By Luke DeCockRaleigh News and Observer columnistDURHAM ó The way North Carolina can score, the Tar Heels don’t have to play great defense. It only has to be good enough.
For five minutes of the second half Wednesday night, it was good enough to slow down Duke on a night the Devils couldn’t miss. It was good enough to give Carolina its fourth straight win at Cameron and the inside track for the ACC title.
UNC outran Duke in the 101-87 win, but it doesn’t win that game without turning up the defense late in the second half, holding the Blue Devils without a point for more than four minutes and without a field goal for more than five after they went shot-for-shot with the Heels in the first half.
The biggest obstacle standing between the Tar Heels and the national title is the ability to play tough defense when it counts. Everyone knows the Heels can score, and in many different ways. They’re averaging 83.5 points in their two losses. Offense is not a problem.
No, defense is the issue, and the Heels made a statement. They’re almost always going to be the better team at one end of the floor. But they were the better team at both ends of the floor Wednesday.
They’re happy to outrun you. But they can grind it out when they have to as well, holding Duke to 35 points in the second half.
“We were more into it,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “We were sorry in the first half. I said that at halftime.”
The Heels generated only eight points off turnovers in the first half, but they scored 17 of them in the second half and held Duke to two 3-pointers.
With Ty Lawson tearing apart the Devils at one end of the court, Duke went dry at the other. Carolina’s defense tightened up on the perimeter, forced turnovers and closed down the inside.
Duke’s parade of frustration started slowly and went on for what felt like forever. After a pair of free throws by Gerald Henderson pulled Duke within three with 7:41 to play, Carolina’s defense went on the attack.
Lawson followed up a driving basket by stealing the ball from Greg Paulus and going in for an easy basket. Henderson forced up an impossible fadeaway on the baseline. Jon Scheyer slipped, watching Nolan Smith’s pass sail out of bounds. Henderson slipped, losing the ball. Kyle Singler missed a 3-point attempt.
“We did not hit shots for a short period of time there and they did, and it got away from us,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said.