Victory Has Meaning for North Carolina

Meaningless game, eh?

Tell it to North Carolina center Eric Montross, who was sent sprawling face-first after Duke’s Antonio Lang hacked away on a layup try late in the second half of Sunday’s game. By then, the No. 1 Tar Heels were well on their way to an 83-69 victory, leaving Montross to answer two questions:

Could he still lift his battered forearms for a pair of free throws, courtesy of the flagrant foul?

Should he contact his local Blue Cross representative?

If this is what Duke-Carolina is like when the regular-season champion has already been determined, just wait until the beginning of this week’s Atlantic Coast Conference tournament, where the top-ranked Tar Heels (26-3) and the No. 6--and dropping--Blue Devils (23-6) could meet once more, this time on a neutral court and with Duke All-American Grant Hill in the lineup.

Until then, the ACC title and the bragging rights that come with it belong to North Carolina. And barring a complete collapse by the Tar Heels, or a brain lock by the NCAA Basketball Committee, North Carolina can also count on receiving a No. 1 seed in the East Regional.

The Tar Heels deserve it, especially after the way they dismantled Duke in front of 21,572 fans at the Dean E. Smith Center. A roll call of domination:

--Duke point guard Bobby Hurley, who almost always had Tar Heel Derrick Phelps stuck to him like Velcro, was left to ponder a six-point, two-of-12 shooting performance.

And don’t bother trying to explain to the hyper-intense Hurley that the game meant nothing. After all, it was Hurley who earned a technical foul moments after Lang’s hard foul of Montross was ruled intentional by whistle-happy referee Lenny Wirtz.

“I just basically clapped at Lenny, stared him down, too,” Hurley said. “I guess I showed him up a little and he teed me up.”

Hurley’s antics, along with Lang’s foul (also called by Wirtz), put an end to the Blue Devils’ brief second-half run. A 12-point North Carolina lead soon grew to 18 and that was that.

--Duke center Cherokee Parks, who had averaged 17.5 points, 9.2 rebounds and 2.5 blocks during the previous six games, was also rendered nearly useless by the Tar Heels. He finished with seven points, two rebounds and two turnovers.

Asked to grade his afternoon’s work, Parks said: “An F. I was terrible. In the second half, I would have been kicked out of school.”

Hurley and Parks weren’t the only ones to struggle. Forward Thomas Hill was four for 13 and one for five from three-point range. Lang made one of six shots. The Blue Devils shot 35.5% from the field.

“We came out and had a bad day,” Parks said. “Without a player like Grant, you’re going to come to the wall. Today was the wall.”

A sprained toe has forced Hill, Duke’s leading scorer, to sit out the last six games. He practiced hard on Friday and was expected to play Sunday.

But shortly after his team arrived at the Smith Center, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski informed the Blue Devils that Hill would remain in street clothes. The toe was still too sore.

“I thought it would be stupid (to play him),” Krzyzewski said. “We’ve been playing great basketball over the last couple of weeks. It wasn’t that he might get hurt--which he might--but I thought we had the best opportunity to win based on having that same unit in.”

Krzyzewski was left to choose from eight scholarship players. And even with Hill available, it might not have really mattered. North Carolina, even with the ACC regular-season title in its pocket, had a point to prove.

Duke entered the game with three consecutive victories over the Tar Heels and five in the last seven, including a 14-point victory about a month ago in nearby Durham. And, as always, there was the Duke mystique, which accompanies any program that has won two consecutive national titles and made six consecutive appearances in the Final Four.

Yes, well, so much for aura. North Carolina guard Donald Williams scored 27 points, made five of eight three-point shots and abused anyone who tried to stop him. The 7-foot Montross had 18 points, nine rebounds and was generally immovable under the basket.

“We approached this game as anything but meaningless to us,” Montross said. “A very big game.”

Big enough that even Dean Smith himself noticed a difference. According to his recollection, a ticket to Sunday’s game was the toughest to find since Jan. 18, 1986--the first time the Tar Heels took the floor at this basketball palace.

Of course, some things never change. Back in 1986, North Carolina was ranked No. 1 . . . the opponent was Duke . . . the winner was--you guessed it--the Tar Heels.