I insist on gloating today. I insist on being annoying about it too. Today, that’s how I’m going to roll.
All season long, I’ve heard it
said and I’ve seen it written that Duke has been on an up-and-down roller
coaster ride with a “bitter slump pushing them to the brink of being unranked”
before finding themselves late in the season.
The first meeting of the 2013-14
regular season between Duke and Carolina was to have been February 12th. Mother Nature decided to dump “Snowpocalypse”
on Chapel Hill and the Dean Dome instead.
That game was rescheduled for February 20th.
Duke led the Tarheels during the
entire first half but lost control in the second to lose 74-66. I was crestfallen. A short two days later, my boys would take
revenge for their February 1st overtime lose in the Carrier Dome to Syracuse 91-89.
The Orange came to our house, Cameron
Indoor Stadium, where all the “Crazies” live.
It was at Cameron that The Orange found out that they are not the gods
of the ACC and that rules ignored at your house can be equally ignored at our
house. It was the scene of Coach Bonheim
literally losing his shit over a clear blocking foul and enduring a 66-60 loss
to my beloved Blue Devils.
Last night was Senior Night. The Tobacco Road Rivalry was set between The
Heels and the Devils. I had a feeling in
my heart of hearts that this meeting would end in victory for my beloved Blue
Devils.
I was right.
Jabari Parker had his most
polished game of the season late night.
Even with Carolina’s best defender, J. P. Tokoto, draped all over him in
an attempt to frustrate him Parker patiently picked his spots. One possession he would receive a post entry
pass, face up and nail a jumper. The next, he'd face up again, see Tokoto anticipating
the jumper and drive right to the rim.
Rodney Hood scored 24 points and
combined with Parker for 27 of Duke’s 40 first-half points. As strong as their first half was, the real
clinic came in the second half.
The Blue Devils led by as many as
19 points during multiple stretches, breaking down the North Carolina defense
to shoot 50.9 percent from the field. At certain points, it looked as if
Hood and Parker were toying with a fangless Tar Heel defense.
Hood finished with 24 points on
8-of-13 shooting and knocked down three of Duke's eight shots from beyond the
arc.
Duke's last 16 points came at the
charity stripe. The Devils did not hit a field goal in the final 6:56 because
Carolina had apparently decided to start fouling early to get back in the game. On a lesser team that strategy might have
worked. Carolina didn’t reckon that
Quinn Cook and Rasheed Sulaimon and the shooter-heavy lineup were going to be
cold-blooded at the stripe.
Oh yeah, Marcus Paige, the vaunted
second-half wonder boy looked scorched at the end. I loved his expression. That’s why I picked that photo to chop.
It was an exhilarating game to
watch. I couldn’t have asked for
anything better to cheer me up after spending a week at home with pneumonia.
From here, it’s on to next week’s
ACC Tournament in Greensboro.
Four slots still remain to be
determined as of this writing. Already
locked are (1) Virginia, (2) Syracuse, (3) Duke, (4) North Carolina and (5)
Pitt.
Carolina and Duke have drawn byes
and won’t see action until Friday.
Go Duke. And by the way, Carolina GTH.
