games if we don’t have those guys coming off there and giving us that productivity.” - Ken Tysiac

Curry to play against Butler

Davidson guard Stephen Curry warmed up with his teammates and looks good to go in today's game with No.21 Butler at Belk Arena. Curry had injured his left ankle at Furman last Saturday and missed Wednesday's game with The Citadel, which turned into an 18-point loss.

Wildcats coaches will watch Curry closely, and any twinge in the ankle will result in his being taken out of the game.--Stan Olson

Davidson RPI slip-slidin' away

Davidson's shot at an NCAA Tournament at-large bid almost vanished with Wednesday's 64-46 loss to The Citadel. The Wildcats, who had hovered around No. 30 in the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), a spot that virtually guarantees an at-large spot, for weeks, have been slipping recently, and entered this week at No. 50.

While The Citadel has been hot over the past month, the Bulldogs entered the week ranked 175th in the RPI, which means that Davidson's 18-point loss at home to a team that far down the list could have disastrous consequences.

The Wildcats could make some amends by beating Butler Saturday at Belk Arena, but that won't help enough. The Bulldogs remain 21st in the RPI at the moment, but that doesn't count Wednesday's loss to Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Butler's second straight defeat.

The Bottom line? The Southern Conference has never received an NCAA basketball tournament at-large bid, and Davidson's loss to The Citadel virtually assures that it won't happen this year, either. The Wildcats will need the automatic bid that comes with the tournament championship.

--Stan Olson

Coach K, fans reach same conclusion

NEW YORK - It’s rare that a team’s fans and its coach reach the same conclusion about a change in strategy.

Coaches attend practice every day.

Fans do not.

A coach might know that the backup quarterback can’t tell the difference between a cover-two and a covered wagon. Many fans don’t understand the cover-two either, and coaches don’t always appreciate getting ideas from those fans.

One reporter’s suggestion that North Carolina’s Roy Williams should have used a full-court press more against N.C. State was met with a typical coach’s frustration (the Tar Heels “stink” in full-court pressure) plus some extra colorful language that had him apologizing afterward.

That’s what makes Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s adjustment Thursday night so unusual. If Krzyzewski has been getting the same type of communication that enters my e-mail inbox, the message from fans was clear from fans frustrated with four losses in a six-game period.

They wanted to see more of freshmen Elliot Williams and Miles Plumlee. And that’s what they got in No. 9-ranked Duke’s 76-69 defeat of St. John’s at Madison Square Garden.

Williams started on the wing and scored 11 points in 31 minutes. Plumlee played seven minutes off the bench.

“I thought our two freshmen really gave us a huge boost,” Krzyzewski said. “Elliot was inserted in the starting lineup, and his ball pressure was outstanding and he came up with 11 points.

Plumlee had four points and two blocks and came up with a really big play to keep a double-digit lead for us when he stole that ball under our bucket and put it in.”

It was as though Krzyzewski had discovered an unexpected gift in practice this week. Williams seems poised to keep his starting spot and play a significant role with five regular season games remaining.

Plumlee’s role will be more limited, especially when senior forward Dave McClure returns from illness. McClure spent Thursday night back at the team hotel with flu-like symptoms.

But Krzyzewski said he had found two good things, so it seems as though Plumlee will continue to provide depth that Duke needs in the post as 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek’s role is diminishing.

Starting with Sunday’s home game against No. 8 Wake Forest, Williams, Plumlee and the rest of the Blue Devils (21-5) will face bigger challenges than St. John’s (12-14), which hasn’t been a relevant part of the New York sports scene in almost 10 years.

Still, it looks like Duke fans who have been on the bandwagon for the two freshmen can pat themselves on the back. Turns out they knew what they were talking about. – Ken Tysiac

Duke's McClure out for St. John's

NEW YORK - Duke senior reserve forward Dave McClure will not play in Thursday night's nonconference game against St. John's at Madison Square Garden.

Team spokesman Matt Plizga said McClure made the trip but stayed back at the team hotel because of symptoms that resembled food poisoning.

The Blue Devils (20-5) are trying to stop a two-game losing streak.

Davidson kicks in for charity

Davidson’s noon Saturday basketball game with Butler at Belk Arena will also support Kicks from ‘Cats, which is raising funds for a shoe drive started by forward Andrew Lovedale.

When Lovedale has gone home to Benin City, Nigeria, in the past, he has jammed his suitcases with dozens of slightly-used Davidson basketball shoes and jerseys. Then he has passed them out to youth from his neighborhood.

Kicks from ‘Cats plans to expand his shoe-collecting efforts dramatically, sending him home with many hundreds more. Sponsors are Davidson and Samaritan’s Feet.

There will be a White Out at the game, with special white shirts available in the school bookstore and online. Proceeds will support the cost of shipping the shoes to Africa.

People coming to the game are also asked to bring a new pair of shoes, preferably basketball shoes in men’s size 3 and up. The shoes will be distributed in Benin City and possibly in other areas of Nigeria.—Stan Olson

Q&A: Tar Heels' Tyler Zeller

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Tyler Zeller scored two points and had four fouls Wednesday night in his first game back after a 13-week absence.

After third-ranked UNC’s 89-80 victory over N.C. State, the freshman 7-footer talked about why he gave up a redshirt season to return, how his healed left wrist is feeling, and what it was like to check in to a standing ovation:

Q: Were you concerned about giving away a season for the opportunity to play five regular-season games, plus the postseason?

A: Yes. But no at the same time. Yes, because it is one of those things where I’m losing half a season, but no at the same time because these are my teammates; I’ve got to help support them. If I can help them in any way, I have to come back. I feel like I’m obligated because they’ve been great to me the whole time I’ve been injured, and as I come back I feel like if there’s anything I can do to help them get to the goal of winning a national championship, I need to do it.

Q: What made you decide to come back now, instead of redshirting?

A: It’s just one of those things, I talked to coach a little bit about it, and I thought it was the best thing to help me prepare for next year, to get ready. Because in these games, I can learn a lot ... just little things to work on. And you can’t get that kind of experience if you don’t play.
... I also feel like I can help our depth, just playing. Because it does get difficult ... I feel like I can give guys couple-minute breaks, so they can go back in and be fresh.

Q: What was it like, being back out there?

A: Being back out there was definitely different. Being out for 13 weeks ... I’m a little behind with my reaction speed, which is why I got so many fouls. But it felt great just to be back out there.

Q: Your first turnaround jumper, was the just instinct taking over?

A: It was all instinct on offense. Offense, I’m fine, because I’ve been able to shoot, been able to do stuff. It was more on defensive end, just reacting to people’s drives -- going around people, just getting there, reacting to help, stuff like that, where I was struggling.

Q: What went through your mind when you went to the scorer’s table, and the crowd gave you a big ovation?

A: It was one of things where I kind of expected it, but when you have 20,000 people cheering for you, It’s a great feeling. It was amazing when I got up and went, but by the time I got in and found out who I was guarding, I didn’t really hear much after that.

Q: How does the wrist feel?

A: It’s fine, I don’t really have any problems with it, stiffness or anything. Still doing a little bit of rehab ... but for the most part, I have all the motion back, and really no pain.

— Robbi Pickeral

So how close was Curry?

Davidson guard Stephen Curry, recovering from a sprained left ankle, looked good in early warmups before Wednesday's home game against The Citadel. But when the team came back out a few minutes before tipoff, Curry wasn't with it, the decision finally made to hold him out at least one more game.

Without him, Davidson was, well, terrible, shooting 25.4 percent and making 3 of 23 three-pointers. The Citadel won, 64-46, holding the Wildcats to their lowest point total since 1991.

So how close did Curry come to playing?

"We analyzed how effective he would be," said Davidson coach Bob McKillop. "Offensively, he would have probably gotten shots. Defensively, I think he maybe could have further aggravated it. And we were really concerned what would have happened (Thursday) morning as he woke up after playing 35 minutes on that ankle, in the condition that it was in."

As for Saturday's home game against No.21 Butler, McKillop said, "It's going be a day-by-day thing; he's making great progress. We're thrilled at the progress he's making."

Read that as, it will be a surprise if Curry isn't ready to go.--Stan Olson

Four Tar Heel signees lead McDonald's roster

North Carolina leads all schools with four signees selected to the 2009 McDonald’s All-American game rosters, which were announced Tuesday.

Three 6-foot-10 forwards – John Henson and twins David and Travis Wear – joined 6-3 guard Dexter Strickland as North Carolina signees scheduled to play in the game on April 1 in Miami.

Both of Duke’s signees – 6-10 Ryan Kelly of Raleigh Ravenscroft and 6-11 Mason Plumlee of Christ School in Arden, N.C. – also were selected to play in the McDonald’s All-American game.

Clemson has just its third McDonald’s All-American signee out of high school ever in Milton Jennings of Cottageville, S.C., who plays for Pineville Prep in South Carolina. Sharone Wright was Clemson’s most recent McDonald’s All-American signee, in 1991.

The ACC leads all conferences with nine McDonald’s All-American signees, followed by the Big East with five. Three McDonald’s All-Americans – N.C. State target DeMarcus Cousins, Lance Stephenson and Renardo Sidney – haven’t picked a school yet. – Ken Tysiac

Williams' expletive surprises Tar Heels

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough wasn't surprised to hear that coach Roy Williams dropped the F-bomb on Wednesday night — just that it happened during his post game press conference.

"Oh, man,'' the senior said, growing wide-eyed and a bit red-faced when told his coach had used the expletive he usually replaces with 'frickin,' 'friggin'' or 'flippin''

"I've definitely heard it more than you guys,'' Hansbrough said. "It's usually once every other ballgame, he drops it in the huddle, and we know he means business then. But I think he may beat himself up over that because he usually counts how many cuss words he says in the huddle and in practice.

"When he gets really mad in practice he says, 'Now, that's four cuss words, and I didn't plan on saying any today.'"

Williams was talking about his team's failure to execute the full-court press after it beat N.C. State when he said: "We stink."

Asked why they stink, Williams responded: "If I knew the answer to that do you think we'd still be [expletive] stinkin'?"

After nervous laughter in the room, Williams apologized for using the curse word.

"I can't believe I said that," Williams said. "I only say that on the golf course."

The press conference was being broadcast live on both the Tar Heel Radio Network and Wolfpack-Capitol Sports Network.

Told of his coach's word choice, senior forward Danny Green seemed as stunned as Hansbrough.

"I don't really want to comment on coach's comments,'' Green said. "But if he gets mad, if you get him mad enough, and he keeps trying to tell you something over and over, he'll say some funny words -- but it's usually not the F-bomb as much ... but flippin', frickin'."

Asked if he thought Williams should run after practice as punishment, Green said no: "I don't think that will happen. Next to his name it says 'head coach,' so he gets to do whatever he wants to do. So I don't think we'll be making him run; he's the guy that makes us run."

-- Robbi Pickeral

Pack aiming for postseason

The scoreboard showed that N.C. State lost 89-80 on Wednesday night in what might have been senior Ben McCauley’s last game against rival North Carolina, but McCauley wasn’t discouraged.

N.C. State trailed just 39-36 at halftime and played well except for an early second-half defensive lapse against the nation’s No. 3-ranked team at the Smith Center.

Consecutive wins over Wake Forest and Georgia Tech preceded the loss to the Tar Heels, and McCauley still had the sense that the Wolfpack (14-10, 4-7 ACC) is playing well.

“We would have loved to have gotten this one,” McCauley said, “but we’re not going to sell ourselves short. We’re going to play hard these last five games and hopefully give ourselves a shot at postseason play.”

The postseason is something McCauley said N.C. State players are talking about among themselves now that they’re playing perhaps their best basketball of the season. It probably would take five straight wins plus a couple more in the ACC Tournament for the Wolfpack to gain an NCAA bid, but McCauley said the players haven’t given up on that.

Two more wins would make N.C. State a strong candidate for the NIT after the team missed the postseason with a 15-16 record last season.

“The option of playing in the postseason is definitely still there,” McCauley said. “I think guys kind of realize that. And that helps us. If you feel as though you’re done with the season after the season is over, then you’re not going to win any games. But I think guys are still pretty confident. Unfortunately we came up a little short today, but we’ve got five games left to finish strong, and I think we will.”

Coach Sidney Lowe said he’d rather focus on each of the remaining games individually than the postseason, but there’s no doubt that he believes the team is playing better than at the end of last season, when N.C. State lost its final nine games.

It won’t be easy to continue that strong finish. Virginia (9-13, 3-8), which didn’t seem to have a pulse a week ago, is Saturday’s opponent at the RBC Center and is coming off back-to-back wins over Clemson and Virginia Tech.

The Wolfpack’s other two home opponents, Maryland and Boston College, are fighting for consideration for the NCAA Tournament. Nonetheless, with point guard Javi Gonzalez improved and center Tracy Smith averaging 15 points and 10 rebounds over the last three games, Lowe sounded encouraged despite the loss Wednesday.

“I’m happy with the way we’re playing,” he said. “If we continue to play the way we’re playing now, and sometimes better, we’ll be fine.” – Ken Tysiac

It's the half...

No curry; he's sitting on Davidson's bench in a tie. The Wildcats miss him in the worst way; they are trailing 28-21 and can't hit the ocean from the beach.

Without their 29-point-a-game scorer, the Wildcats made seven-of-28 floor shots in the first half. They were also out-rebounded 26-19 so things could have been worse.--Stan Olson

Curry looks like a no-go

Unless Davidson is practicing some medical magic on guard Stephen Curry back in the locker room, he looks like a no-go for tonight's game with The Citadel. Davidson was going through its layup line about 20 minutes before tipoff, and Curry was not among the participants.

Curry is recovering from a sprained ankle suffered Saturday at Furman. He looked good in early warmups, but the team wants to take no chances with him.

With Curry looking doubtful and likely to show up on the bench in street clothes at any moment, expect either backup point guard Brendan McKillop or sixth man Will Archambault to start in his place.--Stan Olson

Curry, up or down?

So it's five minutes ago and I'm standing behind the Belk Arena baseline, watching Davidson's players warm up. Stephen Curry, recovering from that left ankle injury, was the first player on the court, wearing a brace on the ankle and moving well through his shots.

Finally, Curry heads over to the bench and sprawls in a chair, obviously satisfied one way or another. He sees me, and I give him a questioning and pantomimed "thumbs up or thumbs down?"

Curry grins broadly, then stretches his arms out, palms up in a "who knows?" gesture.

This one is definitely a game-time decision, but I'm betting on him playing.--Stan Olson

Memorable Tar Heel wins over Wolfpack

When you've beaten N.C. State as many times (26) as UNC has since 1994, the victories tend to run together but here are five to remember for the Tar Heels, who are 11-1 against the Wolfpack under coach Roy Williams, to go with our earlier list of five memorable Wolfpack victories:

1) Feb. 22, 2006 @ N.C. State

"Herb's Waterloo"

You could write a book about the implications of this game but here's the Reader's Digest version:

In what was a rebuilding year for UNC, the Tar Heels came to Raleigh with two freshmen starters (and Wes Miller) and beat a veteran N.C. State team by 24 points (95-71).

It's not that UNC won, it's the way the Heels won and Herb Sendek lost, a sixth straight to Williams.

Two months later, Sendek would retreat to Arizona State.

2) Feb. 12, 1997 @ N.C. State

"Dean's Last Stand"

The second of three classic State-Carolina games in Dean Smith's final season and Sendek's first.

For a game in the 40s — UNC won 45-44 — it was a whale of a contest. The Old Barn was electric from tip, to State's 28-19 halftime lead, to the final game-winning sequence for the Heels.

Ed Cota's baseline runner gave UNC a 45-44 lead with 4.8 seconds left. N.C. State's Danny Strong, who had already hit four 3-pointers, had a chance to win the game at the buzzer with a 3 from the right corner but Vince Carter leapt out of the rafters to block the shot and give Smith a win in his final game at Reynolds Coliseum.

3) Jan. 15, 1997 @ UNC

"The Steve Norton game"

At 0-3 in the ACC, UNC desperately needed to beat the Wolfpack. But with 2:34 left in the game, UNC was down nine points.

A series of follies in the final minute, including an errant inbounds pass by reserve Wolfpack forward Steve Norton — who inexplicably played 27 minutes that night — led to an epic UNC comeback.

The Heels scored the game's final 12 points to win 59-56 and they would go on to win the ACC and reach the Final Four.

4) March 9, 1997 @ Greensboro

"The Shammond Williams Game"

The final installment of the Herb-Dean trilogy. State, playing for the fourth time in as many days at the ACC Tournament, pushed the Heels into the second half but Williams' outburst — 19 of his game-high 23 points came in the second half — carried UNC to a 64-54 win and ended State's memorable run.

It turned out to be Smith's 13th and final ACC title.

5) Jan. 28, 2004 @ UNC

"Enter Roy"

UNC's four-game losing streak to N.C. State from 2001 to 2004 was the longest in the series since the Wolfpack won nine straight in the early 1970s, with a little help from David Thompson.

The four-game streak ended with Roy Williams' first game in the series as a head coach. UNC beat State, 68-66 at the Smith Center behind the trio of Raymond Felton, Sean May and Rashad McCants.

Williams went to win the next six games and 11 of 12 in the series.

-- J.P. Giglio

Memorable Wolfpack wins over Tar Heels

N.C. State's a 20-point underdog for tonight's game at No. 3 UNC. The Wolfpack has pulled off an upset at Chapel Hill before. It might not happen tonight, so here are five Wolfpack wins, since 1994, to remember. See also our list of memorable North Carolina wins over the Wolfpack.

1) Jan. 23, 2002 @ UNC

"The Red Game"

This game is notable for two reasons:

First and foremost, practically the entire upper deck of the Smith Center was red for N.C. State's 77-59 win.

By this point, UNC fans had stopped caring for a team that would finish 8-20 under Matt Doherty and miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1974.

Second, it was the first time in the post-Valvano Era State didn't need a 3-point barrage to beat UNC. State just had a better team and did what dominant teams do against inferior opponents, run them out of the building.

Truly, a high-water mark for Wolfpack fandom since the '83 title.

2) Feb. 2, 2007 @ N.C. State

"The Blazer Game"

Roy Williams won his first six games against N.C. State (all vs. Herb Sendek) and there was little reason to believe first-year coach Sidney Lowe would reverse that trend when third-ranked UNC (19-1 at the time) visited the RBC Center.

State was just 2-5 in the ACC but with five starters scoring in double-figures, 10 assists from gutsy point guard Engin Atsur and the power of Lowe's big-game red blazer, the Wolfpack pulled off an 83-79 upset.

3) Jan. 4, 1995 @ N.C. State

"The Lakista McCuller Game"

Lakista McCuller's six 3-pointers and 24 points gave N.C. State an 80-70 upset of No. 1 UNC at Reynolds Coliseum.

True to form under Les Robinson (who had a knack for beating UNC and few other teams), State proceeded to lose eight of its next nine ACC games while UNC finished the season in the Final Four.

4) Feb. 21, 1998 @ UNC

"The C.C. Harrison Game"

Clint Cotis Harrison went from Wolfpack hero in the 1997 ACC Tournament, to underachiever the following season. But at No. 1 UNC, Harrison got hot, hitting eight 3-pointers to give N.C. State a surprising 86-72 win and Sendek, in his second season, his first victory over the Heels.

5) Feb. 25, 2003 @ UNC

"Herb's Last Stand"

N.C. State tied an ACC record by making all 22 of its free-throw attempts in a 75-67 overtime win at the Smith Center.

It was Sendek's fourth straight win in the series and last game against Dohery. It also turned out to be his last win against UNC.

Sendek finished 4-2 against Doherty but 0-3 vs. Dean Smith, 1-6 vs. Bill Guthridge and 0-6 vs. Williams.

-- J.P. Giglio

Lawson's a natural pickpocket

CHAPEL HILL — It's no surprise that point guard Ty Lawson leads North Carolina with 52 steals this season.

After all, he often practices his pickpocket approach on coach Roy Williams.

Ever since he was a freshman, the speedy ballhandler has made a habit of sneaking up on his coach, reaching into his pocket, and seeing if he can sneak off with a few bills.

Williams calls it one of Lawson's "Dennis the Menace" tendencies; Lawson simply smiles when he talks about it.

"I think the first time I did, I got $20 dollars off him,'' the junior said.

"I gave it back. But now he's smart; he puts it in his right pocket, and from time to time he'll put some money in his pocket, and I won't grab for it, and he'll go, 'I had $20 dollars in there.' I haven't done that too recent."

Asked if the action translates to the court, Lawson — whose team plays N.C. State tonight — grinned, again.

"He's too quick sometimes and he'll smack my hand back ... it's hand speed, just always working on my game,'' he quipped.

-- Robbi Pickeral

— Robbi Pickeral

Curry still questionable for tonight

Davidson guard Stephen Curry went through an individual workout under the eyes of basketball trainer Ray Beltz this morning. And while the Wildcats weren't saying exactly how that went, Curry remains a "game-time decision" for tonight's Belk Arena matchup with The Citadel.

Davidson could certainly use Curry, who sprained his left ankle in Saturday's game at Furman, against the Bulldogs. The Citadel is currently the Southern Conference's hottest team, having won nine straight games.

That said, Wildcats coach Bob McKillop won't use his all-American if there is the slightest chance that he is not yet fully recovered; the game is meaningless compared to the longer-term goal of getting Curry completely healthy again.

His recovery as been remarkably rapid, so don't rule him out for tonight.

Should Curry not be able to go, Davidson is likely to replace its point guard with backup Brendan McKillop, or to move Max Paulhus Gosselin to the point and add sixth man Will Archambault to the starting lineup.

If he can't play, Curry is confident in his teammates.
"You saw what happened at the end of the Furman game; it's a sign of what they can do when I'm not on the floor," he said, referring to Davidson's 15-5 blitz to close out the last 9 minutes 20 seconds of the game without him.--Stan Olson

The ACC's RPI report: Heels on top

Duke somehow fell out of the top spot of the RPI. A home loss didn't help the Blue Devils, who dropped to No. 5 after two losses last week in the official RPI on ncaa.com.

UNC's the top ACC team at No. 4. The Heels have the league's best record against the RPI's top 50 at 5-1 (the loss being Wake Forest).

Boston College holds the other win over UNC — and one over Duke — but a soft nonconference schedule has the Eagles hovering at No. 51. That UAB (39) win in New York is looking better, helping the Eagles to a 4-6 record against the top 50.

Virginia Tech's 6-4 in the ACC but just 2-4 against the top 50. That means, like last year, the Hokies are beating the bad ACC teams and losing to the good ones. That halfcourt buzzer-beater in Puerto Rico by Xavier might be the Hokies' undoing. Or the loss to Georgia. Or the loss to Seton Hall. Or Wisconsin.

In a conservative estimate, the Eagles are in and the Hokies are out. Some sites have both in the field, with Miami, which could ultimately be undone by Jack McClinton's untimely slap against Ohio State.

And to clarify for some confused readers last week, this is the NCAA's release of the RPI (done so every Tuesday on its web site) not a random formula produced by Duke math students or Mike Krzyzewski's family.

The NCAA Tournament selection committee uses the RPI to help them seed teams and to determine which teams to include in the Field of 65. Typically, any ranking better than 40 is safe (stressing typically) while anything below 40 puts you in Bubblesville. Note that's on the bubble, not out of the tournament, just in the conversation of the final at-large teams (there are 34) to make the tournament.

-- J.P. Giglio

In

	RPI	ACC	top 50
UNC	4	9-2	5-1
Duke	5	7-4	7-3
Clemson	10	7-4	6-3
Wake Forest	16	6-4	5-2
FSU	20	6-4	4-5

Bubble

	RPI	ACC	top 50
Miami	47	4-7	2-7
Virginia Tech	49	6-4	2-4
Boston College	51	7-5	4-6

Out

	RPI	ACC	top 50
Maryland	61	5-6	3-7
Virginia	90	2-8	1-9
N.C. State	91	4-6	2-8
Georgia Tech	167	1-10	1-5

Curry held out of practice

Davidson junior guard Stephen Curry was held out of full practice work for a second straight day this evening after spraining his left ankle in Saturday's game at Furman. No decision has been made on whether He will play in Wednesday's home game with The Citadel in Belk Arena.

"We're getting close," said Davidson coach Bob McKillop. "It will be a game-time decision."

Curry did go through an individual workout, another step forward. He shot free throws in Monday's practice.

Should Curry not be able to go, McKillop would likely either start backup point guard Brendan McKillop or move off-guard Max Paulhus Gosselin to the point and put sixth man Will Archambault in the starting lineup.

Curry is an all-American who leads the nation in scoring at 29 points a game.

--Stan Olson

Heels' Zeller likely to play vs. N.C. State

CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina freshman forward Tyler Zeller, who has missed about 13 weeks with a fractured left wrist, will likely play against N.C. State on Wednesday night.

Coach Roy Williams said the 7-footer had made the decision Monday to return, rather than take a redshirt season, “and I told him that was the decision we would go with unless he went home and slept on it and came back today and changed his mind.”

A team spokesman said later that Zeller later arrived at the Smith Center, he had not changed his mind.

Zeller scored 20 points in two games before his injury, and will add much-needed depth to a bench that could use it, considering senior Marcus Ginyard is out for the season with a foot injury and wing Will Graves is suspended.

Williams said he left the decision totally up to Zeller.

“Tyler’s mom and day and I were on a conference call from my office on Saturday,’’ Williams said. “I told them in was clearly Tyler Zeller’s decision; mom and dad told me they were very comfortable with me and Tyler Zeller making the decision. And I expressed to them again that I was not part of the decision; I told them that if it was 15 years ago I wouldn’t’ even a young man consider giving up a year for five regular-season games and whatever postseason games we might have. But he would really like to help this team; he would really like to play.”

-- Robbi Pickeral

Stephen Curry not done growing?

Davidson guard Stephen Curry is not done growing.

That was one good thing that came out of Saturday’s sprained ankle; the doctor reading his X-rays told him that his bone growth plates show that he will get taller.

“I’m actually still growing,” said Curry, a junior and the nation’s leading scorer. “I’ve got at least an inch to go so we’ll see how that works out.”

Curry has been a late bloomer in the height category. As a prep junior, he was lightly recruited because he was 5-foot-8. Then he took off.

“As a senior I was about 5-11, closing in on 6 feet,” he said. “I’ve grown every year since then and obviously am still growing. That’s good news. I was about 6-1 as a freshman and have grown an inch a year, so I’m a solid 6-3 now.”

Curry has good genes in that category. Dad Dell, the former NBA player, is 6-5, and mother Sonya is 5-8.

Brother Seth, a freshman at Liberty, also sprouted in high school and is already 6-3. And younger sister Sydel is tall for her age, according to Stephen.

And rumor has it that Curry was high-fiving the folks in the doctor’s office after his X-rays.

“(The doctor) said he would have to get an X-ray on my hand, but he predicted at least one inch, and who knows after that? So I’m trying to catch my dad,” Curry said.

—Stan Olson

Hansbrough cleared to play vs. Wolfpack

CHAPEL HILL — If forward Tyler Hansbrough sustained a concussion Sunday at Miami, it was of the mildest form, North Carolina coach Roy Williams said on Tuesday. And he will play against N.C. State on Wednesday.

“We had him see a specialist today at the hospital,’’ Williams said. “He did not practice yesterday, he sat on the sideline, did not do one thing. The doctor from Miami told us he thought we should get him checked because there was a possibility that he had a concussion during the game. So he saw some people yesterday, took him today, took some tests … and [they] said if he had a concussion, it was the mildest form.

“Three different occasions during the game, he took a significant blow to the head. He had a headache, which guys have a lot of times during the game. He complained to me in the huddle, said he was having some blurred vision out of his left eye, thought it was his contacts. So they changed the contact, but he didn’t give any more information to make them believe anything other than getting your bell rung in the game until after the game. He didn’t tell Chris [Hirth, the team athletic trainer] he had a headache till after the game. Right now, he’s not going to do anything with any contact today, but everybody feel fine about him playing tomorrow night. He’ll go through the dummy stuff today, and I expect him to play. And he felt much better yesterday.”

-- Robbi Pickeral

UNC: Hansbrough concussion not confirmed yet

It has not yet been confirmed that forward Tyler Hansbrough has a concussion, a North Carolina team spokesman said Tuesday morning. After UNC's 69-65 victory over Miami, the Hurricanes doctors thought he might have a low-grade concussion, but UNC's doctors have not confirmed it yet, spokesman Steve Kirschner said.

Coach Roy Williams was talking about guard Wayne Ellington's arm injury and point guard Ty Lawson's illness during his Monday night radio show when he added: "Tyler Hansbrough [was] getting banged around a little bit, and I don't know if we've announced iteor not so I guess it's all right, but Tyler Hansbrough got a slight concussion early in the second half."

Hansbrough's eight-point performance was "one of the worst games he's played all year," Williams said, until he took a charge in the final minutes to help secure the 69-65 victory.

UNC plays N.C. State on Wednesday night.

-- Robbi Pickeral

Hansbrough suffered concussion Sunday

North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough suffered slight a concussion early in the second half of Sunday's win at Miami, coach Roy Williams said Monday night during his radio show.

His eight-point performance was "one of the worst games he's played all year," Williams said, until he took a charge in the final minutes to help secure the 69-65 victory.

UNC plays N.C. State on Wednesday night. -- Robbi Pickeral

Curry off crutches, may play Wednesday

Guard Stephen Curry is off crutches and walking normally less than 48 hours after spraining his ankle in Davidson's game at Furman Saturday afternoon.

There is even a possibility Curry could play Wednesday against The Citadel.

Curry will not practice today, but plans to shoot free throws, he told reporters Monday.

He is still day to day, according to Davidson coach Bob McKillop. A lot will depend on if and how well he practices Tuesday.

Curry said there was still some pain, but that the ankle was greatly improved over Saturday.

-- Stan Olson

Decision on Zeller due this week

Tyler Zeller suffered a broken wrist on Nov. 18 on this play against Kentucky. He has returned to practice but might sit out the rest of the season as a redshirt.

UNC freshman Tyler Zeller's future will be determined this week, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said Monday.

Zeller has been out since breaking his left wrist against Kentucky on Nov. 18. The 7-foot forward returned to practice last week and could return to help the Heels, who have five regular-season games left. If he does, he would lose the opportunity to redshirt.

"Is he willing to sacrifice a whole year for five or six games?" Williams said, "We'll make a decision this week."

Williams said he would leave the decision up to Zeller, who scored 20 points in the first two games of the season, both starts. Williams said he and Zeller had a conference call with Zeller's parents on Saturday to talk about the decision.

"He has had five or six practices. He hasn't played basketball in 12 weeks," Williams said. "Can he come back and be effective?"

UNC's rotation has been reduced to eight players with the injury to senior wing Marcus Ginyard and the suspension of sophomore forward Will Graves.

Zeller, a McDonald's All-American, would give the Tar Heels another big body to relieve starters Tyler Hansbrough and Deon Thompson. Freshman forward Ed Davis is the only reserve in the frontcourt rotation, although Williams has been able to give Danny Green minutes at forward.

UNC hosts N.C. State on Wednesday and travels to Maryland on Saturday.

-- J.P. Giglio

Unselfish McCauley lifts N.C. State

With N.C. State’s 16-point lead over Georgia Tech whittled to three early in the second half, Wolfpack senior Ben McCauley tried to get away with a takedown of an opponent while pursuing a rebound of a miss by teammate C.J. Williams.

The refs caught McCauley and called him for a foul. McCauley got up and screamed at his teammates in frustration, demanding that they get their act together.

They did. N.C. State caught its breath, reduced its turnovers and pulled away for an 86-65 win, its second in a row, to sweep the season series with Georgia Tech.

It was easy to overlook McCauley’s senior leadership because he attempted just one field goal and finished with four points. But coach Sidney Lowe appreciated McCauley’s effort.

Lowe said McCauley had “one of the best 0-for-1 ballgames I’ve ever seen.” McCauley grabbed eight rebounds, handed out three assists and helped hold Georgia Tech center Gani Lawal to seven points.

That performance illustrated the difference between this season’s N.C. State team and last season’s. On Feb. 8, McCauley scored 25 points with 15 rebounds in one of the best statistical performances of his career.

Since then, he scored five points while struggling with illness against Wake Forest and four against Georgia Tech. Meanwhile, center Tracy Smith has averaged 15 points in those two wins, including a team-high 18 against Georgia Tech.

When Smith is in the game, McCauley is forced to play in the high post, away from the low-block spot where he’s most effective. Smith is no threat whatsoever to score from the high post, so Lowe’s only choice is to park him down low, where he’s not as good a passer as McCauley but is a more explosive scorer.

Last season, managing that kind of situation proved to be a nightmare for Lowe when freshman J.J. Hickson became the leading scorer. This season, McCauley still looks like a leader even when he’s in the high post while Smith is playing and scoring on the block.

It’s one of the reasons there’s some optimism about this N.C. State team with six games left in the regular season. The Wolfpack (14-9, 4-6 ACC) faces a difficult game at North Carolina on Wednesday but is playing perhaps its best basketball of Lowe’s tenure with the exception of the 2007 ACC Tournament.

It all starts with the selfless leadership of a player like McCauley in the late stages of his senior season. – Ken Tysiac

Duke needs backcourt spark

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. - Referee Bryan Kersey stepped quickly onto and over the press table Sunday night to avoid the crush.

Boston College had just defeated No. 6-ranked Duke 80-74 at Conte Forum, and the students were rushing the court. This is what fans do when their teams win against a top-10 team, especially when it’s Duke, which ESPN’s Dick Vitale compared to the New York Yankees last week.

But Duke might not be a top 10 team when the rankings come out today. And right now, the Blue Devils are more like the current New York Yankees than the Yankees of Ruth and Gehrig.

This just isn’t the elite Duke team we’ve become accustomed to watching. Coach Mike Krzyzewski acknowledged it Wednesday when he said the Tar Heels were better than the Blue Devils.

He reinforced the notion Sunday when he said Duke (20-5, 7-4 ACC) isn’t showing the tough mindedness it possessed even earlier this season. Here’s something else the Blue Devils are lacking – quality play from their guards.

Duke has a revolving door situation at point guard with Greg Paulus and Nolan Smith providing little spark and fading fast on defense. Opponents have learned how to isolate Paulus and Smith on defense, causing Krzyzewski to take the unusual step of playing a lot of 1-3-1 zone against Boston College in order to stop Tyrese Rice’s penetration.

Point guard was a position that was expected to be shaky for Duke this season. Shooting guard wasn’t. Junior Jon Scheyer opened the season strong, looking like one of the Blue Devils’ best players in December wins over top-10 opponents Purdue and Xavier.

He scored 22 in the Feb. 7 win over Miami and 20 against North Carolina on Wednesday. But Boston College held him to eight points on 3-for-12 from the field, and in eight games leading up to Miami he shot 18-for-73 (24.7 percent) from the field.

After Sunday’s game, Scheyer looked miserable as he sat hunched over inside his locker when reporters entered the visiting locker room.

“We need to get going,” Scheyer said. “We need to figure it out tomorrow, and we need to get going with it.”

With Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler playing well most days, Duke is good enough at the forward position to make a deep run in the NCAA tournament if a third scorer can emerge in the backcourt.

Scheyer was that scorer early in the season. He, Paulus and Smith all are former McDonald’s All-Americans whose high school credentials alone would seem to indicate at least one of them has the talent to become the third scorer Duke needs.

Unless they can turn that talent into production in the backcourt, Duke might be destined for a third straight exit from the NCAA tournament before the regional semifinals. – Ken Tysiac

Has Wake hit the wall again?

Wake Forest guard Ish Smith and the Deacons couldn't complete a comeback against N.C. State in Wednesday's loss, which reminds some of last season's sluggish finish.

From the more things change, the more they don’t category:

After a promising start last season, Wake Forest's basketball team lost nine of its final 15 regular-season games, then was handed a 70-60 loss by Florida State in its first ACC conference tournament game. The Deacons finished the 2007-08 season 17-13 overall and missed the postseason entirely.

Could it be happening again?

Logically, the answer is, no way. But after Wednesday's 82-76 loss at N.C. State, the Deacons are again in something of a free-fall, having lost four of their past six games with a Saturday assignment against surging Florida State.

"We've got to get back to what we were doing well earlier," Deacons coach Dino Gaudio said.

But getting back, in this case, could translate into getting legs back, and Wake looked tired and awkward much of the time against a more experienced, deeper and obviously more energetic Wolfpack team in the RBC Center. Rarely did the Deacs resemble the explosive group that whipped North Carolina and Duke earlier in the season.

The Deacons had enough steam left to make a spirited run in the second half. But even after slicing a 20-point deficit to two, Wake's perimeter players just did not have enough left in their legs to take the final step.

An obvious possibility is that Gaudio's still-young team has hit the mid-season wall for the second straight year. N.C. State was able to take Wake freshman Al-Farouq Aminu almost completely out of his offensive comfort zone, and sophomore star guard Jeff Teague was visibly frustrated by a relentless, keying Pack defense.

In short, N.C. State really got after 'em for most of the 40 minutes, and Wake just didn't have the stamina or experience to deal with a team that the Deacons thought might be road kill just waiting to be removed from the conference interstate.

Another issue on Wake's plate is viable depth. On paper, Gaudio seems to have enough personnel pieces. But that's assuming Chas McFarland works the lane without venturing into foul trouble and that the rest of the players can keep pace with Ish Smith's quickness when he enters the game.

Smith is one of the league's quickest players and has instant-impact potential on any given night. But against the Wolfpack, he frequently was too quick for his teammates and spent stretches of the game waiting for everyone else to catch up in transition.

On one possession during the Wake second-half rally, Smith stood on the perimeter, dribbling the ball and yelling to his trailing teammates, "Come on! Come on! Let’s go! Let’s go! LET’S GO!"

— Caulton Tudor

Lowe, Sendek: Parallel starts

Forty-one ACC games into Sidney Lowe’s tenure, N.C. State is 12-29 in conference play under Lowe.

If this number seems oddly familiar to you, chances are you’re a fervent Wolfpack fan.

Ten years ago, N.C. State was 12-29 in its first 41 ACC games under Herb Sendek, Lowe’s predecessor. At that time, the Wolfpack was 3-6 in the ACC in Sendek’s third season.

Now N.C. State is 3-6 in the ACC in Lowe’s third season. What happened next to Sendek is a good lesson. There’s always a chance history will repeat itself.

Sendek’s third team finished 6-10 in the ACC. So did his fourth team. His fifth team was 5-11 in 2000-01. Athletics director Lee Fowler, who started working at N.C. State in September of 2000, backed Sendek even after five straight losing seasons in the ACC.

Fowler’s patience was rewarded when N.C. State bounced back for five consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances under Sendek.

As was the case with Sendek, Fowler remains firmly in Lowe’s corner even though there’s some grumbling about N.C. State’s position in the bottom half of the ACC standings.

From a financial standpoint, the need to start winning again soon might be more urgent now because the economy is abysmal and fans will be carefully weighing whether they want to spend money for season tickets next season.

But judging by how poorly N.C. State has performed early in its two most recent coaches’ tenures, Fowler has a fairly compelling argument for staying the course and trying to build with the coach he’s got. – Ken Tysiac

Could Ty Lawson be ACC player of the year?

North Carolina's Ty Lawson blew past Duke with 21 of his 25 points in the second half Wednesday. Could he blow past bigger players and win ACC player of the year as a point guard?

North Carolina's Ty Lawson, after that performance Wednesday night at Duke, probably played his way into the lead for the ACC basketball player of the year award.

The junior playmaker has struggled at times this season on defense, but his offensive intensity level has been at a lights-out level through most of the schedule. There's Boston College’s Tyrese Rice and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague, but neither has consistently outplayed Lawson over the course of the league schedule to date.

Entering his weekend’s games, J.P. Giglio and I ranked our leading five candidates for player of the year. Here's the outcome:

Giglio:
1. Ty Lawson, UNC
2. Gerald Henderson, Duke
3. Trevor Booker, Clemson
4. Tony Douglas, Florida State
5. Jack McClinton, Miami

Tudor:
1. Ty Lawson, UNC
2. Jack McClinton, Miami
3. Gerald Henderson, Duke
4. Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
5. Tyrese Rice, Boston College

Many ACC fans probably would be surprised to know that the last pure point-guard to win the league player of the year award was Carolina’s Phil Ford in 1978.

Here’s the list since Ford that season:
1979: Mike Gminski, Duke, C
1980: Albert King, Maryland, F
1981: Ralph Sampson, Virginia, C
1982: Ralph Sampson, Virginia, C
1983: Ralph Sampson, Virginia, C
1984: Michael Jordan, UNC, W
1985: Len Bias, Maryland, F
1986: Len Bias, Maryland, F
1987: Horace Grant, Clemson, F
1988: Danny Ferry, Duke, F
1989: Danny Ferry, Duke, F
1990: Dennis Scott, G. Tech, F
1991: Rodney Monroe, N.C. State, W
1992: Christian Laettner, Duke, F-C
1993: Rodney Rogers, Wake, F
1994: Grant Hill, Duke, W
1995: Joe Smith, Maryland, F-C
1996: Tim Duncan, Wake, C
1997: Tim Duncan, Wake, C
1998: Antawn Jamison, UNC, F
1999: Elton Brand, Duke, C
2000: Chris Carawell, Duke, F
2001: Shane Battier, Duke F, and Joseph Forte, UNC, W
2002: Juan Dixon, Maryland, W
2003: Josh Howard, Wake, W
2004: Julius Hodge, N.C. State, W
2005: J.J. Redick, Duke, W
2006: J.J. Redick, Duke, W
2007: Jared Dudley, Boston College, F
2008: Tyler Hansbrough, UNC, C

Pure point-guard winners:
1959: Lou Pucillo, N.C. State
1966: Steve Vacendak, Duke
1970: John Roche, South Carolina
1971: Charlie Davis, Wake
1972: Barry Parkhill, Virginia
1978: Phil Ford, UNC

For the record, South Carolina’s John Roche was the conference player of the year in 1969 in addition to 1970. But during the '69 season, Roche was used primarily as a wing guard. The playmaker that season for the Gamecocks was Billy Walsh.
— Caulton Tudor

How radio guys called Singler's elbow

Duke forward Kyle Singler's elbow to the cheek of North Carolina's Tyler Hansbrough was seen differently by the two schools' radio crews.

Naturally, the radio broadcasters for opposing basketball teams see the same game or a particular play through different-colored lenses.

We culled the slightly different takes of the Duke and UNC broadcast teams on a play early in the second half of North Carolina’s 101-87 victory over Duke on Wednesday night. Duke's Kyle Singler and UNC’s Tyler Hansbrough were fighting for the ball on the floor when Singler caught Hansbrough on the side of the head with his right elbow and was called for a technical foul.

Here’s a segment of the call from Duke play-by-play announcer Bob Harris, John Roth and Matthew Laurance as they unravel what happened, followed by the way UNC play-by-play man Woody Durham and Eric Montross saw it:

Roth: Well, [Singler’s] elbow definitely went up and knocked Hansbrough in the cheek that time as they were going for the ball, and so that’s the call. Physically, it happened. I’m not sure that he was trying to hit anybody, but physically, his elbow went up and hit Hansbrough in the face.

Harris: Well, we’ve seen that happen before in this situation.

Roth: And Greg Paulus trying to discuss it as one of the captains on the floor right now, with [official] Mike Wood.

Harris: I heard [official] Tony Greene say a jump ball and then a foul, I believe. Matthew, is that correct?

Laurance: Yeah, I think he said jump ball and then a dead-ball foul. I don’t know how this is going to shake out, though.

Harris: Well, the dead-ball foul means there’s no shots, ’cause it was on the floor. The held ball is going to be Duke ball out of bounds, should be, unless they’re calling it a flagrant foul.

Roth: And the officials calling Mike Krzyzewski and Roy Williams together at midcourt right now to discuss this, so once again ... it was a tie-up down there, and it looked like, as they were going for that ball, Kyle swung his arm around, and his elbow did connect with Tyler Hansbrough in the cheek, and now we’re going to see what the ...

Harris: Well, Hansbrough was on his back, and I think that was a reaction to Hansbrough coming over [Singler’s] back. I think it’s contact from both, and so you let it go. I mean, my gosh, they’re scrambling for a loose ball. We’ve seen a lot worse.

---------------

Here’s a portion of the call from UNC's Woody Durham and color man Eric Montross:

Montross: It looks like Singler got into the fray on the floor, and it didn’t look intentional, but he did catch Hansbrough with a pretty good elbow to the side of the face. That’s what it looks like on replay.

Durham: Well, we’re sorry you don't have the privilege of watching replay, but as Eric pointed out, we’ll explain it to you when we do have [the information] as best we can.

Montross: You know, there was a big to-do last evening talking about incidental contact, flagrant contact ...

Durham: OK, I think here’s what happened: We had a tie-up for a jump ball, and then came the foul.

Montross: I would agree.

Durham: Now, you know [from] the crowd reaction, that’s what it is. Mike Krzyzewski’s got a little bit of a sneer, trying to make it a smile, but it’s a little bit of a sneer like he can’t believe it. [Official] Tony Greene’s trying to lay it all out for the veteran Duke coach, and Roy Williams has come down now to join the conversation, because these officials really aren’t supposed to talk to one coach without talking to both coaches. So both coaches are listening right now as Tony Greene explains what happened. ... (Durham initially believes the foul is on Duke’s Jon Scheyer, and the announcers, including Jones Angell, straighten that out.)

Montross: And that’s the whole thing about the elbow and the way the elbow is being called this year. Any kind of waving is a violation, whether there’s contact or not. Any kind of flagrant motion of the elbow that makes contact is a flagrant foul or a technical foul, and any kind of clearing out with an elbow is an automatic foul, so that’s why this was so critical to the referees to catch it.

-- Roger van der Horst

It was a hot, slick time in Durham

DURHAM — It wasn’t surprising how many times the players slipped during North Carolina’s 101-87 victory over Duke on Wednesday night, considering how hot it was at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The balmy daytime temperatures, combined with the tight confines and yelling fans led to some wet conditions on the court.

“We could wring our jerseys out … there was so much water,’’ said reserve guard Bobby Frasor, whose team has now won eight straight games. “It was hot and balmy, but a fun place to play.”

CRAZY MISSING? One of the more entertaining locker room moments began when Tyler Hansbrough — now one of only four players to play in four wins at Cameron Indoor Stadium since Mike Krzyzewski took over as Duke's coach — was asked if he would miss the Cameron Crazies.

“I won’t miss them, but I’ll miss playing here, though,’’ he replied.

Then he was asked whether he would ever come back to visit.

“C’mon man!” he said, laughing.

STRONG START FOR DEON: Forward Deon Thompson scored 10 of his 12 points in the first half, but his offensive aggressiveness was a good sign for the Tar Heels, considering the junior had managed only two double figure scoring performances in his previous nine ACC games.

THE SHORT LIST: Hansbrough and Danny Green joined Wake Forest’s Rusty LaRue and Tim Duncan as the only players to beat Duke four times at Cameron in the Krzyzewski era.

“It means a lot; I’m honored to be on that short list,’’ Green said. “I’m kind of jealous of Marcus [Ginyard who is redshirting the rest of the season with a foot injury] because he’ll get another chance to do it, and he might get out of here 5-0. I don’t know how short that list is, but I’m pretty sure it’s really short.

-- Robbi Pickeral

Krzyzewski: UNC is better

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski didn’t deny the obvious on Wednesday night after North Carolina’s 101-87 win at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

“We’re not as good as they are right now,” Krzyzewski said. “They’re better than us, and sometimes a team that’s better doesn’t play as well as that, but they played that way, too. It’s going to be difficult to beat them.”

Krzyzewski entered the game saying Duke’s offense still is a work in progress. It looked fine in the first half as the Blue Devils shot 21-for-34 from the field to lead 52-44 at halftime.

But Duke’s lack of a post-up game and over-reliance on the 3-point shot caused problems in the second half. After shooting 6-for-9 from 3-point range in the first half, the Blue Devils were 2-for-13 after halftime.

The shots that looked so easy in the first half wouldn’t go down in the second half as the pace of the game and the heat seemed to cause Duke to wilt a bit.

“We didn’t have the same cohesiveness going into the second half,” said Duke forward Gerald Henderson.

The Blue Devils also didn’t have anybody who could stop North Carolina point guard Ty Lawson from getting into the lane and scoring easy baskets. There aren’t many teams that do have somebody quick enough to stop Lawson.

Finally, Duke still is trying to find the right mix at point guard, where Greg Paulus brings perimeter shooting and Nolan Smith brings solid defense but both players have limitations.

“I don’t know what you’re looking for rotation-wise,” Krzyzewski said. “We’re still finding out about our team.”

If the goal is to finish in first place in the ACC or win the ACC tournament, Duke needs to find a way to fix these problems. The Tar Heels (22-2, 8-2 ACC) are a game ahead of Duke (20-4, 7-3) in the ACC standings and show no sign of turning back after winning eight straight games.

On the plus side for the Blue Devils, though, they played a lot better than one week earlier, when Clemson stomped them in a 74-47 rout at Littlejohn Coliseum. Krzyzewski was asked after the game if he thinks his team can be as good as North Carolina.

For now, at least, that’s not his concern.

“That won’t be our goal,” he said. “. . .I’m not beating around the bush. We need to get better. I don’t care how anyone else does. We need to keep getting (better), and we are. We’re getting better in this last week. A lot better.” - Ken Tysiac

Coach K: 'They are better than we are'

DURHAM -- Mike Krzyzewski wasn't disappointed in Duke's effort in Wednesday's 101-87 loss to North Carolina.

"We played our butts off," Coach K said.

He wasn't even angry with the second-half shooting or the second-half defense.

"I though our guys played well," he reiterated.

Actually, K was just honest after Duke's sixth loss in eight tries to UNC — and fourth straight at Cameron.

"We're not as good as they are right now," Krzyzewski admitted. "They're better than we are."

There's no argument to the contrary. The teams are separated by a game in the ACC standings but the margin between the two programs grows wider with every Carolina win in the series, every recruiting coup, every ACC title and every March run.

Make no mistake, Krzyzewski was giving no ground to his rivals. He was talking about the now, the immediate aftermath of a Carolina victory fueled by a guard Duke had no answer for and a power forward that matched Tim Duncan's 4-0 career record at Cameron.

But when asked if Duke could catch this Carolina team, K responded:

"That won't be our goal. We need to get better. I don't really care how anyone else plays," he said.

Of course, to spend energy on Carolina would be counterproductive but the specter of the Heels never goes away. To think otherwise would only be self-deception. -- J.P. Giglio

Obama not taking sides in UNC-Duke

President Obama may be identifying with Coach K.

At a roundtable of regional reporters in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, the president came close to predicting a rebound for Duke basketball's Coach Mike Krzyzewski at tonight's highly anticipated Carolina-Duke game.

He said Duke is "coming off one of the worst losses it has had in several years," but noted that Coach K had been working the team pretty hard this week.

"They might be fired up," he said. "I hope it's a close game."

Obama, of course, has been similarly pushing Congressional Democrats to pass an economic stimulus package tonight after getting rebuffed by Republicans and losing several Cabinet picks to tax trouble.

Still, the president avoided taking sides in the famous rivalry, although he played a pickup game with many of the Tar Heel standouts before the May primary.

Pointing to his body man, former Duke basketballer Reggie Love, he said he has to remain on the sidelines, as it were.

"If I said anything contrary to Duke, I might not be able to find my Blackberry," he said. -- Barbara Barrett, News & Observer

UNC-Duke recession-proof

StubHub, the online ticket resale sight, is finding that the intensity of the North Carolina-Duke men's basketball rivalry defies even the economy, with the average sale price at about $1,260 for tonight's game at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

That blows away even championship game averages, such as: $684 for the Bowl Championship Series title game between Florida and Oklahoma, $903 for Philadelphia Phillies home games in last fall's World Series, $378 for Tampa Bay Rays home games in the Series, $389 for Memphis-Kansas in the NCAA final last year, $703 for Boston Celtics home games in the 2008 NBA Finals and $884 for Los Angeles Lakers home games.

Cameron's capacity is 9,314, so it figures that fewer available tickets translate into higher prices, but tickets to the Duke-Carolina rematch March 8 at the Dean Smith Center, which seats 21,750, are selling on StubHub for an average of about $1,000, says Sean Pate, a spokesman for StubHub. One seller is trying to get $6,900 apiece for two tickets.

(Earlier tonight, there were still six left for tonight's game on the site, the asking prices ranging from $707 to $1,395. There are about 400 left for Duke at UNC.)

"Duke at North Carolina and North Carolina at Duke are the two highest-grossing games of the season for our site," which charges a 10 percent fee on each ticket sold, Pate says.

Typically, 50-75 tickets are available through StubHub for the rivalry game at Cameron, Pate says, and about 400 for the game at the Dean Dome.

The actual prices paid range from about $460 to $2,400 for tonight's game and about $425 to $3,600 for the game in March.

"A lot of fans, especially in this economy, are looking at new revenue-generating sources, and if you have a pair of tickets for Duke-North Carolina and you're a season-ticket holder and you can fetch $3,000 or $4,000 for the pair, that's going to make quite a bit of difference on your monthly bottom line," Pate says. -- Roger van der Horst, News & Observer

UNC-Duke Q&A with beat writers

ACC beat writers Ken Tysiac and Robbi Pickeral answer questions submitted by readers about tonight's North Carolina vs. Duke basketball game (9 p.m., WBTV Channel 3):

Q: Is it true that if Carolina wins at Duke Wednesday night, the university will rename Cameron indoor ' Hansbrough Indoor Stadium"? It only makes sense in light of Tyler Hansbrough's success in Durham.

KT: Yes, it's true. And they’ll also change the name of the floor from “Coach K Court” to “Danny Green Court” in honor of Hansbrough's fellow senior.

RP: Yes, don't forget Danny Green. If UNC wins tonight, he and Hansbrough will be the only Tar Heels to win four straight games at Cameron in the Mike Krzyzewski era.

Q: Do you think the players buy into the hype of the rivalry as much as the fans do? Or is it truly "just another game" on their schedule like they seem to say in all of their interviews?

KT: The players buy into the hype. They desperately want to win this game. The difference is, they're friends afterward. They've known each other, in some cases (Ellington and Henderson) all their lives. The players don't hate one another the way the fans do.


RP: I'm not sure I've ever heard any of these guys say "it's just another game" in reference to this one. They hear it all season from friends, family, fans — and they want the bragging rights in the rivalry.

Q: It seems like there is always some defining moment for every Carolina v. Duke game (Hansbrough’s broken nose, Green's dunk over Paulus, Montross’s bloody head, 8 points in 17 seconds, etc.). Care to venture a guess as to what might make tonight's game stand out in fans’ minds?

KT: I don’t think this one is going to be close. I think the Tar Heels are going to blow out Duke, but I do think there will be a signature moment, and it will be of the controversial nature. I'm thinking something along the lines of the confrontation between Ben McCauley and Michael Copeland when North Carolina played at N.C. State.

RP: I've got to disagree with Ken on this one: one way or another, it will be close. This time, it might be Ty Lawson's turn for a defining moment; his ankle injury limited him in this rivalry series last season, and he'll want to make a difference — and a few highlights — this year.

Q: What do you think the matchups will be on both sides of the ball? Will Hansbrough cover Singler? Who will guard Lawson for Duke?

KT: I think Paulus guards Lawson because he's not the most dangerous guard on the floor right now for North Carolina. Mike Krzyzewski is a firm believer in taking away the 3-point shot with perimeter pressure, and that means putting Scheyer – the better defender – on Ellington.

Hansbrough moves his feet better on defense than Deon Thompson does, so I’m presuming Hansbrough will guard Singler.

RP: As of Tuesday, UNC coach Roy Williams said he didn't know whether Hansbrough or Deon Thompson would cover Singler. But Williams said it would be a difficult match-up, "because if you guard him with size, he takes them outside. If you go small against him, he takes them inside. He can shoot over smaller guys, and he can dribble past bigger guys. He is really one of the few legitimate threats to score from anywhere. He can score on the block, he can score from mid-range [and] he can score from the 3-point line."

As for Lawson ... Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday that he plans to start Greg Paulus at point guard. Krzyzewski has been impressed by Paulus' leadership, but whether he and Nolan Smith can keep up with Lawson, much less slow him, will be key to the outcome.

Q: Who is more likely to end up as an assistant coach with their school in the next 5 years? Bobby Frasor or Greg Paulus?

KT: Frasor has too good a sense of humor to be a coach. I’ll go with Paulus.

RP: Frasor will coach somewhere, but probably closer to his hometown of Chicago. I'll go with Paulus.


Q: Behind the scenes, is there still bad blood (no pun intended) between Henderson and Hansbrough?

KT: I don’t think they're the best of friends. I do think Hansbrough has forgiven Henderson as much as it's possible to forgive somebody who broke your nose with a really reckless act.

I think about it this way. A guy ran into my car a couple months ago, causing $1,000 in damage. It was an accident, but he clearly wasn't paying attention the way he should have been. I was irritated at the time, but I realized that people make mistakes. Still, I won't be inviting the guy over for dinner.


RP: They'll never be best buds; Hansbrough strikes me as a forgive-but-never-forget kind of guy. But they've played pick-up ball since the incident.

Q: What is the biggest factor that will go towards determining who wins that no one is talking about?

KT: For some reason Danny Green usually flies under the radar for North Carolina. He gets a lot of steals, blocks shots and scores from the perimeter. And he had a huge game at Cameron last year.

Q: Cameron Crazies: Creative geniuses or obnoxious geeks?

KT: Just a bunch of kids having fun.

RP: A little of both, depending on the game. The guy who dressed as Sean May and had a hamburger dangling from a fishing line a few years back is still one of my favorites. And you've got to give kudos to the guy willing to wear the Speedo.

Q: Will Roy press full court or just stay in a half court set?

KT: He might press full court a little bit, but not much. I'd expect the usual man-to-man with a sprinkling of "scrambling" traps thrown in at certain times from North Carolina.

The big question is whether the Tar Heels will switch on ball screens to prevent Duke's shooters from getting open looks from 3-point range. Roy prefers to have his players fight through screens, but switching them against Duke last year in Cameron probably helped the Heels wins.

RP: He'll likely mix it up, as usual.

Q: Does Paulus starting cause any matchup issues?

KT: His matchup issue for Duke is that he is not a strong defender, and that leave the Blue Devils with a difficult choice of whether to have him guard Ty Lawson or Wayne Ellington, who both are playing well right now.

From North Carolina's standpoint, Paulus can cause problems if he's hot from 3-point range. He won the game in Chapel Hill last season for Duke by hitting six 3-pointers in eight attempts.

RP: Have you seen Ty Lawson play lately? The question isn't just whether Paulus can slow Lawson, but how long he can keep up with him at all. It will be interesting to see how quickly Nolan Smith — who teamed with Lawson in prep school — enters the game to defend him.

Q: Any chance Carolina will play a match up zone a la Temple to try and minimize the 3-point threat?

KT: I doubt it. Roy likes to pressure the ball, and he especially will want to get pressure on Paulus. The matchup zone is not a good way to do that, and I doubt you'll see North Carolina go away from its usual principles much in this game. Except, perhaps for switching screens.

Q: We all know how much K loves the man-to-man D, but what are the chances he incorporates a little zone tonight? Lawson and Hansbrough present huge matchup problems and are virtually unguardable.... so doesn't it make sense to pack it in and try to stop Ellington/Green from outside?

KT: I'd be surprised if Duke didn't use some of the 1-3-1 zone trap that we saw for one possession at Georgia Tech and a few more possessions against Miami. The Blue Devils will probably trap softly, concentrating on preventing penetration by Lawson and crowding Hansbrough. The danger with that strategy is that Green and Ellington are shooting 3-pointers pretty well right now, and Cameron is a shooters' gym.

Q: Who do you think will be a better pro — kyle or tyler?? my own opinion is that kyle will be a starter for his team and hansbrough will be a bench warmer and not play all that much for most of his career.

KT: I think both players will have long NBA careers but won't be anywhere near all-star material. Their careers will be similar.

You could say Singler is more promising because he has better perimeter skills, but I don't see it that way. Singler doesn't have the physical power that Hansbrough has, and power is an asset in the NBA.

RP: Singler's versatility gives him an edge in the NBA, but don't underestimate Hansbrough. He's expanded his jump shot over the last couple of years, and NBA GMs are going to love his work ethic — meaning he's likely going to have a long career. One of the questions, though, is what position he will play. But he may surprise some people.

Q: How is this not the best rivalry in all of sports? both of these teams are ALWAYS at the top of their game unlike sooo many other teams in "great" rivalries pro or college. when was the last time UNC or Duke had two bad seasons in a row? it has been a looong time. you know what I thinkg but what do you think?

KT: A lot of people would agree with you.

I think if you're talking what's the best rivalry in the here and now, it's Red Sox-Yankees. If you're talking which rivalry has sustained intensity over a longer period, UNC-Duke is the best.

RP: Who said it wasn't the best rivalry?

Q: Carolina and dook both looked very sub-par in their last games. Were they both looking ahead to tonight's game or are both teams suspect? Also, who do you think has the best defense between the two?

KT: I don't think looking ahead had anything to do with it. Duke is legitimately struggling with its confidence. North Carolina may not have been super-motivated to play Virginia, but it's not because the Heels are looking ahead.

Even Roy Williams said yesterday that Duke is the ACC's best defensive team, and he wasn't just tossing empty platitudes. North Carolina still is faltering at times defensively, particularly a week ago against Maryland.

Q: We know that the Tar Heels are going to lose Bobby Frasor, Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green and probably Ty Lawson. The Heels also lose 4 other seniors. Given those losses and losses from dooks graduates; who is going to have the upper hand for the next few years?

KT: I think you've still got to look at North Carolina as the favorite because of the power the Heels will have in the post. With Tyler Zeller, Ed Davis and John Henson scheduled to be on the roster next season, Duke still will have difficulty defending the Heels.

Bottom line, as I wrote in today's story, the Blue Devils need to improve their recruiting if they're going to catch back up in this rivalry.

Duke-UNC: 5 things to watch

When you’re watching on ESPN or Raycom Sports tonight, the TV analysts will give their key storylines to watch when No. 3 North Carolina visits No. 6 Duke at 9 p.m. Wednesday night.
But there’s no reason to wait for the talking heads. Here are a couple of less obvious things to watch in the game:

1. Hansbrough in the post. In the past two seasons, North Carolina often has moved center Tyler Hansbrough out away from the basket, where he can take advantage of his improved “face-up” game.
There’s no reason for Hansbrough to venture outside the post tonight. Roy Williams is smart enough to realize that Duke will be thrilled to have Hansbrough 15 feet from the basket, where Lance Thomas is quick enough to bother him.
On the block, it’s a total mismatch. Hansbrough overpowers Thomas, every time. And if Duke double-teams Hansbrough, that leaves Wayne Ellington or Danny Green open for 3-point shots. Those are winning scenarios for the Tar Heels.

2. Duke may play some zone. Although Mike Krzyzewski loves playing the high-pressure, man-to-man defense that has been Duke’s staple this season, his brief switch to a soft 1-3-1 zone trap helped the Blue Devils stop the bleeding on Saturday against Miami.
The zone could help prevent penetration by Ty Lawson while crowding Hansbrough in the post. It’s worth a try, at least as a change of pace for a few possessions if Duke struggles.

3. Green is the key. Remember last year’s game at Cameron, when Danny Green led North Carolina with 18 points off the bench and a signature dunk over Greg Paulus? Green’s ability to block shots, his knack for steals and his 3-point shooting ability make him the ideal foil for Duke while everybody concentrates on Hansbrough, Lawson and Wayne Ellington.

4. Duke will go small. Meaning, 7-foot-1 Brian Zoubek is unlikely to play more than a few minutes each half because he’s just not quick enough to play at the pace North Carolina sets.
That puts a lot of pressure on Lance Thomas, Kyle Singler and Dave McClure to defend against Hansbrough and rebound against players who are bigger and more athletic.

5. UNC should fear Paulus. Nolan Smith, who’s coming off the bench, is a better defender at point guard and is a solid complementary player on offense.
But Greg Paulus, who shot 6-for-8 from 3-point range last year in a Duke win at the Smith Center, has more upside for a game such as this. Paulus is more vulnerable than Smith in a lot of ways, but gives Duke a more explosive scorer – which the Blue Devils will need to have a shot at winning.

- Ken Tysiac

Jersey retirement, by the numbers

Retired college basketball jerseys, or numbers, or jerseys and numbers, are suddenly in the news. The Charlotte 49ers recently announced their eighth retired jersey, the No. 13 of swing man Eddie Basden (right, 2001-’05). That will become official in a ceremony that will take place at halftime of the 49ers’ televised home game with Xavier Feb. 19.

There’s more; with the recent death of former Davidson all-American center Mike Maloy, a number of people have suggested that the school waive its graduation requirement for having a jersey retired. Maloy, called the Wildcats’ best player by former coach Lefty Driesell, never graduated but led the team to two NCAA Tournament regional finals.

That got us wondering. How many retired jerseys (numbers?) do each of our area schools have, anyway?

Before we jump in, remember that there is a difference between a retired jersey and a retired number. Time was, you retired a jersey and the number went with it. Now universities are getting away from that, because sooner or later — since numbers with digits above 5 aren’t allowed in basketball (officials signal fouls on players using their fingers to give the culprits’ numbers) — there is the possibility of running out of numbers.

The list follows; in parentheses are the total number of numbers — not jerseys — retired.

DUKE (13): The Blue Devils top all of our Division I schools with 13 numbers retired. They are, in chronological order by careers, Dick Groat (10), Art Heyman (25), Jeff Mullins (44), Mike Gminski (43), Johnny Dawkins (24), Danny Ferry (35), Christian Laettner (32), Bobby Hurley (11), Grant Hill (33), Shane Battier (31), Jason Williams (22), Shelden Williams (23) and J.J. Redick (4).

The Duke media guide says that while there is no “official” criteria to have a jersey retired, the player must achieve at a national level. Considering how often that happens in Durham these days, the Blue Devils may soon run out of numbers.

WAKE FOREST (10): For the Deacons, like Duke, retired jerseys also mean retired numbers.

Wake’s highest honorees are Dickie Hemrick (24), Len Chappell (50), Charlie Davis (12), Skip Brown (15), Rod Griffin (32), Muggsy Bogues (14), Rodney Rogers (54), Randolph Childress (22), Tim Duncan (21) and Josh Howard (5).

While seven of the Deacons have been ACC Players of the Year, the other three haven’t, and Wake seems to make its selections more by feel.

CHARLOTTE (8): Basden will mean eight is enough, at least for now. The 49ers do call theirs retired jerseys and not numbers, but try not to pass the numbers out again if they can help it. They are Melvin Watkins (32), Cedric Maxwell (33), Bryon Dinkins (4), Henry Williams (34), Jarvis Lang (23), DeMarco Johnson (4), Charles Hayward (45) and now Basden.

To be so honored, Niners must be graduates and meet a number of other criteria, including awards received, personal character and the success of the team.


NORTH CAROLINA (8): Well, it isn’t quite eight yet, because Tyler Hansbrough (above) is still using his No. 50. But since he was 2008’s National Player of the Year, he's qualified. To have his jersey/number retired, a Tar Heel must win that national player of the year award.

Jerseys/numbers already hanging in the Smith Center rafters include Jack Cobb (before numbers), George Glamack (20), Lennie Rosenbluth (10), Phil Ford (12), James Worthy (52), Michael Jordan (23) and Antawn Jamison (33).

Numerous other Tar Heels have had their jerseys honored, meaning that they get a spot in the Dean Dome but that their numbers stay in play.


DAVIDSON (5): The Wildcats don’t have different categories; those with their numbers/jerseys retired are Hobby Cobb (21), Fred Hetzel (44), Dick Snyder (10), John Gerdy (33) and Derek Rucker (11).

A primary requirement of being so honored is the player’s graduation, and that’s a stumbling block for three-time all-American Maloy (No. 15 above).

SOUTH CAROLINA (5): The jerseys of Grady Wallace (42), John Roche (11), Kevin Joyce (43), Alex English (22) and BJ McKie (3) have been retired, along with their numbers. And while there will be more jerseys retired in the future, numbers will not be, keeping them available to future players.

Qualifications for jersey retirement must include one of the following—be a university record holder, a consensus all-American, a consensus national player of the year or all-SEC first- or second team for three years.

There is a five-year waiting period and although graduation is not required, but the player must be in a position to graduate.

CLEMSON (2): The Tigers once retired jerseys, and Banks McFadden (23) and Tree Rollins (30) were so honored. But the school no longer does so; players can instead be placed in the Ring of Honor and one —Dale Davis, No. 34 — has been. To be in the ring, players must get their degrees and and make a significant contribution to the heritage of Clemson basketball. A committee decides who is worthy.

N.C. STATE (1): The Wolfpack has retired just one jersey, the No. 44 of David Thompson (above), quite possibly the best player in ACC history. The school has another category called “honored jerseys,” and 21 more players are in that group.

They are Dick Dickey, Sammy Ranzino, Bobby Speight, Ronnie Shavlick, Vic Modolet, Lou Pucillo, John Ritcher, Tommy Burleson, Kenny Carr, Vann Williford, Vinny Del Negro, Nate McMillan, Monte Towe, Thurl Bailey, Sidney Lowe, Dereck Whittenburg, Chris Corchiani, Rodney Monroe, Tom Gugliotta, Julius Hodge and Todd Fuller.

EAST CAROLINA (1): Only one Pirate has been honored to this point, with the No. 14 of Bobby Hodges, who played from 1951 to ’54, having been retired. Hodges is still the Pirates’ all-time leading scorer.

-- Stan Olson

Duke remains No. 1 in RPI

Five ACC teams are in the NCAA Tournament this week, based on the RPI.

Duke, despite losing by 27 to Clemson, remains No. 1 (see a flaw yet in the computer programming?) while UNC drops two spots to No. 6 because it beat two average teams at home.

Clemson (8), Wake Forest (14) and Florida State (19) are also enjoying the high life of the RPI.

Virginia Tech (40), Miami (41) and Boston College (49) lead the bubble watch with Maryland (68) squarely on the outside with Virginia (100), N.C. State (115) and Georgia Tech (157) — henceforth referred to as the ACC's "Three Bad Teams."

Before the Noles pop any champagne to celebrate their first NCAA appearance since 1998, take a look at that closing schedule.

Tonight's game against Virginia is the last against the TBT and should push the Noles to 6-3 in the ACC. Then there's the little matter of the other two wins.

At Wake (no), Miami (probably), at Virginia Tech (no), at Boston College (maybe), Clemson (maybe), at Duke (no), Virginia Tech (maybe).

That's three nos, three maybes and a probably. Can you see FSU's heart breaking yet? That's one maybe.

As for the bubble teams, the Hokies (40) are 5-3 in the ACC with two more dates with the TBT but home dates with Duke and UNC. Since VT couldn't beat Seton Hall or even anyone of any substance outside the ACC, it needs to upset a Blue to get to 9-7 and make sure the committee can't ignore them.

Miami (41) all but dotted the "i" in its bid until a 16-point meltdown cost the Canes back-to-back wins over Wake and Duke.

The good news for Miami, which is 4-6, is it finishes with TBT in succession. The bad news is it must beat either UNC (on Sunday in a potential letdown game for the Heels), win at FSU (unlikely) or at home to BC (probably).

Then there's BC (49), which has the trump card — a win over UNC — but 8-8 and a win at UNC isn't enough (ask Maryland). The Eagles, 6-4, close with two-thirds of the TBT which should get them to eight wins. But where will the ninth come from?

In
	RPI	ACC	top 50
Duke	1	7-2	7-3
UNC	6	7-2	4-2
Clemson	8	5-3	6-3
Wake Forest	14	5-3	4-3
FSU	19	5-3	3-3

Bubble
	RPI	ACC	top 50
Virginia Tech	40	5-3	3-5
Miami	41	4-6	3-6
Boston College	49	6-4	2-5

Out
	RPI	ACC	top 50
Maryland	68	4-5	3-7
Virginia	100	1-7	0-9
N.C. State	115	2-6	1-9
Georgia Tech	157	1-8	1-5

Q&A with UNC's Roy Williams

North Carolina coach Roy Williams answered questions Tuesday morning about his team’s Wednesday night showdown with Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Here is a smattering of answers:

Q: You’ve said you think this is the best Duke team since you’ve been back at UNC. Why do you think that?

I think they have more weapons on a shared basis. J.J. (Redick) was such a threat, but you could help off some of the other people. I don’t think there’s anybody that you can run in and help off of as much now. Their depth is better. I thought in the summertime that our depth was the only team that could match up with them … but we’ve taken a pretty significant hit since then. To me, they’re playing better defense than anybody in our league. I think when you have a lot of guys who can score, you can’t aim your defense at one guy, they’re playing great defense, they rebound the basketball better this year than they have in the past – I think all those things make me feel like they’re the best since I’ve been back.

Q: Aside from having good players, is there a certain element you have to have to win at Cameron?

Not anything more important than good players, but once you get past that – an ability to focus on what’s going on on the court. That focus and that discipline to be concerned about what you’re doing – and not stand and look around, I think that’s important. I think toughness, because you’re going to have some adversity there, and you’ve got to be able to withstand those dry spells and take advantage of your opportunity. I think the mental part of it is one of the big, big factors there.

Q: Do you have a favorite memory from over there at Cameron?

Not one play or one game or anything like that. I just know that I say a lot of places, ‘I’ll take a one-point win and get out of town as quickly as I can.’ But I never believe it and mean it as much as I do at that place over there. Just going and sitting out on that bus the last three years have been great moments, just waiting for players to finish and sitting there eating my chicken sandwich or whatever it is.

- Robbi Pickeral

Raleigh's Tabb chooses Wake Forest

Melvin Tabb thought about waiting and making official visits before committing to Wake Forest, but he didn't see the purpose. He knew he wanted to go to Wake Forest.

Tabb, a 6-foot-8 junior forward, committed to the Demon Deacons' basketball team over the weekend while making an unofficial visit to the Winston-Salem campus.

"Wake Forest is close to home and plays in the Atlantic Coast Conference," Tabb said. "Wake Forest is a great school, and Coach [Dino] Gaudio is a great guy and coach. It is a great situation for me."

Tabb has helped Enloe to a 21-1 record and is averaging 15.8 points.

"It has been a crazy year," Tabb said. "We are really playing well. We don't have an excuse for losing to Panther Creek, but we just came out flat and didn't play well. I'd like to think I would turn out differently if we played again."

Tabb considered holding off his commitment until after the season -- "After we win the state championship. Yes, I think we can," he said. But he was ready to end the recruiting process.
"The recruiting is tough," said Tabb, who had known Wake was interested since the summer before his sophomore year. "I was ready to end the pressure and the stress."

Enloe coach Tommy Moore said he had no question that Tabb would be a great addition to Wake Forest.

"Melvin is a tremendous player, and he is going to get a lot better," Moore said. "He is improving every day. He is a good student and a very good player and person."

Tabb is ranked No. 73 on the Scout.com top 100 junior list.

Wake Forest already had commitments from junior guards J.T. Terrell of Burlington Cummings and Tony Chenault of Philadelphia St. John Neumann.

-- A.J. Carr

Duke-UNC 1968: The Fred Lind Game

The Duke-North Carolina game on March 3, 1968, at Cameron Indoor Stadium was like many in the 90-year rivalry, riveting with suspense and drama.

But that one was a triple overtime thriller featuring an improbable star -- Duke’s Fred Lind.

A forlorn reserve at that time, Lind came off the bench to score 16 points, grab 9 rebounds and block 3 shots to spark coach Vic Bubas’ Blue Devils to a 87-86 victory over the No. 3 ranked Tar Heels.

Lind, a backup post player, did all that against a UNC team that included two-time ACC Player-of-the-Year Larry Miller, Rusty Clark, Dick Grubar, Bill Bunting and Charlie Scott, a sophomore who became one of the league’s all time greatest players. Coach Dean Smith’s club also went on to win the ACC title and advance to the Final four for the second straight year.

Duke, a top 10 team, was accustomed to winning. But beating its arch rival in three OTs sent the decibels up another level at Cameron and put the “Crazies” in an elevated euphoric state. One hyperactive Blue Devil fan came out of the stands during a time out and danced on the side of the court.

As for Lind, he finished that season with a total of 50 points and 2.8 scoring average. The following season he contributed 10.6 points and 7.9 rebounds per game. But his name is etched firmly in the Duke-Caroline lore for his sub-to-star transformation in that 1968 game.

Vitale: Duke-UNC best rivalry

Hall of Fame ESPN TV analyst Dick Vitale used to take his two daughters out of school so they could attend Duke-North Carolina games with them.

Vitale figured they would learn more at the games than in the classroom. He would tell his girls that all the students in the crowd at the Smith Center or Cameron Indoor Stadium had to be high achievers to gain admission to their respective schools.

“We used it as a motivational to say, ‘Hey, if you want to be part of a great environment like this, you’ve got to study. You’ve got to achieve,’ ” Vitale said. “And fortunately, both of the girls took after their mother intellectually and physically.”

His daughters, Terri and Sherri, apparently got the message. Both went on to play tennis at Notre Dame. And on Wednesday, Vitale will bring his two 6-year-old grandsons to Cameron Indoor Stadium for the game.

On his Sunday podcast on his web site, Vitale discusses his four favorite games among those he has worked in the Duke-North Carolina series. Here’s how he breaks down Wednesday’s game:

On North Carolina: “They would have been unbelievably tough for anybody to beat on the collegiate level if they had their full roster, which included (Tyler) Zeller and (Marcus) Ginyard.

“Because now it takes a scenario, the whole complexion of that team has changed by Ginyard being out. He’s a defensive stopper. He can play any one of three people on the perimeter, point, second guard and small forward, and give you that defensive stopper. (Danny) Green then becomes the best sixth man in America. He gives you instant offensive productivity.”

“. . .You look at their bench production, they’re getting no offensive bench production at all. I mean, really. North Carolina’s bench has been really negated by that injury.”

On Duke: “I think anytime you can bring in the kind of people they bring in off the bench, like (Lance) Thomas, like (Greg) Paulus, who started the other day and scored 18 in that win (over Miami), which was a gut-check win. That was a gut-check win. If there was ever a definition to define what this Duke team is all about, it was in that game.”

On the pressure both teams face: “Both of these programs have set a standard that is so high that to me, on a regular basis, they’re like the New York Yankees of baseball. The Yankees can win 95 games, and the Yankees can win their division year in and year out, as they did with Joe Torre, but unless they were able to stand tall and put the gold trophy in the show room and the showcase at Yankee Stadium, being the World Series or world champs, it was seen as a failure by many.

“And Duke and North Carolina are running into that same cycle. That unless they win it all, and unless they’re national champs, there are people out there that would label it, ‘Oh, really? No big deal. What did they do? They won 25 games? So what.’ I think that’s a sad state that’s been created.”

On the rivalry: “These clubs this year, I think it’s going to be a heck of a basketball game. But I still think there’s no doubt to me. . .it’s the greatest rivalry of them all. You can talk Michigan-Ohio State football, Alabama-Auburn football, there is nothing like the passion and the emotion, the excitement that is generated in the Duke-North Carolina battle.”

- Ken Tysiac

Davidson-Butler to tip at noon on Feb. 21

Davidson's ESPN Bracketbuster game with No. 15 Butler has been scheduled for noon on Saturday, Feb.21 at Belk Arena. The game is sold out.

The game will be an important one for the Wildcats; a win would help their chances of receiving an NCAA Tournament at-large bid should they not win the Southern Conference tournament. Davidson's loss to the College of Charleston Saturday night sent the Wildcats plummeting in the NCAA's RPI, from No.30 to No.50. A victory over Butler, which is 10th in the RPI, would go far toward repairing that damage.

The teams will meet again at Butler early next season.

Davidson, which is 20-4, plays at Wofford Thursday night at 7. Butler (21-2) plays again Friday against visiting Illinois-Chicago.

- Stan Olson

Q&A with Mike Krzyzewski

Here are excerpts from Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s news conference Monday as the Blue Devils prepare to play host to rival North Carolina at 9 p.m. Wednesday:

Q: What is it about this series that negates the home court? They’ve won three in a row (at Cameron), and you’ve won two out of the last three (in Chapel Hill).
A: I just think because we’re both good teams. Good teams can win home or away. I know we’re, for the last 10 years we have the best percentage on the road, but they have to be the next. They have a good percentage on the road. Good teams can win away.

Q: You’ve often said that you think this game is one of the best celebrations of college basketball. What’s your favorite part of it?
A: For me, I’m honored to be a part of it. The rivalry and the game between Duke and North Carolina is bigger than any coach, player and combination. That’s why it’s the true identity game for college basketball, because that’s what college basketball is. When you’re the coach of one of the teams, you’re basically like the caretaker of this rivalry. Like right now, Roy (Williams) and I have to do a great job. And I think both of us have done a good job of not just competing against one another, but competing with dignity and the class that the rivalry deserves.

Q: You’ve won national championships and coached the Olympic team. Do you (feel) something extra in you when you coach in a game like this?
A: You know what, if I get more from this game than I do from another, I shouldn’t coach. Not that this game isn’t a great game. But I don’t want to be the doctor who only operates well on Friday, or because you gave me more money. I’d like to operate well on anyone.

Q: Going against a full-strength (Ty) Lawson unlike last year, how important will Nolan (Smith) be?
A: Everybody’s important. No one person can stop Lawson on the fast break. It’s a team commitment to try to slow their offense down. In a game against a really good opponent, the main thing is that you have more than five players. The benches of both teams, I think, will be very important. - Ken Tysiac

Duke notes: Paulus to start

DURHAM - Duke senior Greg Paulus will make his second straight start at point guard Wednesday in a 9 p.m. home game against North Carolina, coach Mike Krzyzewski said Monday.

Paulus scored 18 points and was praised for by Krzyzewski his leadership Saturday in the Blue Devils’ 78-75 overtime win over Miami. Nolan Smith, a sophomore who started 21 of the first 22 games at point guard, will come off the bench.

“Greg played a great game on Saturday,” Krzyzewski said. “He did that with us as a group going through an adverse time.”

Krzyzewski said Smith still will have a prominent role. Smith said he hasn’t lost confidence despite being held scoreless in seven minutes Saturday.

“They tell me all the time that I need to attack and be stronger, and if I do all those things, things will fall into place,” Smith said.

Singler’s health fine. Forward Kyle Singler leads Duke in scoring and rebounding but has struggled through poor performances the last three games since an illness kept him out of practice about 10 days ago.

After totaling 11 points against Virginia and Clemson, Singler shot 5-for-23 from the field against Miami. But Krzyzewski said Singler’s health is fine.

“It’s certainly not his lack of effort,” Krzyzewski said. “It hasn’t affected other parts of his game. He’s playing like a warrior.”

Scheyer breaks out. Duke guard Jon Scheyer hopes his has broken out of his scoring slump after posting a team-high 22 points against Miami. He had averaged just 9.5 points over the previous eight games and was disappointed that teammate Gerald Henderson had to carry so much of the scoring load.

“It shouldn’t be like that,” Scheyer said. “I want to be right there with him, helping him out.” - Ken Tysiac

Sure Davidson lost, but...

Sometimes we forget that the Southern Conference has other members besides Davidson.

That's understandable around here; the Wildcats had won 43 straight regular-season league games before falling 77-75 to the College of Charleston Saturday night. But as bad as Davidson's coaches and players felt afterward, the Cougars' traveling party felt that good.

Coach Bobby Cremins, who has been around forever and been in huge games, said the victory reminded him of why he got back into coaching after leaving Georgia Tech a few years back.

"Davidson has been ridiculous," Cremins said. "Nobody has been able to beat them; nobody. It's good for the conference and hopefully in the long run, it will be good for Davidson. They're a great team and (guard Stephen) Curry is something else. But tonight was one of those nights. A great win for our program."

One of the players that Davidson has been beating up on for years is C of C's junior point guard, Tony White.

"It was a great feeling," he said. "I mean, Davidson's a great team. And we feel like they've always been in our way of accomplishing something. They've gotten the best of us for a number of years. I've been here for three years, and it was just a great feeling to get that monkey off our backs.--Stan Olson

HBO's Duke-UNC documentary debuts Friday

Minutes before the North Carolina premiere of HBO's documentary "Battle for Tobacco Road: Duke vs. Carolina" on Sunday, Time Warner Cable executive Brian Kelly told the packed house at The Carolina Theatre of Durham that his daughter, a student at UNC, was dating someone at Duke.

"They'll break up!" someone in the crowd shouted.

The one-hour program will first be shown on HBO at 9 p.m. Feb. 13, and HBO Sports did a nice job of digging up archival footage for this piece, which follows the Michigan-Ohio State football rivalry documentary the network produced in 2007. The Duke-Carolina doc, which eventually will be released on DVD, is balanced, and offers fresh takes on familiar story lines from the principal characters, as well as some amusing anecdotes you may not have heard (i.e., Duke's Art Heyman recalling with relish the 1961 brawl in which he punched a certain Carolina character in a sensitive place). N.C. State even gets props for helping to start the rivalry.

It's obvious the tension is still there — at every opportunity, Michael Jordan trash-talks Duke, and the J.R. "Can't" Reid episode is recounted, with bruised feelings still obvious. Referring to Dean Smith's quote favorably comparing the SAT scores of Reid and Scott Williams to those of Duke's Christian Laettner and Danny Ferry, Laettner tweaks the legendary coach: "Everybody makes mistakes. Even Dean Smith makes mistakes."

It's HBO, so the program is profanity-laced in places, and as is typical for sports documentaries, this one relies heavily on interviews with other members of the media, such as former Durham Herald-Sun writer Al Featherston, The Charlotte Observer's Scott Fowler and ... Bomani Jones of 620 The Bull and 850 The Buzz?

Hint to HBO: The News & Observer's Caulton Tudor and A.J. Carr each has seen at least 90 UNC-Duke games and, between them, have covered most of them since the mid-1960s. Think they know something about the series?

Degand, Ferguson uncertain for Wake

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe said Monday morning that he hasn't decided whether junior guards Farnold Degand and Trevor Ferguson will play Wednesday against Wake Forest.

Degand and Ferguson missed Sunday's 91-87 overtime loss at Virginia Tech for violating team academic policy.

"I haven’t decided yet (whether they will play)," Lowe said during the ACC coaches' teleconference. "It’s something I’ve got to take a look at. First and foremost, those guys, everybody needs to hold up their end of the bargain, academically and rule wise, everything. And playing on the floor. And we’ll have to see."

Ferguson is averaging 5.8 points and Degand 4.9 points per game.

Gonzalez takes reins for N.C. State

N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe praised sophomore Javi Gonzalez on Sunday after he made his first start at point guard since Dec. 17.

“I thought Javi played well,” Lowe said after Gonzalez (left, shown in the Jan. 31 game against Duke) scored nine points with six assists in a 91-87 overtime loss at Virginia Tech.

Lowe liked the way Gonzalez pushed the ball up the floor and looked for his teammates, and it showed in the way Lowe dealt out playing time. Gonzalez played 36 minutes, a season high for an N.C. State point guard.

The coach’s assessment might have been influenced by the difficulties the Wolfpack has had at the position this season. Any time Gonzalez, junior Farnold Degand or freshman Julius Mays has a few bright moments, they spark optimism that the team’s problems at the position might be ending.

But the bright moments usually are accompanied by mistakes. Gonzalez committed five turnovers, including two on consecutive possessions as Virginia Tech seized the momentum midway through the second half.

Mays also had two turnovers in 30 seconds during that stretch. And Degand was benched for violating team academic policy, according to Lowe.

“He didn’t deserve to play today,” Lowe said.

Lowe has said Gonzalez has been N.C. State’s best point guard in practice recently, so it appears he will get first crack at the job as the Wolfpack prepares to play host to Wake Forest on Wednesday.

The Deacons have an ACC player of the year candidate in their sophomore point guard, Jeff Teague. Meanwhile, Gonzalez is just trying to stop the bleeding at N.C. State’s most frustrating position.

Whether he succeeds or not, his persistence has to be admired. After cutting his left elbow on East Carolina point guard Brock Young’s teeth on Dec. 17, Gonzalez totaled 33 minutes in five games. He didn’t play in eight games – three because of injury and five because Lowe didn’t put him out there.

Over the 33 minutes he did play, he turned it over 11 times, handed out eight assists and scored seven points. But he always has said he’s a fighter, dating back to his days as a child in Puerto Rico when he had to be strong and stand up for himself.

That fighter’s mentality has him in position to play a lot for the Wolfpack down the stretch.

“It’s been tough, getting back from an elbow injury,” Gonzalez said. “I just tried to stay ready, keep playing hard in practice, pushing the starters and get back into it.” – Ken Tysiac

Duke answers challenge

One of the most popular topics of speculation after Duke’s 74-47 loss at Clemson on Wednesday was how coach Mike Krzyzewski would punish the Blue Devils after the team’s most lopsided loss in 19 years.

Would he take the rims off the baskets and run them until they couldn’t run anymore? Would he take the name plates off their lockers and their photos off the walls at Cameron Indoor Stadium? Perhaps he would send them on a secret CIA aircraft to a third world country for “interrogation” on why they collapsed against Clemson’s press and couldn’t stop Trevor Booker?

No.

No.

And no.

After Duke came back to win 78-75 in overtime on Saturday against Miami, Duke senior forward Dave McClure explained that exhausting the players in practice wasn’t an option.

“We knew Miami was a great team,” McClure said. “They had just played an unbelievable game against Wake. And I don’t think it would have been productive if we had just completely killed ourselves in the last two days. We needed to get a point across, and definitely change something, but we couldn’t just beat the (heck) out of each other.”

Krzyzewski didn’t need to take name plates off the lockers to challenge the players, because they already were challenging one another.

“We definitely had some intense meetings where we called each other out,” McClure said. “We pointed the finger at each other. Because I think that’s something we needed to do. We needed to hold each other accountable. And as much as that’s something that people don’t always want to hear, I think we accepted it.”

It’s difficult to tell whether those methods turned the team around enough to keep Duke (20-3, 7-2 ACC) atop the ACC after Wednesday night’s home game against North Carolina (21-2, 7-2), which is tied for first place with the Blue Devils.

But the strategy helped Duke get a badly needed win over Miami, and that was a step in the right direction.

“The practices were definitely intense,” McClure said, “but they were more about us getting back to what we did to get to where we were (before), rather than looking solely at Miami. So we concentrated more on ourselves than we did on just Miami.” – Ken Tysiac

Defending Stephen Curry

Tonight it will be the College of Charleston's turn to try to slow down Davidson's Stephen Curry, the nation's leading scorer. Thursday UNC Greensboro took a crack at it, and instead of a box-and-one or double-teaming him every time he touched the ball, simply manned him up--with a rotation of about a half-dozen different players.

The result? Curry got his 29-point average, but was 10-of-24 from the floor. Davidson still managed a 21-point win.

"Probably like any team, we tried to limit his touches as much as possible," said 6-foot-5, 220-pound Ben Stywall, one of those who took a turn guarding Curry. "If he's standing in the corner, we try to prevent him from getting it. We all rotated on him; tried to keep fresh legs on him at all times. He's very smart, his IQ is very high. He makes a lot of great plays to get his teammates open."

Teammate Kendall Toney, also in the stop-Curry mix, added, "We all have different skills, whether it be size or quickness. Just try to keep different people on him."

Before we give the Spartans too much credit, though, it seemed as if Curry simply had a poor shooting day for him. He actually seems to be able to get open--particularly against one man--pretty much anytime he wants to.

Asked if UNC G wore him down throwing all those bodies, at him, Curry said, "A little bit, because they had fresh legs and you have to combat that. My conditioning is pretty good, I think, so I can last a good amount of time."

Oh, who are we kidding? If Curry had been hitting consistently Thursday, he would have had 40.--Stan Olson

Davidson the place to be (if you have a ticket)

Davidson’s game Saturday against College of Charleston at Belk Arena will be the place to be in Mecklenburg County (except it’s sold out, so don’t try to go unless you’ve got a ticket).

• ESPN2 and Dick Vitale will be there.

• The Wildcats can tie the Southern Conference’s all-time consecutive league regular-season victories mark.

• The Cougars are coached by Bobby Cremins.
  

• And there will be a moment of silence for former Wildcats great Mike Maloy, who died earlier this week. Maloyhas been denied a spot in Davidson’s hall of fame because he didn’t graduate. But that rule can – and should – be changed. There’s precedent. Austin Peay recently had a similar rule, but changed it to allow former scoring star Fly Williams to be included in the Governors’ hall.
  

-- David Scott

Pack seeks consistency at point

Almost three months after the season opener, N.C. State’s point guard situation remains in flux.

“As somebody put it to me the other day, it’s a three-headed monster,” coach Sidney Lowe said during his news conference Friday as N.C. State prepares for Sunday’s 1:30 p.m. game at Virginia Tech.

Lowe would like junior Farnold Degand, freshman Julius Mays or sophomore Javi Gonzalez to step forward and dominate the position, but nobody has done that.
All three have had some good moments recently:

- Degand posted consecutive seven-assist games against Boston College on Jan. 24 and Miami on Jan. 27.

- Mays hit a game-winning 3-pointer in the closing seconds of overtime to defeat Miami after Degand fouled out.

- Gonzalez has been the best of the three in practice recently and handed out five assists in Tuesday’s defeat of N.C. Central.

But all three have had problems. Before Tuesday, Gonzalez had played just once in the previous five games as he’d been benched after committing two turnovers in three minutes against Florida State.

Degand continues to experience pain in his surgically repaired left knee. Lowe said Degand told him he had aggravated the injury running in class. Lowe said he thought it was a physical education class.

“After you’ve had knee surgery, I guess that (taking a phys ed class) is a bad idea,” Lowe said.
Lowe said he knows what he’s getting from Mays, which apparently means solid but unspectacular play. Lowe is looking for Gonzalez to continue the positive momentum from his recent practices and the N.C. Central game – but he still turned it over four times in 15 minutes Tuesday.

So Lowe still is trying to find an answer in February.

“They all three are capable of bringing something to the table on any given night, but we haven’t had that one that’s been consistent,” Lowe said.

Big lineup leaves Williams on bench. Freshman guard C.J. Williams has not played in the last three games, but Lowe said there’s nothing physically wrong with him.

“His time will come,” Lowe said. “The crazy thing about this game is, you never know when.”
Williams, who had started three straight games before his recent stint on the bench, has been the loser in terms of playing time since Lowe went to the big lineup that features Smith, Ben McCauley and Brandon Costner.

That lineup moved Courtney Fells from small forward to shooting guard, which is Williams’ position. Fells has averaged 20.3 points since the move, gobbling up 32.3 minutes per game.
Trevor Ferguson is backing up Fells, so there are no minutes available for Williams.

“He’s got a lot of time (left) here,” Lowe said of Williams. “He’s going to be instrumental in our future.”

Smith hurting. Forward Tracy Smith was held out of practice Thursday to rest his ailing right knee, but Lowe expects him to play at Virginia Tech. - Ken Tysiac

Win critical for FSU, Gastonia's Hamilton

Florida State couldn’t afford to lose Thursday night.

When you’re headed for the NCAA tournament “bubble,” you can’t let the ACC’s last-place team defeat you on your home floor.

Despite trailing by six at halftime and shooting just 30.9 percent from the field, Florida State and coach Leonard Hamilton’s team held off Georgia Tech 62-58.

On the surface, Florida State’s NCAA tournament resume looks extremely strong. Wins outside the ACC against Cincinnati, Florida and Western Kentucky bode well for Gastonia native Hamilton’s hopes of making his first NCAA appearance in his seventh season as Florida State’s coach.

Winning Thursday improves the Seminoles’ record to 17-5, 4-3 in the ACC. Before Thursday’s game, Florida State was 29th in the RPI according to realtimerpi.com.

So why was one game against Georgia Tech so important? Florida State couldn’t afford to lose at home to the ACC’s last-place team because its schedule is about to get much stronger.

Thus far Florida State has built its winning ACC record entirely by defeating teams in the bottom half of the conference standings. But seven of its final nine games are against teams that have winning ACC records.

It won’t be easy for Florida State to achieve the .500 ACC record that might be necessary to sway the Division I men’s basketball committee to give the Seminoles their first NCAA bid since 1998.

If Florida State hadn’t held serve against Georgia Tech, it would have been even more difficult. – Ken Tysiac

Matchups matter for Duke, ACC

How does North Carolina beat Clemson by 24 and Clemson beat Duke by 27?

If you haven't read Dave Odom's observations, please do and come back.

Good. Notice No. 1: "How is a team feeling about itself and its opponent?"

ESPN's Jay Bilas made this point last night. Clemson just doesn't believe it can win at Chapel Hill but it knows it can beat Duke (thanks to the semis of the '08 ACC tourney). That's certainly part of the equation.

But let's jump to Odom's last point: "Consider the contrasting styles of the two teams. Which team can impose itself on the other?"

North Carolina shreds Clemson's press and forces Clemson to get into a sprint. No one can beat the Tar Heels in sprint, certainly not teams that willingly leave Wayne Ellington wide open.

But against Duke, Clemson's press is more effective — although it shouldn't be given breaking a press is a function of coaching and scouting, but we'll tackle that another day — and Duke simply has no answer for power forward Trevor Booker.

Matchups matter. I know Clemson had a week off — and that matters, too — but Duke just got manhandled by Clemson on Wednesday.

Duke could have had a month off and Booker would have still scored 21 points with eight rebounds and three blocked shots.

Mike Krzyzewski, to his credit, said so in as many words after the game, eschewing any excuses related to officiating (it was awful) or rest.

"It was 40 minutes of them dominating," Krzyzewski said. "They just kicked our butts."

-- J.P. Giglio

Tar Heels, as predicted, in first place

Just as everyone predicted, the Tar Heels will make the turn in first place.

It's not at 8-0, or even 7-1, but suddenly the Heels find themselves in the driver's seat in the ACC after an 0-2 start.

Wake Forest has lost two straight after getting embarrassed at Miami on Wednesday and is just 4-3, despite an 2-0 record against Duke and Carolina.

Duke's 6-2 after getting throttled by Clemson on Wednesday.

As long as Clemson remains in third place, or even tied with Duke and North Carolina, the Tar Heels would win the ACC's regular-season with a split with the Devils (because of the win over Clemson).

As predicted, the importance of UNC's win at Florida State continues to grow. A loss there, and the Heels are 5-3 and starting to ask serious questions about depth and defense with the loss of Marcus Ginyard.

Thanks to Danny Green's late steal and Ty Lawson's running three in Tallahassee, the Heels are 6-2 and, more importantly, confident.

The difference between confidence and overconfidence is focus. The 0-2 ACC start wasn't a wakeup call for Carolina but a reminder that you are only as good (or bad) as you think you are. No other opinions matter. The Heels soaked up too much of the "unbeatable" rhetoric instead of playing with focus.

UNC had already shown it can beat up teams but the FSU win showed it could win a close game when everything was working against them.

Why am I bringing this up now? Wake Forest and Duke couldn't win, or even come close, in similar road circumstances on Wednesday.

One more reason to like the Heels to close the ACC — the schedule. True, there are two games against Duke, but no Wake and no Clemson.

The three bad ACC teams — N.C. State, Virginia and Georgia Tech — all come to Chapel Hill.

The other three games are at Maryland (please) and at Miami and Virginia Tech.

-- J.P. Giglio

Duke fast break stuck in neutral

Aside from its complete lack of preparation for the full-court press, Duke’s most glaring deficiency Wednesday night might have been on the fast break.

In a 74-47 flogging of the Blue Devils at Littlejohn Coliseum, Clemson scored 13 fast-break points. Duke scored two.

If Terrence Oglesby hadn’t missed a layup in the first half and a dunk attempt in the closing minutes, that gap would have been even more pronounced.

The frightening thing for Duke is that Clemson’s transition domination hardly was an aberration. A week earlier, Wake Forest outscored Duke 11-2 on the fast break.

Georgia Tech (15-5) and Florida State (11-10) also have scored more fast-break points than the Blue Devils. That total advantage for Duke’s opponents in ACC road games is a whopping 50-17.

Meanwhile, Duke has outscored every one of its opponents on the fast break at Cameron Indoor Stadium, posting a 53-21 combined advantage at home over Virginia Tech, N.C. State, Maryland and Virginia.

One of two conclusions can be drawn from this. It’s possible the box scores reflect greater excitement on the part of home scorekeepers that makes them more likely to record fast-break points for “their team.”

But that seems unlikely when you consider that scorekeepers at Clemson (18-4) and Georgia Tech (10-6) both recorded more fast-break points for Wake Forest than the home team in the Deacons’ recent trips to those gyms.

It seems more likely that Duke no longer has superior athletes who just overwhelm opponents with their speed. Not long ago, the Blue Devils could turn loose Jay Williams against Chris Hobbs and Ray Henderson and just overwhelm a team like Clemson with pure speed and skill.

Now Duke’s staple is a tough half-court defense that doesn’t lead to fast-break baskets often enough even if it does force turnovers. Point guard Nolan Smith is a strong defender but isn’t particularly good at setting up teammates on the fast break. Forward Gerald Henderson is extremely athletic, but coach Mike Krzyzewski has occasionally questioned some of Henderson’s decisions on the break.

All this does not bode well for Duke when North Carolina visits Cameron on Wednesday in a game that could decide first place in the ACC. The Tar Heels have had their own problems this season, but they still get the ball up the court incredibly quickly with point guard Ty Lawson.

Duke will have to find a way to slow down Lawson. Because as it stands now, the Blue Devils don’t seem capable of finding a gear that will get them up to the Tar Heels’ speed.
- Ken Tysiac

Krzyzewski: Don't forget this loss

When it was suggested to Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski late Wednesday night that sometimes teams are better off forgetting about bad losses and moving forward, he wasn’t in a generous mood.

“Our players shouldn’t forget this loss. This is as bad as you can play,” Krzyzewski said. “You can’t say, ‘Oh, that’s OK.’ Not if you’re wearing a Duke uniform.”

As good as Clemson was Wednesday night – and the Tigers were outstanding – the more striking image was seeing Duke look so hopelessly overwhelmed.

It doesn’t happen to the Blue Devils.

But it did at Clemson and it raises questions about what’s next for the Blue Devils, who have consecutive home games against Miami and North Carolina over the next week.

“You never forget this loss,” Krzyzewski said. “Going into another game, we can’t hang on to it but you can never forget a game like this one.”

Duke melted against Clemson’s defense, which wobbled them with their full-court pressure in the first half then continued to bother them in the front-court with straight-up man-to-man pressure in the second half.

Kyle Singler had five turnovers. Nolan Smith had four. The total was 16 but it felt like twice that many.

“They know how to turn you over and you have to be strong with the ball,” Duke’s Gerald Henderson said. “You have to make quick decisions and value the ball. We didn’t do any of that.”

Clemson also wanted to make it a frontcourt game and it worked. Trevor Booker was dominating with 21 points, eight rebounds and an overall impact bigger than the numbers.

K.C. Rivers also had a superb set of numbers with 11 points, seven rebounds and seven steals.

“Rivers and Booker are two of the best players in the country,” Krzyzewski said.

Which raises the question of where Clemson fits in the ACC and the national picture.

After another 16-0 start, the Tigers were dismissed after losing to Wake Forest and North Carolina. But winning in the last minutes at Virginia Tech then dominating Duke changes the perspective.

“It was an excellent win,” Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said. “We really embraced the atmosphere and we were comfortable.”

-- Ron Green Jr.

What if Scott had joined Maloy at Davidson ...

It was 1966, and Davidson basketball coach Lefty Driesell was certain that he had two very special recruits—a 6-foot-7 center with big hands and a stunning vertical leap named Mike Maloy and a 6-5 guard with the ability to take over a game named Charlie Scott.

Both were African American, and Davidson, just like virtually every other school in the South, had never had a black player. Lefty was getting ready to bring that barrier crashing down.

“I had Charlie Scott too,” Driesell said Wednesday, a day after Maloy was found dead in Vienna. He was 59.

Maloy held to his pledge. At the last moment, though, Scott decided to attend North Carolina. Twice, in 1968 and ’69, his Tar Heels and Maloy’s Wildcats would meet in NCAA Regional Finals. Twice, Scott’s teams would prevail, winning by four points and then by two. The two came on an 18-foot, final-seconds jumper by Scott, who had 32 points in the game.

Is there any doubt that had Scott gone to Davidson, the Wildcats would have won both of those games? Is there any doubt that they would have won them easily?

Davidson would have been in two Final Fours, might well have won two national championships. And with that kind of base to build from, maybe the administration would have tried harder to keep Lefty, who left for Maryland following the second of those losses.

Maybe today when we talk about traditional basketball powers, it wouldn’t seem strange to say North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky and Davidson.

- Stan Olson

Davidson great Mike Maloy found dead

An Austrian newspaper is reporting that Mike Maloy, one of Davidson's finest players and the center of the teams that reached the NCAA Regional finals in 1968 and '69, was found dead in his Vienna apartment Tuesday after a severe case of the flu.

Maloy was 59. More on this as details emerge.--Stan Olson

With Heels depleted, pressure's on Copeland

So far, Mike Copeland's most notable contribution for the Tar Heels this season is his staredown with Ben McCauley late in Saturday's win over N.C. State. He's going to have to do more now.

The announcement late Tuesday night that Marcus Ginyard will redshirt and Will Graves is suspended, depriving North Carolina of two key reserves for what is intended to be a national-title run, puts pressure on Copeland to step in and contribute.

Carolina coach Roy Williams said he'd prefer to go with a nine-man rotation, which means Copeland — who played a season-high seven minutes Tuesday and a total of 12 minutes in six other games this season after returning from a knee injury — may be in position to take a bigger role.

Copeland can't fill the void Ginyard leaves defensively (no one can) but he does give the Heels some additional beef (and five extra fouls) down low.

"I gave 'Cope' a couple extra runs tonight and hopefully he'll be able to do that," Williams said. "Bobby (Frasor) played 24 minutes Saturday and 18 today. Larry (Drew II) played a little bit more. I'd have to sit down and think — you've got five and Larry is six and Bobby is seven
and Ed (Davis) is eight. I'm hoping we can go nine and get 'Cope' in there."

That could depend on the health of freshman forward Tyler Zeller, who Williams said will meet with doctors Wednesday to determine if and when he can return from a broken wrist, but until Zeller gets the green light, the senior from Winston-Salem is the ninth guy on Carolina's depth chart.

On the season, Copeland is averaging 1.1 points and 0.9 rebounds in 2.7 minutes per game this season and almost exactly similar numbers per game for his career. Zeller, in the two games he played before he was injured, scored 20 points and had three rebounds — starting ahead of fellow freshman Davis when Tyler Hansbrough was hurt to start the season.

-- Luke DeCock

He should have grabbed those Currys earlier...

Duggar Baucom, the coach of the high-scoring VMI Keydets of the Big South Conference, was asked by The Sporting News who he felt he should have recruited harder.

"The Currys--Steph and Seth. Should have offered them when I baby-sat for them at (former Charlotte Hornet) Muggsy Bogues' camp in Charlotte."

Duggar was having fun, but in reality he's one of several hundred coaches who feel that way. Stephen, of course, is a Davidson all-American. Little brother Seth is setting freshman scoring records at Liberty.--Stan Olson

Q&A: Fowler says Lowe has his support

In a story published Saturday in The News & Observer and The Charlotte Observer, N.C. State athletics director Lee Fowler indicated strong support of basketball coach Sidney Lowe, who is 46-40 in his third season. Here is more of what Fowler said last week:

Q: How do you think things are going with the basketball program?

A: We’ve had some ups and downs. We’ve had some injuries. Everybody goes through injuries, but we’ve had some very important injuries. It seems to have happened in football and basketball.

Sidney's working hard. Some of the games he's played, he's been in 35, 37 minutes. The thing I like about him, he’s a plugger. He keeps his head down and he said, 'I'll look up at the end of the season.' That's what you've got to do.

As we know, in our football program we were 2-6 and ended up 6-6, so you can't ever give up. You get on a little roll, and other teams turn around the other way. And this league, you'd better play well every night or you're going to be in trouble.

(Farnold) Degand's playing a lot better. That's a very important piece to this, because you've got to have somebody that can go out there and compete with the other point guards in the league and not turn it over. . . .You've got to have victories, and that's what we’re looking for.

And I think Sidney, the recruiting class he's got coming in, the future of the commitments are very good. I'm very excited about where the program's come.
We've seen a program like Wake Forest, you can turn it around pretty quickly nowadays if you get the right guys. Because unfortunately guys, some of them are staying one year or two, and then they’re gone.

I’m very encouraged about, one thing Sidney and I talked about in the offseason is getting out and playing hard. They're getting after it, and I think last year, there’s been a lot written about whether it was chemistry or whatever the issue was, they just didn't seem like they went out there and gave it their all. And they're doing that this year. I think he's demanded that from them. And I think that’s the first step.

Then you've got to turn it into some wins. Then you get some confidence, and there's no telling what they can do. So I think that's the biggest thing.

Q: So bottom line, he's got your full support right now?

A: It's a question that shouldn't even be asked. We've got a bright future with the class we've got coming in. When people start asking those questions, it leads people to believe he's not on solid (ground), and heck, he doesn't even have three years here, and it’s been well written by you guys that his first year, we basically let guys leave because if they didn't want to be here, Sidney didn't want them.

Sidney's an N.C. State guy. He wants guys that want to be here. He knows what it takes. I told somebody the other day, we've got two point guards (on the staff). They each won a national championship here. It's well documented. But they know what it takes to get to that level. They did it, and they've been a part of basketball their whole life.

So time is very important. And you've got to give him some time.

Q: Do you believe that a coach should be given at least four years in any program?

A: I'm old school. I believe that if you give him a five-year contract, it's a five-year commitment on both sides. Not just on one side. We made that commitment to Sidney, actually he got six years, and I think you've got to have that for recruits to know the guy's solid. I'm a big believer in that, because otherwise you can’t build a program.

Clougherty: Pack-UNC refs showed common sense

ACC officiating supervisor John Clougherty said Monday that the referees Saturday at N.C. State showed common sense when they allowed North Carolina’s Patrick Moody to shoot free throws for Michael Copeland with 1.9 seconds remaining.

The rule book allows a substitute to shoot free throws for an injured player. Copeland didn’t appear injured and got up quickly to chase after N.C. State center Ben McCauley, whose hard foul sent Copeland to the floor with North Carolina ahead 91-76.

McCauley was called for an intentional foul, and both players received technical fouls. North Carolina coach Roy Williams sent Copeland to the locker room.

“I can’t argue with my officials or disagree with Coach Williams,” Clougherty said Monday. “It was probably the prudent thing to have the player go to the dressing room. And again, we could be covered by the rule because. . .Coach Williams can say, ‘My player was too hurt to shoot the free throws.’ ”

A team trainer did check Copeland’s head in the locker room after the game to make sure he wasn’t injured. Clougherty said referee Les Jones did a good job separating Copeland and McCauley.

“I think Les really acted really well in that situation,” Clougherty said. “I’ve seen him do that before. And I complimented him on it. I thought he and the other crew members kept this thing from getting ugly.” - Ken Tysiac

Black is back at Davidson

They're blacking out Belk Arena again.

The third annual BlackOut Belk Arena is scheduled for Saturday, when Davidson plays the College of Charleston at 6 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPN 2 and will feature broadcaster Dick Vitale.

The school hopes to flood Belk with black T-shirts to show unity on the part of the fans and to raise money for a local charity. In this case, that would be HAMMERS, an alliance between the Davidson Housing Coalition and Davidson College that started in 2003.

BlackOut Belk t-shirts can be purchased for $15 starting this evening with the game against Western Carolina, which begins at 7. They can also be bought at the Baker Sports Complex front desk from 1-5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. Cash, checks, Cat Card and credit cards will be accepted.--Stan Olson

Duke picks good time to increase pace

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski couldn’t have picked a better time to encourage point guard Nolan Smith to push the ball up the court.

On Wednesday, Duke will travel to Clemson to meet a team that lives and dies by coach Oliver Purnell’s pressing defense. The Tigers lead the ACC with 9.6 steals per game and have forced more turnovers (17.9 per game) than any other team in the conference.

But Clemson also ranks 10th in the ACC in field goal percentage defense (.415) because opponents are shooting layups when they aren’t turning over the ball. In a 94-70 win on Jan. 24, North Carolina showed what a team with a good transition game can do against the Tigers.

“You can’t turn it over, and you’ve got to be strong with the ball,” Krzyzewski said Monday on the ACC coaches’ teleconference. “That’s one of the keys to the ballgame. And then we have to hit shots when we do break their press, their presses. Be strong enough to take them and hit them.

“If you don’t turn it over, you have a chance to get and hit a good shot. But they have a good chance of turning you over.”

Pushing the ball more is a long-term decision by Krzyzewski that’s not geared in particular to the Clemson game. But it should help the Blue Devils on the road in an important conference game against a top-10 foe. – Ken Tysiac

Duke's results create hope for Wolfpack

Watching Duke hammer Virginia on Sunday, you couldn’t help but think that there’s hope for N.C. State this season.

Not hope in the sense that the Wolfpack will make a miraculous turn and get into contention for the NCAA tournament. But hope that N.C. State (11-8, 2-5 ACC) could win 16 or 17 games and have a shot at the NIT.

Why?

Over the last two weekends at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Duke has obliterated Maryland (85-44) and Virginia (79-54), and the game against the Cavaliers wasn’t as close as it appeared.

On Jan. 24, N.C. State lost 73-56 at Cameron but led 26-22 at halftime in a game that didn’t get out of reach until the final five minutes.

Point guards Farnold Degand and Julius Mays are improving for the Wolfpack, and the biggest benefit to N.C. State’s move to a big lineup has been senior Courtney Fells’ improvement.

The big lineup puts Fells back at shooting guard after he began the season at small forward. After scoring a career-high 24 points in Tuesday’s defeat of Miami, Fells led N.C. State with 22 points Saturday against North Carolina.

N.C. State’s biggest problem is its schedule. The Wolfpack plays just once against struggling Virginia and Maryland, but has two games remaining with Wake Forest and another at North Carolina.
But there still are enough winnable games on the schedule for this team to show progress in its final record after finishing 15-16 and in last place in the ACC last season. – Ken Tysiac

Tudor's Take: Seven ACC coaching candidates

With at least four ACC basketball coaches in some degree of trouble -- Florida State’s Leonard Hamilton, Maryland’s Gary Williams, N.C. State’s Sidney Lowe and Virginia’s Dave Leitao -- entering the final month or so of the season, here are seven potential hiring candidates that ACC athletic directors would be smart to scout:

Mike Brey, Notre Dame: The guy is just too solid for the ACC to keep passing on. If you can win 20 games in South Bend, where it’s difficult to get anyone through the admissions office, you can win 22-23 in the ACC.

Brad Brownell, Wright State: At age 40, the former UNC-Wilmington coach has the perfect blend of experience and youth to become the right fit for the next 20-25 years in the ACC.

Jeff Capel, Oklahoma: The ACC missed far and wide on Capel when he left Virginia Commonwealth for Oklahoma. Now, it’s going to be expensive to correct that mistake. Even so, Oklahoma is a football school and the ACC still is a basketball league. That equates to easy math.

Anthony Grant, Virginia Commonwealth: Florida’s loss will be someone else’s gain. In only his third season with the Rams, Grant already has established that he can recruit on the margin and implement effective in-game strategy.

Brian Gregory, Dayton: At 6-1 in the Atlantic-10 and 20-2 overall, it’s obvious that Gregory is still on the up-tick. And like most A-10 coaches, he’s affordable.

Sean Miller, Xavier: It’s just a matter of time before Miller gets picked off by the ACC, Big East or Big 10. At 7-0 in the Atlantic-10 and 19-2 overall, the Musketeers are again heading toward a top-20 NCAA seed.

Bob McKillop, Davidson: Even at age 58, McKillop is still an undiscovered diamond in the coaching rough. He was winning with regularity at Davidson long before Stephen Curry came along. No one runs a cleaner program, or recruits with more specificity.

-- Caulton Tudor, (Raleigh) News & Observer

ACC in a bind again

Just when Virginia Tech appeared to be stepping on the accelerator in its drive for an NCAA tournament bid, it crashed at home against Clemson and at Boston College last week.

Florida State self-destructed on offense against North Carolina and allowed Ty Lawson to torpedo its chances of adding a huge win for its NCAA tournament resume. With that, ACC teams approached the halfway point of conference play in the same predicament as last season.

Once again, the conference is strong at the top, with Duke, North Carolina and Wake Forest having all been ranked No. 1 in the polls this season. Clemson, which is 4-2 in conference play with impressive nonconference road wins at Illinois and South Carolina, also is in good shape to sew up an NCAA bid.

But after getting just four teams to the NCAA tournament in 2008, the 12-team ACC is in danger of not doing much better than that in 2009. The problem is that a couple teams that would be considered “on the bubble” have serious flaws:

- Virginia Tech (14-7, 4-3 ACC) has no nonconference wins over teams in the top 80 of the RPI, having lost to Xavier, Seton Hall, Wisconsin and (ugh) Georgia.

- Boston College (17-6, 5-3) has a strong ACC record but lost at home to Harvard. The Eagles’ best nonconference win came against Alabama-Birmingham, which was No. 44 in the RPI according to realtimerpi.com as of late Sunday night.

- Maryland (14-7, 3-4) has a chance to get to .500 in the conference but needs to win Tuesday at North Carolina to do it and has lost at home to Morgan State.

The only saving grace for those teams is that unlike Virginia Tech last season, they all have marquee wins away from their home courts.

Virginia Tech won at Wake Forest, Boston College shocked North Carolina in Chapel Hill and Maryland hammered Michigan State in Orlando, Fla.

And Florida State (16-5, 3-3), despite stumbling late against the Tar Heels, has solid nonconference wins over Cincinnati, California and Florida under its belt.

But Karl Hicks, the ACC’s associate commissioner for men’s basketball, worried aloud last week that schools in the conference that aren’t recognized as traditional basketball powers were being overlooked in the rankings.

“They suffer when it comes to the popularity contest aspect of the polls,” Hick said. “So then you have to rely on the RPI.”

Florida State, which is No. 25 in the RPI but 29th in points in last week’s Associated Press’ rankings, sort of fits that description. Hicks hopes the members of the Division I men’s basketball committee will recognize the accomplishments of ACC candidates for the NCAA tournament regardless of their history and tradition.
But those teams need to get the job done on the court first.