Durham, N.C. - Marcus Ginyard scored the first point of the game but from then on, it was all Duke. In fact, it was a good old fashioned butt whipping. When the dust finally cleared on what must have seen like a night that lasted forever for the Tar Heels, Duke won a share of the ACC regular season with a 82-50 win over their arch rival. Duke finished up the regular season with a 13-3 mark in conference and 26-5 overall.
There was just too much Duke for North Carolina on a night when Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and Jordan Davidson played their last game ever in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Add ESPN Game Day to the mix and students at their very best as well, but there is more.
Duke was an impressive 22 of 23 from the free throw stripe and they outscored the visitor 27-6 off turnovers and had eight three pointers while North Carolina had just one. Kyle Singler was Duke's leading scorer with 25 points, while Jon Scheyer and Nolan Smith added 20 apiece.
Duke captured their 19th ACC regular season title. Duke set a school record with a 17-0 home mark.
We'll have a complete recap on Sunday and interviews are on the way, so stay tuned for quite a bit of coverage.
Students are ready for tonight's big game - BDN Photo
When ESPN's Game Day crew comes to town, it is a big event for the host school and this weekend the nation's focus is on Cameron Indoor Stadium where Duke takes on Carolina this evening in a game which will decide the ACC Champion and send off some beloved seniors in Jon Scheyer, Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek,
A solid turnout of students and fans attended ESPN's Game Day morning session which was of course televised live and nationally. Jay Bilas drew some cheers as did Bobby Knight while Digger Phelps got a little love simply because he picked Duke as a number one seed recently.
Then there was Hubert Davis, a former Tar Heel who likes to take some light shots at Duke from time to time. Needless to say, he was greeted with a lot of boos. Duke radio host Bob Harris also participated in the event as did several other local types.
The King of Jersey Lance Thomas - BDNP
Fans cheered on cue and were indeed loud as they held up car board cut outs of the player's heads and other signs which pretty much said "Go to Hell Carolina." The students were treated to Game Day sweatshirts after the event and a walk around campus shows tents in every crook and cranny. Everywhere you look there was Duke Blue as music filled the air on a bright and sunny day.
The ESPN Game Day crew moves outside of Cameron for the rest of the day and festivities pretty much continue as I type. BDN will be on the scene to bring you all of the action and we will update from twitter throughout the evening. So, stay tuned and tell your friends about Blue Devil Nation.
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Game Day CrewNolan's Rollin - classic - BDNPDuke Cheerleaders
Durham, N.C. - Nolan Smith talked of how he would try to avoid some of the happenings on campus by sleeping part of the day. But once Nolan does head to Cameron and through the throng of face painted students, it'll be all smiles and business. Blue Devil Nation continues it's wall to wall coverage of the Duke-Carolina weekend with this Nolan Smith interview and Coach K and Jon Scheyer are already up. Stay close, for we have Brian Zoubek next and we'll be on the scene to bring you as good of coverage as well, anyone.
Jon Scheyer has a single game left in Cameron - Lanc King Images
Durham, N.C. - Duke Senior Jon Scheyer will step onto the court in Cameron Indoor Stadium one last time when his Blue Devils face their arch rival tomorrow. Scheyer laughs off the question of being tired and reflects in this audio interview from BDN.
Durham, N.C. - Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski just addressed the media and BDN was on the scene to bring you audio in an effort to make Duke fans feel like they were a fly on the wall during the event Coach discussed the Maryland game, his seniors, the UNC game and much more as you will hear in this 25 minute Q & A.
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Jon Scheyer will now have his Senior Day - BDN Photo
After last night’s tough loss, Duke co-captain Jon Scheyer spoke with the media about a variety of topics, including taking Maryland’s best punch, the verbal abuse by the Terrapin students, his fellow ACC Player of the Year Candidate Greivis Vasquez, and the growing importance of Saturday’s match-up against arch rival North Carolina.
Can you talk about that Vasquez shot that gave them a two possession lead?
It was a good bounce for him. Guys are going to make shots. There’s really nothing you can do about it.
You’ve played against him for four years. Can you talk about him as a competitor and his game?
He’s a good player. He plays with a lot of emotion. He makes their team go. He’s the guy for their team.
Talk about the start that they got off to and how you guys bounced back and made it the game that it was.
Well, we knew they made every shot and we missed every shot, but we were getting good looks. We knew that was their best punch that they could throw so we felt confident. That was a big stretch there at the end of the first half. Just to get some shots together. Then we thought we were in good shape going into halftime, after taking Maryland’s best punch.
Speaking of punches, that was kind of punch and counter punch there at the end, do you feel you got the looks that you wanted there at the end?
Yeah, I mean I had a wide open three there at the end, when we were down by two off of a ball screen. Next time, we got the ball back and Nolan had a pretty good look. I mean those are good shots and then we’re down six and I missed a lay-up and so those are all good shots. We just needed to make a couple of them.
The threes sort of brought you back in the first half and it seems like they may have tripped you guys up in the second half.
Yeah, I don’t know. I thought we took good shots, for the most part, you know. They just didn’t go, but we’ll shoot them any day. We feel confident in continuing to shoot those.
That atmosphere tonight was just unbelievable with it being Vasquez’ last game and everything else. Do you feel like you’ll have a similar atmosphere on Saturday for you, Lance, and Brian?
Yeah, I think so. Our fans are unbelievable. You always need to move on the next game obviously, but we really wanted to win this game and it was a great atmosphere. You know that it’ll be just like that for us on Saturday.
What’s it like when people are screaming expletives at you for four years like they have?
It’s fine, you know. At this point, I don’t even hear anything to be honest with you at this point. They’ve been doing the same thing for four years and we’ve gotten wins, you know. I just wish we could’ve come out with a win this time.
Despite the first game, did you expect this kind of performance from Maryland this time?
Oh, yeah, we knew this was going to be a war. They’re obviously a lot better at home and it meant a lot to them, just like it meant a lot to us. We knew it was going to be a tough game.
The ACC Championship is still there. What’s your mindset about it right and preparing for another big game in just a few days?
Just to move on. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves or anything. We just need to move onto Saturday and get that win. We just need to get that win and can’t worry about what Maryland does. It’s just on us to get a win on Saturday.
How hard is it to bounce back from an emotional loss and play your biggest rival in the Tobacco Road showdown, which is going to be one of the biggest games of the year? Do you think you guys can bounce back? Are you going to have a hard time getting a recharge for that game?
Well, it’s obviously not easy to move on from a game like this. You know a game that you want really bad and it’s a tough way to lose, but we’ll move on. We know that Saturday is even a bigger game for us now. It’s a huge game for us and we’ll be ready to go. There’s no doubt that.
Does your stomach sink in the final seconds of a game like this? Knowing that their fans are going to rush.
Yeah, you know, it’s just not a good feeling. You know it’s a game we had. We were right there, back and forth over the last couple of minutes. They got a couple of tosses, which went in. We’ve got to give them credit. It’s obviously a game that you really want to win.
Despite the loss, is this what March is supposed to feel like?
Yeah, you know, if worse comes to worst, we’ll hopefully, I know, we’ll learn from this game. I know guys wanted this one bad, including myself. This will make us better, but we need to move on.
Durham, N.C. - Marcus Ginyard scored the first point of the game but from then on, it was all Duke. In fact, it was a good old fashioned butt whipping. When the dust finally cleared on what must have seen like a night that lasted forever for the Tar Heels, Duke won a share of the ACC regular season with a 82-50 win over their arch rival. Duke finished up the regular season with a 13-3 mark in conference and 26-5 overall.
Durham, N.C. - Nolan Smith talked of how he would try to avoid some of the happenings on campus by sleeping part of the day. But once Nolan does head to Cameron and through the throng of face painted students, it'll be all smiles and business. Blue Devil Nation continues it's wall to wall coverage of the Duke-Carolina weekend with this Nolan Smith interview and Coach K and Jon Scheyer are already up. Stay close, for we have Brian Zoubek next and we'll be on the scene to bring you as good of coverage as well, anyone.
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