Duke (19-0) Makes Its Domination of Rivals Complete

Duke tore through the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament so thoroughly the last few days that people can only wonder if the Blue Devils will do the same to the rest of the country.

Duke set an ACC tournament record by winning three games by an average of 25 points: The Blue Devils’ 96-73 victory over No. 15 North Carolina in the title game Sunday was preceded by an 83-68 victory over N.C. State on Saturday and a 104-67 victory over Virginia on Thursday in a game Duke led by 38 at halftime.

The margin in the title game--23 points--was the third largest in an ACC tournament final.

The domination was so thorough--and so unheard of in the semifinals and finals of college basketball’s most traditional dogfight--that a fan called out from the stands, “Hey, Krzyzewski, you remind me of [Florida football Coach] Steve Spurrier!”

Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s feelings wouldn’t have been hurt. He is bent on not coddling this team, not letting up, not letting the Blue Devils be left forgotten among the great teams that didn’t win NCAA titles.

And by the way, Duke won the last two games without guard Trajan Langdon, the senior leader who averages 17 points a game--a player whom center Elton Brand calls “our best player” even though both are candidates for national player of the year.

Langdon has a strained foot, and is considered day to day going into Friday’s first-round NCAA tournament game against Florida A&M; at Charlotte Coliseum, the same arena where Duke just swept the ACC.

With Langdon out, point guard William Avery scored 29 points on 10-of-19 shooting with five three-pointers, and had five assists. Brand scored 24, making nine of 11 shots, and pulled down 13 rebounds.

Duke (32-1) swept through the ACC tournament the way it swept through the conference all season. The Blue Devils became the first ACC team to go 16-0--though others have gone 14-0--and made it 19-0 with three tournament victories.

“No one can ever do this better,” Krzyzewski said. “Someone can do it as well--unless we add more teams to the league, which I hope they don’t do.”

Most striking about the victory over North Carolina, which had won the previous two ACC titles, beating Duke in the final last year, was that the Tar Heels played very well.

And despite the fact that North Carolina made several charges, it wasn’t close.

Duke led by 14 after the first half, then went on a 10-0 run keyed by a Brand dunk and an Avery three-pointer to go ahead by 24, 59-35, in the first 1:48 of the second half.

The Tar Heels (24-9) came back with a 14-0 run of their own, but that only got the deficit to 10.

“I don’t think it was ever close,” Langdon said.

Like the whole season, except for a game at Georgia Tech in which the Blue Devils trailed by 10 in the second half before winning.

“It’s hard to compare from year to year, but I don’t remember a team dominating the way they have,” said North Carolina Coach Bill Guthridge, who has been at the school for more than 30 years.

“They just tore everybody apart. They’re just so efficient and effective. For us to have a chance today, we would have had to play our best game of the year.”

How’s this for effective?

Duke shot 60% in the first half and 57% for the game.

The Blue Devils made eight steals to help force the Tar Heels into 13 turnovers--and scored 26 points off turnovers to the Tar Heels’ eight.

“We want to keep winning,” said Brand, who was honored as tournament MVP. “People may say a loss would help us going into the [NCAA] tournament, but I feel the opposite. We wanted to win this tournament and play our best. The pressure really didn’t get to us.”

Unbeatable? Cincinnati beat Duke, 77-75, on a last-second play in November.

“There’s no such thing as an unbeatable team,” forward Shane Battier said. “Coach is the first one to point that out to us.”