Paulus on mend against Dukes

DURHAM — Duke senior guard Greg Paulus returned from a one-game absence to score nine points with three 3-pointers against Duquesne.

Paulus is the team's best 3-point shooter but had trouble launching the 20-foot, 9-inch shots with a deep bruise in his right forearm, also his shooting side, against Rhode Island, Southern Illinois and Michigan. He rested for about a week, missing the Montana game before returning.

"He's not there yet but it was great today to get him 23 minutes," Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "Two days ago we didn't know how much he'd play today. ... We think he's on the way up but he's not there yet."

Paulus will be able to play on Tuesday in Duke's first true road game of the season at Purdue in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Paulus missed the first game of his career when Duke beat Montana on Sunday.

The rest helped. His six shots against Duquesne looked like real shots instead of forced ones. Paulus also dished three assists with two steals. -- Luciana Chavez

Parting shots from Maui: Hansbrough still rusty?

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Top ranked North Carolina planned to eat Thanksgiving dinner and perhaps enjoy a little beach time and cliff diving before flying back to Chapel Hill later today, with the Maui Invitational title in tow.
Some final thoughts after watching the Tar Heels throttle No. 8 Notre Dame 102-87 in the finale:

* If Tyler Hansbrough thinks he's still out of shape, imagine what he'll look like when he scrubs the rest of the rust off. His 34 points marked the sixth 30-plus point performance of his career, and he now needs only 60 more points to break Phil Ford's career scoring record at UNC.

* Coach Roy Williams likes to play in the Maui Invitational because it has such a challenging field; playing here this year, he said, was as valuable as ever. "I think it’s extremely important for each and every team to have challenges each and every day," he said. "And I think coming to a tournament and playing three days in a row like this is extremely important for any team. Every team that comes and plays in the tournament has an opportunity to improve. We faced zone, we faced man, we faced the press, we faced a myriad of different styles that I think will help us out later on."

* It’s safe to say that small forward Danny Green has adapted to his starting role. The senior had the best two scoring days of his career
(26 and 21 points) during the first two games of the tournament, then added eight points and six rebounds in the finale to be named to the All-Tournament team.

* Who knew Deon Thompson could be so aggressive? The junior power forward pulled down a career-high 13 rebounds, plus 19 points, in the finale, but also threw down a pair of rousing dunks during a first- half 12-2 run; on one, he grabbed a rebound at the free throw line and took it down the lane for the slam.

* The championship game may have been a runaway, but it wasn’t without its intense moments. At one point in the second half, freshman Ed Davis didn’t get back on defense, allowing Notre Dame big man Luke Harangody to score an easy basket. Williams’ response: a slam to the scorer’s table that echoed all the way through the tiny Lahaina Civic Center. (Think he wants this team to improve defensively?)

— Robbi Pickeral, (Raleigh) News & Observer

Q&A with Tar Heels' Ed Davis

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Freshman forward Ed Davis recorded the second double-double of his career during North Carolina's semifinal victory against Oregon in the Maui Invitational on Tuesday night. Here's some of what he had to say after the game:

Q: What has been your key to rebounding so well?

A: That's just one thing I know can add to this team, night in and night out, is my rebounding. I might not be able to score or defend as well as I want to, but I know one thing I can do is rebound every night, so that's my goal every night.

Q: Are rebounds more important to you that points right now?

A: I just feel like on this team, with my role this year, rebounding would be a good thing to do to get the playing time because that's what I do night in and night out.

Q: When you came in, did you know that's something the team would need from you?

A: Coach always talks about rebounding, and hustling, so that's something I focus on - trying to get every rebound I can.

Q: What do you know about Notre Dame and Luke Haragody (who the Tar Heels play tonight)?

A: I know he's a first-team All-American in the preseason, and Tyler (Zeller's) brother is on there (the Notre Dame team), so he tells us stuff. It's going to be a good game for us.

Q: What do you think of all the injuries to all the big men around you this year?

A: I see it as an opportunity. But with Tyler (Zeller) going out for the year, that really hurt, because we're a family ... but we just have to pick up for his slack, and hope he gets better for next year.

Q: Do you take pride in the fact that you have two double-doubles already this year?

A: I'm just glad that we're 5-0, so that's all I'm happy about.

— Robbi Pickeral

Has Davidson soured on "Sweet Caroline"?

Has "Sweet Caroline" turned just a bit sour?

Last year, the pep band played the old Neil Diamond song throughout Davidson's magical run to within a three-pointer of the Final Four. The song became part of the magic, with fans singing along at every venue.

Now we need to decide; has the song become part of the Wildcats' basketball tradition, or was it simply a piece of a very special time? Should it be retired and remember only as the soundtrack of that remarkable 2007-2008 season?

I bring this up because a number of fans posting on www.davidsoncats.com have tired of the song and want it gone. I think this is a decision to be made by the fans themselves, the true supporters who read every word about the 'Cats and attend every game they can.

Tell us what you think; keep the song in the game rotation or remove it?

-- Stan Olson

Loyola coach's strategy was bizarre

First, the questions were about whether Stephen Curry was hurt.

Those of us on press row during Tuesday night's game at Belk Arena between Davidson and Loyola (Md.) spent most of the time wondering what was going on with Curry, the nation's leading scorer.

He took one shot in the first half and was scoreless. Was he hurt? There was a little bandage just below his right knee. Was that there on Monday? What was wrong?

As it turned out, nothing was wrong with Curry. He simply spent the game playing the role Loyola coach Jimmy Patsos wanted him to - uninvolved in Davidson's offense. So Curry played the game, drawing two Loyola defenders away each Davidson offensive possession and watched his teammates dismantle the Greyhounds in a game of 4-on-3.

What was surprising was how long Patsos kept the strategy in place - the whole game.

In the second half, word began leaking out that Curry could go scoreless. The press row phone was ringing off the hook with national media outlets keeping an eye on the game via the Internet wanting to know why Curry had a zero on the box score. Was he hurt? What's the story?

In the end, the story was less about what Curry didn't do and more about what Patsos did. At some point Patsos probably had in place a legitimate defensive strategy. By halftime, when his team had scored 17 points, he should have known that strategy wasn't getting him anywhere. At some point his strategy became an obsession.

In a wild, bizarre post-game interview, Patsos all but admitted his team could take pride in being the only one so far to hold Curry scoreless. But was it worth the cost?

A 30-point loss later combined with the ridicule Patsos is getting today, it's hard to see how.

- Jim Utter

Hansbrough in starting lineup

LAHAINA, Hawaii — North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough, who sat out Monday’s game against Chaminade, was in the starting lineup for UNC’s game against Oregon on Tuesday night. Hansbrough made his season debut at UC Santa Barbara on Friday but did not play in the opener of the Maui Invitational because Roy Williams feared playing the forward three games in three days; Hansbrough was previously out three weeks because of a stress reaction in his right shin.
If the top-ranked Tar Heels win, they will play No. 8 Notre Dame, which survived a last-second comeback attempt by seventh-ranked Texas in the other semifinal game, at 9:30 Wednesday in the championship game. The past two times UNC won the eight-team tournament — 1999-2000 and 2004-05 — it advanced to the NCAA Final Four.

Robbi Pickeral

Curry is SoCon player of week for 10th time

Davidson's Stephen Curry averaged 37.7 points last week and has scored 25 or more in nine straight.

Davidson guard Stephen Curry was just named the Southern Conference player of the week--again.

Curry has won the award 10 times.

In three games, he averaged 37.7 points and 6.7 assists. He made 44.4 percent of his three-pointers and 93.9 percent of his free throws.

Curry, making a remarkably quick adjustment to moving to the point from shooting guard this season, has scored 25 or more points in nine straight games.

He's in action again tonight at about 8 p.m., in an NIT game against Loyola (Md.). That's part of a doubleheader, with Florida Atlantic and James Madison playing at 5:45 p.m.

Tickets are available.

--Stan Olson

Frasor finally hits a 3 for Heels

LAHAINA, Hawaii — North Carolina coach Roy Williams praised guard Bobby Frasor's defense after the Tar Heels blew out Chaminade on Monday night.

But one of the loudest roars of the first-round Maui Invitational came because of the his offense.

With 6:28 left, Frasor — who was 2-for-18 shooting this season at that point — finally swished a three-pointer.

"It was good to finally have one go in,'' said the senior reserve, who has missed everything from three-pointers to layups this season.

Particularly because it seemed like it was such a long time coming.

Frasor said that his long layoff after ACL surgery last year didn't have an effect on his shooting (and after all, he did make a show of making three pointers from the bench during the NCAA tournament last season). He said that this season, "a lot of the shots looked good, they didn't go in."

Now he and the Tar Heels hope they keep going in, beginning tonight, when top-ranked North Carolina faces Oregon in the second round of the Maui Invitational.

"Kept Bobby in a little bit longer because he's been struggling so much with his shot and just needed one to go in," Williams said after the game, "but he was sensational defensively."

Frasor is 16-for-57 over the last two seasons.

— Robbi Pickeral

Up next for Tar Heels: Oregon

LAHAINA, Hawaii — Oregon, making its first appearance in the Maui Invitational, held Alabama to 28.6 percent shooting in the second half Monday night to advance to a semifinal matchup with top-ranked North Carolina tonight. The 9:30 p.m. EST tipoff will be televised on ESPN.

Notes on the Ducks:

PLAYER TO WATCH: Six freshmen played for the Ducks on Monday, but junior point guard Tajuan Porter could give UNC the most headaches.

The 5-foot-6 junior missed his first nine three-pointers against Alabama, but made his last two, finishing with 12 points. He's sixth on Oregon's career three-point list, and he speedy guard from Detroit should make an interesting test for UNC point guard Ty Lawson, who didn't have much trouble running by — and over — Division II Chaminade on Monday night.

SERIES AGAINST UNC: The Ducks are 0-3 all-time against UNC.

A HAWAIIAN HUE: Oregon, which is outfitted by Nike, donned specially designed uniforms Monday for the Invitational. They were black, with a yellow stripe down the left side that also featured Hawaiian printed flowers in green. The pattern was also on the toes of their yellow Nikes.

Asked after the game if there might be anymore uniform twists, coach Ernie Kent said, according to The Oregonian: "I can't tell you that, gang; I can't give away all our secrets."

KENT ON UNC: ''I think there are a lot of teams in the country that would love to play a No. 1 team, but there are some things we have to pay attention to,'' Kent said, according to The Oregonian. "They get up and down the floor, they shoot it really well. The opportunity is there, but we have to be ready to play. They are a team that will make you pay. Hopefully we can match their intensity and be ready to play - it is going to be a battle for us.''

— Robbi Pickeral

Game ball presented by former Tar Heel

LAHAINA, Hawaii — The game ball for Monday's North Carolina-Chaminade game was presented by Tom Butler, who played on Dean Smith's first freshman team in 1958 -- 50 years ago.

Butler, who went to school at Broughton High and now lives in Wilmington, planned the trip to Maui with his wife, son and grandsons to coincide with his 48th wedding anniversary. It just happened to fall at the same time UNC was playing in the Maui Invitational, so his son contacted the organizers to find a way to buy tickets, and the organizers, in turn, asked Butler to be a part of the game ball presentation.

"It was a fun time,'' Butler said of playing on the freshman team, which boasted only four scholarship players at the time. "Coach Smith remembers everyone who crosses his path; he knows my children, which is amazing."

Five decades later, he's a proud season ticket holder to both Carolina football and basketball games, and was pleased at the chance to watch his alma mater play while on vacation.

"I cannot believe how good they are,'' he said of the current basketball team, "and what a good job Roy Williams is doing, and how successful he is -- not just with his coaching, but with his recruiting. He's got the No. 1 team now with all these skilled athletes, and he's going to lose a lot of them, and he's got more coming next year."

— Robbi Pickeral

(Photo courtesy of EA Sports Maui Invitational)