COLLEGE BASKETBALL / CONFERENCE TOURNAMENT FINALS : Duke Puts Another Notch in Its Belt : Atlantic Coast: No. 1 Blue Devils wrap up tournament title by beating North Carolina, 94-74.

Make room for one more trophy at Duke, one the Blue Devils have been waiting to claim for four years.

The 1991 national champions had made an Atlantic Coast Conference tournament title their main objective after taking the league’s regular-season title.

The top-ranked Blue Devils settled that Sunday, routing No. 20 North Carolina, 94-74, in the tournament championship game behind 25 points from Christian Laettner.

“We finally got it. It’s something we can put under our belts,” said Laettner, who with senior classmate Brian Davis took home the title in their final ACC appearances.

“We’re glad we’ve done it,” Davis said. “But we’ve got to accomplish more.”

Laettner, the tournament MVP who led six players in double figures, helped the Blue Devils take a title they hadn’t won since 1988. Since then, Duke had lost two tournament championship games, both to the Tar Heels. The latest loss was a 96-74 decision in last year’s title game, which Duke players called an embarrassment.

“They came out, played hard and beat us,” Duke’s Grant Hill said of last year’s game. “This year, we wanted to get the monkey off our back. We were so determined, so focused. Before the game we were so pumped up, coach had to calm us down.”

The Blue Devils trailed by five early in the first half, but their defense stymied a hot start by North Carolina.

“We wanted to show a lot of enthusiasm in the beginning because we weren’t sure it was there last year and wanted to make sure it was there this year,” Thomas Hill of Duke said.

Duke (28-2) earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament and a chance for consecutive national championships, a feat last accomplished by UCLA in 1972-73. The Blue Devils start their bid at full strength, with both Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill back from injuries.

“I think the injuries have been good for us,” Grant Hill said. “Hopefully, we can continue to play well.”

Grant Hill was eight for eight and scored 20 points. Thomas Hill had 13, Brian Davis 12, and Hurley and Antonio Lang 11 apiece.

Hurley set an ACC tournament career record for assists with 50, breaking the mark of 45 set by North Carolina’s Jimmy Black. Hurley had 11 assists Sunday, a record for an ACC championship game, and his 26 assists in the 1991 tournament also set a record.

Duke went on a 14-7 run and stretched an eight-point halftime lead to 68-51 on a three-pointer by Thomas Hill at 12:02.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it more interesting, although I thought we played very well,” North Carolina Coach Dean Smith said. “I didn’t think Duke could play better than they did last week in Durham, but they did today.”

North Carolina made 53.3% of its shots, but Duke shot 58.1%, including a 62.1% in the second half. The Tar Heels (21-9) were making their 20th ACC tournament championship appearance, the seventh against the Blue Devils. It was the most points the Tar Heels allowed in a conference championship game.

Hubert Davis scored 19 points for North Carolina.